The RCMP’s ability to fully implement the 2015 Traffic Safety Plan, unanimously approved by Airdrie City council on Nov. 17, will be adversely impacted if a request for more officers is not approved during budget deliberations, according to Inspector Gordon Sage, officer in command of the Airdrie detachment.
“We need those eight members that we’ve asked for. That’s going to be a key part of it to be able to roll (the Traffic Safety Plan) out,” Sage said. “We need those bodies to do any type of proactive policing.”
Sage presented a request to the Council Budget Committee on Nov. 14 asking for eight officers in each of the next three years for a total of 24. All will be general duty officer positions.
“They’re all going to be front line. My intention is to build a fourth watch so it will all be uniform members; people on the streets,” he said. “I’ve had a very positive response from all members of council.”
“It’s overdue. It’s a realistic ask. I’m asking for eight (new officers) to get eight, not to get four. I’m shooting for a realistic police to population ratio. I think everyone understands that.”
According to Sage, Airdrie’s current police to population ratio is one to 1,361. The RCMP division average is one to 701. Sage said adding 24 new officers will bring that ratio down to 1 to 1,000, depending on Airdrie’s population growth.
“If we don’t do anything, that number’s going to get so big. As I said to council, ‘Airdrie’s a safe community, but it’s growth that’s our issue’”, he said. “We’ve only had two positions approved in the last three years and that’s why we’ve fallen behind.”
Mayor Peter Brown said indications are council will be supportive of the request for new officers, at least for 2015.
“The budget hasn’t been approved yet, but from the discussion at the Council Budget Committee, I would say they are very supportive of the new officers,” Brown said. “Certainly, I, personally am very supportive of the eight new positions for 2015. Obviously, community safety is priority one for our council.”
Manager of Municipal Enforcement at the City of Airdrie Darryl Poburan said he also has plans to add two additional peace officers in 2016 who would work side-by-side with RCMP on after hours enforcement. Municipal Enforcement currently employs 10 peace officers, six Level One Peace Officers who deal primarily with traffic issues, and four Level Two Peace Officers who deal with bylaw issues.
“It’s a plan that’s used by both RCMP and Municipal Enforcement. We sit down together, we gather the statistics and we talk about what we want to accomplish,” he said. “We then try to determine what the priorities are. We also talk to the Police Advisory Committee and ask them what priorities they’d like to see within the plan.”
“The big one that came up this year is schools and all the traffic issues we’ve had around schools,” he said. “We also talk about speeding and collisions and the different problem areas around town. Part of creating the plan, and what the Solicitor General wants us to do, is to focus on those areas of Airdrie that need us to focus on and make sure the community is safer.”
The 2015 Traffic Safety Plan will be available online at now on airdrie.ca
