1 week Ago By Ari Yanover
An advocacy group for sheriffs in Alberta says while it supports the creation of a new provincial police agency, it’s also seeking assurances around concern regarding the future of jobs, loss of expertise and declining morale. In a statement released Wednesday, the Sheriff Branch Officers Association (SBOA) spoke out against the province’s Bill 49, introduced on Tuesday , which took a further step towards creating a new provincial police agency. The group is most concerned about comments by Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis indicating his department had identified around 600 current sheriffs as being able to be trained sufficiently to shift from their roles as peace officers to police officers.
“This creates a potential imbalance in workforce distribution, leading to confusion about job roles and a possible reduction in the number of sheriffs available to carry out their critical non-policing duties, such as courthouse security and transportation safety,” it states, noting the 600 sheriffs would redeploy roughly half of all current sheriffs. It added there is no clear plan for the remaining 600 sheriffs should that shift occur. “It is not clear how the remaining sheriffs would be able to manage these responsibilities, leading to possible inefficiencies or service gaps.
” Dornubari Tornwe, SBOA president and an Edmonton-based sheriff, told Postmedia that sheriffs are generally supportive of creating a new provincial police service, but want to know how they are expected to cope should their workforce be cut in half. “There’s a lot of information that we have questions for, that we don’t have answers for,” he said, adding SBOA is looking to hear from Ellis directly. “We hope to have this discussion with him at some point.
” Ellis’ office said in a statement that staffing decisions related to the new ministry will be determined by the incoming chief, who has not yet been named. “Once that selection is made, it will allow for future recruitment of an executive team who can focus on planning for implementation.” SBOA was launched in July and says it advocates on behalf of sheriffs across the province.
It is seeking to become a recognized union but the province has not responded to its request to do so. Until then, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) remains the bargaining agent and legal representative for sheriffs. In a statement, AUPE vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey said Bill 49 is increasing the scope of sheriff’s work, and must come with improved pay and benefits.
“If it wants this new police force to succeed, the first step must be to create the conditions that will allow it to recruit and retain officers.” Opposition public safety critic David Shepherd called on the government to reconsider the legislation, saying it has no support. “Alberta Sheriffs themselves are saying they do not want to be part of a provincial police force,” he said, adding he believes sheriffs are being spread too thin in parts of the province.
“They are concerned about resources. They are concerned about manpower.” mblack@postmedia.
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