The town is now in the official process of expanding its community peace officer program by summer.
The measure was approved in the 2011 Operating Budget to add a new member to the existing program, which currently employs one full-time officer. Since early April the town has been advertising for an additional member.
Darryl Joyce, the town’s director of corporate and protective services, said an additional full-time community peace officer would greatly reduce the scope and cost of having a bylaw services contract with Alberta Animal Services (AAS) in Red Deer.
In 2010, the town paid out $55,000 to AAS to enforce public municipal bylaws and to service any animal control issues. This contract specified AAS was to give the 100 hours of service a month. The cost in 2010 of having one full-time community peace officer working 160 hours a month was $53,000.
“What council did was to reduce the contract and for the same money we can now add a peace officer,” said Joyce, adding the addition of a second peace officer makes good financial and practical sense for the town. “We are getting 60 hours of more enforcement a month than what we were getting in the contract. It is more enforcement for the same money.”
An important issue in the town’s decision to expand its community officer program was that AAS was limited in what types of enforcement it was legally able to handle. AAS could not enforce traffic or provincial laws, or partner with the RCMP on those issues. However, a community peace officer is able to perform all those functions.
The reduced contract with AAS will see the agency still handle the bulk load of animal calls and complaints in town through periodic patrols.
Joyce said the community will now benefit with increased overall peace officer enforcement.
“The two peace officers will have the ability to overlap shifts, or increase presence in the community to 10 or 11 p.m. We will have expanded coverage for the community,” he said.
Joyce said the second peace officer is expected to start duties in the community during the first week of July.
Meanwhile, the town’s advertisement for an additional peace officer stipulates the successful candidate’s duties will include traffic enforcement and control, responding to public bylaw complaints, working with contracted animal control services, attending provincial court when required and enforcement of municipal bylaws. The position will also have an integral role with the town’s health and safety program.
Applicants must have a minimum of two years experience as a community peace officer.
