County resolution about safety

A Mountain View County resolution set to come before the Rural Municipalities of Alberta Association zone meeting next month is aimed at improving safety for community peace officers across the province, says councillor and association president Al Kemmere.

During the recent council meeting the two-page resolution was reviewed by councillors and approved to move forward to zone.

The county’s policies and priorities committee made a recommendation in July that administration prepare a resolution in regard to enhanced access for community peace officer access to the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC).

CPIC is a database used by police forces across the country to access up-to-date information on offender status and criminal activities.

The county’s resolution calls for peace officers to be given access to the system, allowing them, for example, to find out criminal activity details about drivers they may pull over.

“It’s a county resolution that has resulted from discussions that have been taking place in the province through the last year or so,” said Kemmere. “It’s a safety thing as much as anything. Getting as much information as possible is important so when the officers are pulling people over they’ve got an idea of what they are walking into.

“I think it would definitely help. It’s about safety for the officers as much as anything."

The resolution itself calls on the “Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General to work with Canadian Police Information Centre, and any other ministry necessary to provide direct, mobile and timely CPIC access to community peace officers that can be used as a proactive and preventative tool within defined guidelines.”

The background note accompanying the resolution states, in part, that, “Granting enhanced and timely access to CPIC for community peace officers would provide municipalities added flexibility to determine their internal processes and protocols for community peace officers when dealing with the public.

“It would provide a potential for increase in safety of employees as well as operational efficiencies of the organization. It is the intent of this resolution to provide additional support to efforts to have this issue resolved for the safety of all community peace officers in Alberta.”

If the resolution passes at zones it will go before the RMA’s annual general meeting in November.