Alberta peace officer training to help combat rural crime ‘crisis’
Alberta Canada November 10 2019
The Alberta government will provide extra training to 400 peace officers who work in fish and wildlife, commercial vehicle enforcement and as traffic sheriffs to help combat what they say is an epidemic of rural crime.
Within six to 12 months, the officers will be part of a Rural Alberta Integrated Defence Force (RAPID) prepared to respond to 911 calls, Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer said on a Wetaskiwin-area ranch Wednesday.
One of several new steps announced Wednesday is to spend $6.5 million training the 400 officers to be ready to respond to some emergencies, should they be the closest officer to a crime in a remote rural area. The change will cost about $7.7 million more each year, much of it for increased officer salaries, according to a government source.
Sheriffs and fish and wildlife officers already carry guns, and vehicle inspectors may become authorized to do so, too.
“People in the bigger cites do not know the extent of the havoc that rural crime has caused on communities, the impact that it’s had, leading to mental health issues, anxiety and a general feeling of not being safe in their communities,” Schweitzer said.
The minister said Alberta is at a “crisis point,” and that statistics showing decreasing reports of rural crime are inaccurate because people have given up reporting the crimes, assuming police will never come.
People found trespassing on rural properties will also be hit with steeper penalties, should proposed legislative changes pass, he said.
The government wants to increase the maximum trespassing fine five-fold, starting at $10,000 for a first offence and $25,000 for subsequent violations, with a possible jail sentence up to six months.
Corporations that “help or direct” trespassers could be dinged up for up to $200,000 and people who introduce pests to agricultural operations could face new penalties under new Animal Health Act regulations.
Schweitzer said these measures are to help prevent protests by “animal rights radicals,” such as activists who showed up at the Jumbo Valley farm in southern Alberta in September to draw attention to the animals’ living conditions.
In a forthcoming bill this fall sitting — the government has yet to provide a bill number or a date — it will also propose amending the Occupiers Liability Act so people who appear to be committing a crime on private property cannot sue the property owner. This legal change would be retroactive to January 2018.
In a high-profile case that has garnered a personal donation from Premier Jason Kenney, southern Alberta farmer Edouard Maurice is being sued by a man who was on his property rifling through his vehicles in February 2018. Maurice said he fired two warning shots, one of which ricocheted off course, and hit suspect Ryan Watson in the arm. Watson is suing Maurice for $100,000 in damages, and Maurice is counter-suing Watson.
On Tuesday, the government also proclaimed a piece of legislation regulating scrap metal sellers that’s sat on the books, inactive, since 2012. Like pawn shops, dealers would have to check identification, keep records of scrap metal sales and report any suspected stolen property.
Schweitzer said this should help combat the theft of copper and industrial metal, which thieves sometimes sell to pay for drugs.
Come January, groups of people affected by crime will also be able to submit a “community impact statement” to be read at criminal sentencing hearings. The government also intends to introduce new mechanisms to collect money owed by people convicted of crimes. Changes could allow the government to garnish wages or seize property so victims are reimbursed.
NDP justice critic Kathleen Ganley said Wednesday the plan fails to increase the number of people who can respond to calls for help. Peace officers are already on the job, and they have other duties to fulfill, she said.
“It’s all very well to say fish and wildlife officers and sheriffs can respond to calls, but it doesn’t alter their arrest powers,” she said.
The former NDP government put an additional $10 million into hiring more rural police officers, and the government hasn’t said if it’ll keep those positions funded, she said.
