New Alberta RCMP chief says collaboration with incoming provincial police agency necessary to enhance safety

As the Danielle Smith government pushes forward with developing its provincial police force, the new Commanding Officer of RCMP in Alberta says he’s interested to see how it unfolds.

And, Trevor Daroux hopes to be at the table as conversations continue.

“We haven’t [as of yet] been but it’s very new in its implementation,” he tells 660 News Radio Calgary. “With the new chief just being announced, I suspect those opportunities will come. “

In early July, the province ramped up efforts to bring in its own province-wide policing service. Former deputy Calgary police chief, Sat Parhar, was recently tapped to lead what’s dubbed Alberta Sheriffs Police Service. Smith said once it’s up and running municipalities will have the option to contract the new service for its policing needs instead of the Mounties.

As the plan progresses, Daroux says he awaits details on how it will all work.

“It’s not clear yet as to what areas they are going to focus on,” he says. “But I anticipate we’ll be working closely together with Chief Parhar to advance the position of the independent agency.” 

It could potentially lead to valuable collaboration.

“I think there’s lots of opportunities (we can) be looking at – combining efforts to enhance the safety in our communities,” Daroux says. “It will also be important to have a clear distinction between what one organization is doing and what the other is so we’re not duplicating efforts and are just maximizing the benefit.”

Daroux also says Albertans need to be in on the discussion and educated on what it entails.

“It’s very important that communities can have a choice.  But they also need to be very grounded in the information they’re getting and that’s where it’s been a bit of a challenge,” he says.  “As you know, policing is complex, and community safety is complex. And when you apply one simple solution doesn’t necessarily address it.”

Daroux has been in policing for 37 years, retiring from Calgary Police in 2017 as deputy chief in charge of the bureau of community policing. 

Now, as Alberta’s deputy commander, he oversees the country’s second largest division and just under 5,000 employees, including nearly 4,000 sworn officers working in 113 detachments.

“Like any organization, it’s the people that make it great. And we’ve got some outstanding people in this province and just like me every one of them is committed to serving Albertans,” he says.

Alberta’s new police force details pending, while RCMP focus on provincial priorities

As many wait for more clarity on the provincial police force, Daroux says it’s business as usual for RCMP which serves and protects nearly 20 per cent of Alberta’s population.

“What I want Albertans to know is that when they need a police service, not just the RCMP, but all police services in this province, we will be there. And specifically from the RCMP, we will always be there,” Daroux says.

Danielle Smith’s feud with Ottawa is no secret — and the new police force? 

It’s, perhaps, her boldest move yet to stake Alberta’s claim to independence.

But despite any rhetoric around the topic, Daroux stresses priorities for communities in Alberta are set here and not in Ottawa.

“Each one of our detachment commanders does … our annual performance plan, but it really is a community priority plan, where they can establish what are the priorities and priorities in each community are different,” he says.

While there is flexibility to address communities needs at the detachment level, when addressing issues like cybercrime, organized crime and national security they have resources in the federal part of the organization to rely on, he says.

And whether it’s the Mounties or any police service be it existing or in development, Daroux says they all face some shared challenges from recruitment to the increased cost of policing. 

“This all just doesn’t get solved by, you know, changing the color of the stripe,” he says.

Will they stay or will they go?

The province is currently in the midst of a contract with the feds for community policing set to expire in 2032. 

As details continue to roll out, it doesn’t appear ruled out that the new provincial police service take over from the Mounties — Public Safety Minister, Mike Ellis citing it as a viable replacement

Daroux, however, says he is hearing assurances that is not the province’s trajectory.

“The premier was very clear that this is not about replacing the RCMP, but supplementing the work that’s being done,” he says.  “We’ve heard the premier speaking and those are the assurances that we have.”

The province earmarked $6 million this year to hire the service’s new chief, senior staff and pay for initial set-up costs.

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By the numbers

GROUND COVERED

About 99 per cent of Alberta’s geographical area falls under Alberta RCMP jurisdiction

PEOPLE SERVED

The population in RCMP jurisdiction is nearly 762, 000 or 18 per cent of Alberta’s total population(based on the 2021 census data).

RCMP CALLS FOR SERVICE

2023: 604,526

2024: 601,702

2024 Call types

Persons crime files, including assaults, robbery, homicides etc. — 42,499

Property Crime files, including break-ins, stolen autos, vandalism — 115,759

Break & enters decreased by eight per cent to 10,741 in 2024

Theft of Motor Vehicles down by six per cent to 8,272 

Total Criminal Code files 2024: 198,402 (ones which led to charges)

Five per cent decrease from 2023 to 2024  or 10,176 fewer offences

Provincial police service agreement: How it works

Under the Alberta Police Act, communities with a population less than 5,000 are policed via the Provincial Police Service. Alberta has an agreement with the feds to contract the RCMP as its provincial service.

Cost Share: Alberta pays 70 per cent and Canada pays 30 per cent

Municipal police service agreement

Communities with a population over 5,000 can opt to contract RCMP to police 

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Drones a game changer, tech partners on the frontlines

Mounties have mastered policing in the nation’s more remote communities. 

It’s no different in Alberta. 

Here, the response time for a 911 call to RCMP is 18 seconds. On average, the time it takes for an officer to arrive across the province is 20 minutes. Both, obviously, vary greatly based on where the caller is located, be it a far-flung rural area or closer to more urban centres.

“We police over 90% of the geography of this province. And some of it’s sparsely populated and some of it’s more populated,” Daroux says. “So the call response time in the downtown of a municipality for instance is much shorter than it is in the outlying districts.”

That’s why the organization is leveraging technology to reduce those times and support front-line officers’ especially when geography proves challenging.

“That’s where we’ve looked at something like a drone to be a first responder,” he says. 

With a domestic violence call where a suspect is still on scene, a drone will provide immediate policing presence night or day.  Members will still be on the way but via the drone – with its lights, cameras and communication capabilities – police can collect real-time information.

Is someone fleeing the residence, on foot, in a vehicle? A drone, which can respond faster than a patrol unit, can monitor that.

“So someone’s out in a bush missing, we’ve popped the drone up and been able to find them when it would have taken days to do that. With armed individuals out and about, we can actually identify them,” Daroux says.

Projects were piloted in three communities including Stoney Nakoda Nations and Red Deer with the RCMP looking to implement it province-wide.

“We’re fortunate because with events like G7, some of the international partners that the RCMP works with at national headquarters in Ottawa, we can leverage some of that technology as it’s advancing. And drones play a massive role in global security around the world,” he says. “Calgary and Edmonton have helicopters. Our smaller communities will never have that kind of aerial support, aerial coverage, but there’s a possibility we could implement drones that way as we continue to work on reducing our response times.”

“Several communities in Alberta are looking at implementing that, not just for policing, but for fire as well. We’re working closely with the province right now and moving that business case forward. You are always cautious with technology because of the cost .. and so we’re always ensuring that that cost is going to provide a strong return,” he says. “Drones are proving to be a real game changer, especially in rural policing.”