In this episode, Alberta s government announces $8.3 million to hire 50 new uniformed officers to fight crime in Edmonton, Alberta. Chief Dale McPhee, Councillor Sarah Hamilton, and Councilor Alexandra Hiritsu provide an update on the initiative.
00:17:06.680Thank you and again, we'll be open for questions later
00:17:09.680and I'm going to turn it over to Councillor Hamilton.
00:17:12.680to Casper Hamilton thank you chief McPhee Edmontonians have been loud and
00:17:23.440clear that public that safe public spaces are a priority the funding and
00:17:28.820prioritization of transit centers and the core is an investment in our shared
00:17:33.240long-term commitment to create a safe and vibrant city in over the past couple
00:17:39.260of years Edmonton has invested in creating safe public spaces this past fall city council set a
00:17:47.340funding formula so EPS has reliable funding going forward right now in council chambers
00:17:55.500council is hearing about the unison downtown program which is a public safety deployment
00:18:00.220technology there's been Chinatown and downtown vibrancy grants as well as the community outreach
00:18:06.300transit teams and while there is a general trend on a downward trend on violent crime nonetheless
00:18:13.260perceptions of safety remain the biggest barrier to getting people back into the core and back
00:18:18.140onto transit which amongst other things is very important for Edmonton's ongoing economic recovery
00:18:24.780this will help give certainty to Edmontonians not just in the core but across the city
00:18:31.020as staffing levels can be stabilized. The accelerated funding means that we can get
00:18:37.260police on the ground quicker into the city and is a key piece of addressing the chronic safety
00:18:43.340concerns and working towards our shared goals of public safety. So thank you to the provincial
00:18:50.940government for continuing to prioritize the safety and well-being of Edmontonians
00:18:55.500and the community and thank you to the community through which organizations like the downtown
00:19:02.060recovery coalition as well as many many others have advocated for the safety and livability of
00:19:08.540our city i'd now like to turn it over to alex hertsu from the downtown recovery recovery
00:19:14.300coalition to say a few words thank you counselor and chief and minister alice i'm alex hertsu and
00:19:25.180I'm the chair of the Downtown Recovery Coalition and on behalf of the DRC, a steering committee of
00:19:29.980over 30 community leaders, property owners, city builders, business owners and not-for-profit
00:19:36.700representatives, we appreciate the collaborative efforts the Edmonton Police Service and the
00:19:41.180provincial government have put into addressing high crime areas. We know from other cities that
00:19:46.620the presence of law enforcement and even proactive policing increases the perception of safety and
00:19:52.140can reduce incidents of crime and disorder. This investment is a part of a comprehensive approach
00:19:57.580that includes addressing root causes of crime, fostering community engagement, and providing
00:20:02.540social services and implementing measures to create more vibrant and public spaces.
00:20:07.420So we're incredibly appreciative of the effort and the work and the ongoing
00:20:11.900attention to the downtown core and transit areas. Thank you so much.
00:20:15.020This brings us to the question and answer portion of our announcement. We do have quite a number of
00:20:24.060reporters here on the floor. If you have a question, I would just ask you to make your
00:20:28.160way to the mic, and we'll go to the phone shortly. So we'll lead off with our first question.
00:20:32.360Perfect. Shalane Skalsky with CTV News here in Edmonton. Either the minister or the chief,
00:20:37.220just looking for some more clarity in terms of timeline. Chief, you mentioned by the end of
00:20:41.900We've seen more transit officers, can you confirm that all 50 officers will be trained and deployed by the end of next year?
00:20:47.840And if that is the case, what do you say to Albertans who say that doesn't do anything to solve the real problems that we're facing right now?
00:20:54.760Well, first of all, we've already deployed resources into these areas.
00:20:58.200What we're doing is backfilling some of the other areas.
00:21:00.320So we've already got a presence in transit.
00:21:02.940But what we're trying to do now is we went from recruiting class sizes of 32 to 50.
00:21:08.020So we run three classes a year, so that's an extra 24, sorry, 54 officers a year that we're actually starting to put through recruitment.
00:21:19.060Plus we're actually, we changed how we actually recruit experienced officers and we've put through 10 this year.
00:21:24.940Plus we're going to build a step down program of what maybe we just don't need a badge and a gun at.
00:21:30.320What can we do with the lesser to take duties away?
00:21:32.600So a very complex answer that I gave you, but we're dealing with it in multiple ways.
00:21:37.760and this funding allows us to get there and get these bodies back in place as quick as we can
00:21:43.040with the capacity we have so we're going to fill the capacity of our classes uh in you know in a
00:21:49.120couple years we'll have all the backfill everywhere but the reality is is these resources are one of
00:21:54.720those high areas to combat it right now and we've already put a bunch of officers in there so we
00:22:00.160will continue to do that just for some clarity then the 50 new officers that we're talking about
00:22:04.560they will all be accounted for, they will all be in positions by the end of next year, is that what you're saying?
00:22:09.560By the end of next year we should be pretty close depending on how our recruitment classes go,
00:22:14.560but yes we should be pretty darn close because what that really means is if you do the math,
00:22:19.56054 additional officers, that's one year, but then it doesn't take into the experienced officer classes
00:22:24.560and it doesn't take into the step down. All three of those things are where we're going to focus to get those filled, yes.
00:22:31.560Can I ask a second follow-up just for the minister, unrelated, for a colleague?
00:22:35.080Sorry, if I could. Just a question for a colleague. I'm wondering if you can provide any
00:22:39.080details on the treatment centre in Mascochise, Witasquan area and conversations with the province
00:22:43.400in that regard. No specific update. The only thing I would say is that certainly we're in the
00:22:50.040process of building 11 world-class treatment centres throughout the province. We are committed
00:22:56.760to the recovery-oriented system of care, something that has been internationally recognized.
