Municipal Police Decision

Municipal Policing: there’s been a lot of talk about it this week!

My apologies for not being on social media much the last couple of days. I’ve been focusing my time on one-on-one conversations with residents. If you want to meet for coffee: let me know!

After diving in here, you may want a more analytical and info-full take on this conversation from me. You can read that at www.bressey.ca/municipalpolice. You can also see the comprehensive Q&A by the City here.

Grande Prairie is my home. I am raising my kids in Grande Prairie. I’m passionately involved in nonprofits and co-own a business here. Most of my dear friends live in this region. I want us to have the best community possible. And I do believe a municipal police model best supports a safe and financially healthy city.

The RCMP is a remarkable model for federal and rural policing. But once a community hits a certain size and complexity, there are big flaws to contract policing. Many RCMP-policed cities have identified big advantages to forming their own police services. And urban policing is putting an incredible strain on the RCMP. 

80% of Canadians receive policing from non-RCMP services. In my strong opinion, it makes sense for us to join them. A Municipal Police Service will allow us to better meet the expectations I've heard from residents. It will also help us get better value for the tax dollars we spend on policing.

I know that many of you reading this will disagree. Strongly. There are very big feelings in the community surrounding the Municipal Police Transition. And I get why many people are angry, frustrated, or concerned. I really do. I want to thank those who are upset but still engaging in dialogue with Council. 

I have a lot of strong feelings too. I’m sad about the local RCMP members who had planned to serve here for a long time to come. They now have to choose between our community and the Red Serge.  I’m glad to have made a decision after years of work by Council. I hate that many residents didn’t hear about that work until very late in the process. I’m looking forward to the hard work that is about to come. I hope residents stay engaged so we can form a Police Service that meets their expectations.

I have had many reach out to me about the motion I made to postpone the decision to transition. I would've loved more time for residents to be able to share their concerns directly. But I want to be clear: when I lose a vote at Council, I still trust my colleagues. Even when I disagree, I always see reasonableness to Council’s decisions. I get why Council didn't postpone. It felt that it had all the in depth information needed to understand the current RCMP model and the proposed Municipal model. Which it did. And of all the concerns shared with me since Monday: they were voiced strongly and considered by Council before our vote. I stand by my motion, but am not feeling angry, hurt, or railroaded because it failed. I get why Council decided to move forward with a decision.

This decision to start a Municipal Police Service was not made lightly or quickly. It was made after years of work in public meetings. It was based on big concerns about both policing and taxes. We've been hearing these concerns from residents for years. And the team that informed our decision is strong. Tremendous experience in both policing and municipal finance were engaged. You can watch our City Manager introduce the team and work that went into this decision here.

A significant voice in this conversation was our Deputy City Manager, Mr. Miller. He has worked for municipalities for over ten years. Mr. Miller understands RCMP contract management from a municipal perspective. But Mr. Miller also had an entire career with the RCMP,. He served as the Grande Prairie Detachment Commander before moving on to become a District Commander. You can see the advice he gave to Council here.

For decades, cities across the Country have been talking about transition away from RCMP contract policing. Studies occasionally get commissioned to examine what that would look like. Red Deer and Airdrie went through this exercise a few years ago. These studies usually conclude that a municipal service would be better. But also more expensive.

However, very recently, the math of RCMP vs Municipal policing has changed.

In 2021, RCMP members won a very significant (but deserved!) salary increase. Our Council was aware that this was coming (although we were expecting a 16% raise instead of the 24% that materialised). We were also aware about the potential of big changes to contract policing being made by the provincial or federal governments. In 2021, Council commissioned a Police Model Review.

Existing staff with policing experience got tasked with this review. They engaged an external consultant with significant policing experience, including service on the Executive of the Alberta Chiefs of Police. These people took a deep dive into current Grande Prairie RCMP operations. They visited municipal police forces across Canada. They also talked to experts and read all the academic literature they could.

During that time, there were many public engagements that touched on policing. Residents were asked about their experiences, expectations and concerns with public safety and policing. Opportunities in 2022 included the Citizen Satisfaction Survey, Budget engagements, and five town halls hosted by the RCMP.

Last October, the Police Model Review was publicly presented to Council. It indicated that forming a Municipal Police Service would have likely benefit. So Council directed the creation of a Transition Plan for consideration. An external, well regarded accounting and business strategy firm (MNP) got hired. It built on previous work. MNP created a detailed operational plan. This Plan was backed by extensive spreadsheets and over 2900 pages of documentation. 

MNP’s work also included a conservative financial model. It was detailed down to the price of tie clips. Wherever possible, real costs were obtained from vendors and service providers. Where that wasn’t possible, costs were based on existing costs in Grande Prairie or other municipal police forces. In the end, this financial model has a higher per capita cost than the budgets of other midsized city police forces. It was given very close scrutiny by the City’s executive team before getting intense questioning from Council. This model showed that a municipal police service can be created with no tax impact. Then operated for less money than contracting to the RCMP.

