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Alberta sheriffs have been left in the dark when it comes to the provincial government’s plan to create a new police force that would take over some of their duties, a union executive says.

Public safety and emergency services minister Mike Ellis announced legislation Wednesday to create an “independent police agency” that would take over “police-like functions” currently assigned to Alberta Sheriffs and “support” local law enforcement.

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Critics have attacked the idea as an attempt to introduce an Alberta provincial police service to replace the RCMP.

Bobby-Joe Borodey, a vice-president with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), said sheriffs learned of the proposed legislation 30 minutes before Ellis’s press conference.

“We were completely taken off guard,” she said. “We had no idea this was coming. Once we received the information, we were asking ‘Well, what are the details?’ And at this point, there are none.”

“Were we consulted? No. Will we be consulted? I have no idea.”

Alberta sheriffs preform a variety of law enforcement tasks including highway patrol, courthouse and legislature security, prisoner transport, investigating problem properties and fish and wildlife enforcement.

Those duties have been supplemented in recent years by the United Conservative government, which has assigned sheriffs to tackle various law enforcement priorities. The government created a sheriffs unit called the Rural Alberta Provincial Integrated Defence Response (RAPID) team to respond to rural crime, as well as units dedicated to surveillance and “fugitive apprehension.”

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Sheriffs were also paired with Edmonton and Calgary city police during a pilot project to address crime and disorder in each city’s downtown.

The 2023 provincial budget included $27.3 million in new funding to hire 245 additional sheriffs.

Ellis said those duties are among the responsibilities that could be transferred to the as yet unnamed agency. A press release said the new unit will “improve the government’s ability to respond to communities’ requests for additional law enforcement support” and “operate seamlessly alongside local police.”

“The creation of a provincial agency that can perform specialized law enforcement functions will enable police services across the province to spend more of their time focused on core operations and frontline duties,” the release stated.

Borodey said mission creep and compensation are concerns among the roughly 800 sheriffs AUPE represents. 

“We’re seen an ever increasing level of responsibility thrown at the sheriffs,” she said. “So one of our biggest questions right now is, with this potential move, will sheriffs be compensated appropriately for the work they will now be tasked with doing?”

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She also raised concerns about staffing.

“We are still at a critical point where we don’t have enough actual bodies to do the work that needs to be done, including in law enforcement.”

AUPE is also unclear whether the new police agency will exist alongside or replace the sheriffs service.

“We have no idea what the plan is,” Borodey said, adding the union has yet to see a timeline, either.

The National Police Federation, the union representing RCMP officers, also criticized the announcement.

President Brian Sauvé said in a statement that Alberta already has “significant policing infrastructure in place” through the RCMP, and that provincial funding for the Mounties has not kept pace with population growth and crime rates. 

He said Albertans largely support the RCMP and that the proposed legislation “appears to be yet another attempt to force an unwanted and expensive policing change on taxpayers. ”

— With files from Matthew Black

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