00:23:01.480And certainly, of course, the Red Deer one opened up. Lethbridge is about to be open,
00:23:09.560if not mistaken. Of course, we're in the process of building one on the blood reserve,
00:23:13.560and we have one coming in Siksika Nation, Sutina Nation, Enoch Nation, and again,
00:23:21.400there's i'm probably missing a few but there's a plethora of ones that are going to be coming here
00:23:25.800and you know i can tell you anecdotally uh the reports that i've heard coming out of the red deer
00:23:32.680model has been quite remarkable whether it be from staff or whether coming from
00:23:39.640the clients themselves i think that there's real hope in understanding that addiction itself is
00:23:45.240a neurobiological neurobiological illness and that is getting the health care attention that
00:23:50.040that it deserves in order to get people on a pathway to recovery.
00:23:53.960Minister, while you're still there, Sarah Ryan, Global News.
00:24:44.900So obviously to expedite this, some of the first dollars in will be obviously getting the equipment for them.
00:24:50.400So we don't have the delay in relation to that.
00:24:52.800But we've already, as I mentioned earlier, backfilled a lot of those positions into the problem areas.
00:24:57.540Now we're just going to continue to recruit to backfill that.
00:25:00.160So we will be able to expedite this just by, as you've heard the minister mention, radios, body cameras, all those things that are obviously required in an officer.
00:25:11.980So to his point, this is fully funded.
00:25:14.900My last question, Chief, can you just talk about what changes, if any, we've seen from shifting those officers into the key areas?
00:25:22.280Yeah, I think the biggest one that stands out is transit.
00:25:26.620With putting 50 officers in there, we've seen a significant drop in crime level in relation to transit ever since we've been in there.
00:25:33.760I think that's something we obviously have to maintain because when it gets colder, people will migrate into transit, and we need to continue to do that.
00:25:40.380but we've seen remarkable one there we've seen some obviously changes in the downtown area since
00:25:45.820we've gone to the whole safer public spaces in relation to open-air drug use obviously we still
00:25:51.900got to take some new course of action in relation to encampments and things as cold and not being
00:25:57.900safe with our partners but we're seeing some major changes in that area where we are really focusing
00:26:03.900now too though is the resources that we put into the guns and the gun violence and the actual
00:26:09.580violence on the street is probably our biggest concern right now and back to what the minister
00:26:14.680was saying earlier that relies heavily on being able to hold some people in jail like whether it's
00:26:20.160bill c75 or c48 those changes need to come now like i'm not sure what we're waiting for
00:26:26.100we have way too many people that get picked up for serious serious violent offenses that are out
00:26:31.280days later and that has to stop for the full fruition of our efforts so that is obviously
00:26:37.140another area both the province and all the police services across the country are focused on
00:26:43.620hi keep trying from the edmonton journal i think for the minister um the chief may want to weigh
00:26:48.740in as well i'm a little confused about the timing as you noted the announcement of this
00:26:54.260new officers was back before the election we're now in mid-december when you're announcing the
00:26:59.380funding so i'm wondering what took so long there or has the edmonton police service been able to
00:27:04.420recruit and move ahead just based on the promise of the funding coming yeah i'll let the chief
00:27:09.780speak to that uh regarding the but look i mean you know it's it there there aren't 50 you know
00:27:17.620unemployed police officers that are fully trained sitting on the streets right now that the chief
00:27:22.020can just hire and and put them up put them to work it takes time to plan it takes time to recruit it
00:27:28.100takes time to train uh my own experience and i'm sure the chief will supplement this but to really
00:27:33.700get a fully trained and qualified police officer that can really handle uh any call to service
00:27:39.300takes about five years so they they have they have they're going as fast as they can they're
00:27:45.620they're they're moving as far as i'm concerned at a bit i would say light speed i mean 20 years ago
00:27:50.820when i was when i was applying it might be i think two years before i might get a phone call back
00:27:56.100quite frankly that i might get hired so the fact that they're recruiting and getting people uh in
00:28:01.860and they have classes that are ongoing i think is uh remarkable and i appreciate that
00:28:07.140oops great great question i mean the difference here right now is a promise and now the check
00:28:13.860has been actually delivered and the reality is as we made obviously plans based on promises
00:28:19.060now it is we can purchase equipment and we can do some things quicker so what this really does
00:28:24.340is this expedites everything for us because now we can get a lot of things in place to actually
00:28:57.160I think the government recognizes that there are problems from a social civil disorder issue to guns and gangs issue and it's important to let the public know that we are out there, we recognize that, we're supporting our law enforcement community, we're supporting the Edmonton Police Service to make sure that they have the tool from the toolbox in order to protect the citizens of Edmonton.
00:29:49.160Really, it's taking every complaint system that we have throughout the province and bringing it back into or putting it into one independent agency.
00:29:59.180So right now, the department has indicated to me that they're on track and that process is still ongoing.
00:30:07.540In regards to the body cams, yeah, I might have to defer to Chief McPhee because I know he sits on the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police.
00:30:13.880I would just say that we're still talking with the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police.
00:30:25.040We're kind of limited in scope as far as what vendors that we have available to us.
00:30:30.920And I think right now there's a bit of a decision that is being made whether the police agencies themselves are going to go in a, we'll say, a certain direction, are going to attempt to procure something.
00:30:43.880or maybe the province might procure something
00:30:47.320in order to alleviate some of the costs.
00:30:49.360Again, that's stuff that is just ongoing at the moment.
00:30:51.820I know, do you have anything else to add?