CalgaryQ&A

Red Deer councillor proposes hybrid police service to combat high crime rate

Red Deer Coun. Dianne Wyntjes wants the central Alberta city, which outpaces bigger cities when it comes to property and violent crimes, to explore a new approach to policing.

Coun. Dianne Wyntjes wants municipal force to supplement RCMP

CBC News Posted: Jan 09, 2017 12:51 PM EST | Last Updated: January 9, 2017

Red Deer Coun. Dianne Wyntjes is bringing a motion to Monday's council meeting on creating a hybrid police force. (CBC)

Red Deer Coun. Dianne Wyntjes is proposing a new policing model for the central Alberta city. (The City of Red Deer)

A Red Deer councillor wants the city to explore a hybrid policing model that would see existingRCMP officers supplemented with a new municipal police service.

Red Deer outpaces bigger cities in Alberta when it comes to property and violent crimes, according to the Crime Severity Index measured by Statistics Canada.

That's a big concern forcity leaders, including Coun.Dianne Wyntjes.

Wyntjes spoke with the Calgary Eyeopenerabout the motion she is bringing to Red Deer city council Monday afternoon, asking the city manager to explore the idea of creating a hybrid police service.

The following is an edited version of the conversation.

Q: What kind of police force do you have right now?

Currently we have a contract with the RCMP. It's about 160 members and costs about $35 million a year.

Are they not doing a good enough job?

My notice of motion to explore a hybrid police force is in no way to discredit or disparage the current RCMP women and men, who are out on our streets every day.

But Red Deer has rated high over the last few years with the Crime Severity Index and crime activity, and we're a growing city. I think it also can be related to our location between Edmonton and Calgary and the flow of criminal activity between the two large cities in our central Alberta region.

What would a hybrid model look like?

A hybrid model is a new model. I don't think there's anything that is similar across Canada. It would enable a municipal police force to work side by side with the [RCMP] members that are providing service in our streets.

How do the RCMP feel about the idea of a hybrid police force?

They said that contract is up to us to determine. Their goal, along with the members on the street, is basically to respond to crime, so they have the same goal we do, it's just how we get there.

Again, this is a new model. It's also important that we look at this, as a growing city, in terms of cost, because some of the cities I know that have looked at it, like Coquitlam, Burnaby, they are all now beyond the state of getting into it because it's so cost prohibitive [as they've grown so fast].

Lethbridge has its own municipal police force. Has there been any discussion in Red Deer about moving away from the RCMP entirely?

In my first term, I was on a committee that researched and looked at it. And at the time, it was just one or the other renew the RCMP contract, or go down the road of a municipal policing agency.

At that time, we didn't explore the hybrid model adequately. So this notice of motion, for me, I hope, with the support of my colleague councillors today, will allow that to happen.