DEFEATED - Police Funding Model Value to Municipalities

In 2019, the Government of Alberta announced a commitment of $286 million over five years to fund improvements to public safety. This funding would include an additional 300 officer positions across RCMP detachments in Alberta with the support of an additional 200 civilian staff. Under this investment plan, the Alberta RCMP would have increased from the 1,600 officers recorded in 2019 to approximately 1,900 by 2024.  This announcement was made concurrently with modifications to the Police Funding Model (PFM) that would result in every Alberta municipality beginning to pay for frontline policing services. While the province had stated that the revenue from the PFM would be reinvested into policing, there has not yet been quantifiable evidence that this has taken place. This has resulted in additional public safety personnel for municipalities that began to shoulder costs introduced by the new PFM. RMA has previously advocated for this funding model to be frozen at no greater than 10% of the total policing costs under the Provincial Police Service Agreement (PPSA) until a review of the Alberta RCMP could be undertaken, with the monies collected by government remaining in the RMA district from which they were collected (Resolution 1-20F; status expired).

From 2017-2022, Alberta’s population increased by 9.5%. Over the same period, total police personnel increased by 7%. Actual police personnel in 2022 consisted of 8,007 officers, but the authorized strength had been 8,190 personnel total – thereby leaving Albertans short 183 officers across the province.  For years, the Government of Alberta has not ensured that adequate officer capacity is present in the province and made minimal investments in pursuing the fulfillment of this need. Investments must match the demands of 2024 and beyond to ensure that future needs can continue to be met as the province encourages and promotes Alberta’s population growth. By the province’s stated ideal personnel strength of 180 police personnel per 100,000 population, 400 more officer personnel are needed for adequate policing capacity  in the province’s contracted police service, the RCMP “K” Division. These additional personnel constitute a 5% increase in the current amount of police personnel.

The Government of Alberta indicated an intent to pursue the creation of an Independent Agency Police Service (IAPS) through the introduction of Bill 11 on March 13, 2024. This is being explored unilaterally without consideration of stakeholders, existing public safety services, and municipal leaders. Any IAPS established through the changes to the Police Act made by Bill 11 has not been duly costed or examined for efficiencies compared to existing public safety services. Previous studies undertaken by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2021 demonstrated that a new provincial police service would increase costs to taxpayers for a similarly structured service. This study cited an estimated cost of $371 million to start a new service, with any new service costing at least $164 million in new annual operational costs. As these estimates were completed in 2021, costs are likely to have increased with inflation since PwC’s initial estimates. A new service would additionally not be eligible for federal support (the RCMP “K” Division currently receives $188 million annually). Based on the Government of Alberta’s lack of consultation with the public and stakeholders, it is unclear who will cover the costs of implementing a new police service. Rather than increasing costs to municipalities and Albertans through re-exploring the establishment of a new provincial police service, the Government of Alberta should direct any additional investment to the province’s existing provincial police service, the Alberta RCMP.