MNP also undertook extensive public engagement. It included stakeholder interviews, focus groups, an online survey, and open houses. This external firm was hired so that people could be honest without fear of damaging relationships with the City. Engagement opportunities were advertised extensively through social and traditional media. Through this process, I know of 13 local news stories and several provincial or national news stories that were published. More people took part in this engagement exercise than took part in any engagement in City history.

That being said: residents are busy and there is so much information thrown at us these days. I fully acknowledge that, for too many people, we didn’t successfully cut through the noise of everyday life. They didn’t know that this conversation was happening until very late in the process. That REALLY bothers me. Because of this, I truly didn’t know if I was voting “yes” or “no” until I had to make a decision. It was the hardest vote I’ve ever had to make at Council.

In the end, I did vote “yes.” While I wish more residents had been able to express their concerns directly, all the concerns that were being raised had been considered. And it is crystal clear to me that a Municipal Police Service will better meet the expectations I've heard from residents. Some reasons I believe that:

• In previous years, our community has identified changes that should be made. They were often supported by our Detachment Commander, but couldn't get traction with RCMP command. Now we can have local flexibility to shape policing to our community.

• The RCMP is in a recruiting crisis. This is putting the long term availability of contract policing into doubt. Our Detachment is never at full strength. Half of our constables on patrol have been policing for less than a year. 50% of our supervisory positions are staffed in an acting capacity: no one of the appropriate rank and experience is available. Midsized services across the country are NOT having this challenge. A municipal service will allow our community to take recruiting into our own hands. It will also allow us to build a more experienced police service.

• Under the RCMP, we see costs go up every year with little predictability and no local input. Having a local Commission set and communicate the budget will be hugely beneficial.

If you want to read more about the benefits I see in a Municipal Police Service, checkout www.bressey.ca/municipalpolice

To me, the benefits of a Municipal Police Service are clear.

All that said: I get why many people wanted longer engagement or a direct say in this. I really do. And I am so appreciative of those of you who took hours of your life to do a deep dive into what was being discussed. I learned so much from conversations with you. But Council doesn’t just represent the residents who have the desire and time to dive in. We also represent the vast majority who want minimal engagement with municipal government. But they do want it to be delivered as effectively and efficiently as possible. For my entire time on Council, I’ve heard crystal clear from a huge amount of residents that they expect improvements to policing. They also want tight control of municipal money. Even residents supportive of keeping the RCMP identify frustrations with current policing. I voted "yes" to Municipal Police because I think it is our best hope to meet the expectations I have heard from residents.

I do want to briefly address five things I see floating around that I don’t view as accurate:

• Council has no issues with any individual serving the RCMP. Personally: I HUGELY admire all members I know that are currently serving our community. Both locally and in K Division. Knowing how this decision impacts them is something I feel very heavily. But I do have concerns with the system these people work within. I doubt its long-term availability to us. And because it is so good at federal and rural-remote policing, it has challenges in urban areas. Over the years, I’ve heard frustrations expressed by RCMP members themselves. Including multiple individuals who have worked in Grande Praire as a Detachment Commander.

• Some are claiming that the model proposed has a few less police over all and significantly less on patrol. That’s not true. The plan is to have slightly more Sworn Officers than we get from the RCMP. And the watch model proposed has MORE Sworn Officers than are committed to patrol today. It also has more senior officers proposed for the watch. Finally, it plans to better use Peace Officers in the watch system. Peace Officers will have to meet more entrance, training, and oversight requirements than they meet today. Then will be tasked with minor theft and mischief calls where there is no danger involved. This will allow Sworn Officers to spend more time on proactive policing and on addressing larger crimes. Additionally, mischief and theft have huge impacts on quality of life. But are less serious than so many other things Sworn Officers deal with so don't always get due attention. Since it will be the biggest thing they deal with, I suspect Peace Officers will do a better job chasing down that stolen bike or dealing with graffiti.

• Some are claiming that this will make our taxes skyrocket. I strongly disagree. I literally don’t know what additional work Council could’ve done to get a better financial model built. It has a number of conservative choices built in. Including a 20% contingency for transition costs and no inclusion of photo enforcement revenue. On a per-capita basis: the one-time transition budget is about double the transition budget of Surrey. The ongoing operating budget is higher than the police costs for Medicine Hat and Brandon. I don’t see good reason to believe that the costs will be higher than budgeted. And that budget (plus some if necessary) can be financed without any tax impact.

• The RCMP will still be involved in our community. There is a five year transition plan. The RCMP Detachment Commander will be the person in charge of our policing for the next 2-3 years as a Municipal Service ramps up. Once the transition is complete, the Municipal Police Service will continue close collaboration with RCMP. We’ve heard strongly from our staff, the Detachment Commander, and the Commanding Officer of K Division that collaboration and mutual support will be a priority for both the RCMP and the Municipal Police Service.

• While Council has made a decision to Transition, public engagement on policing is not over. There is a lot of work yet to come to shape and build the Municipal Police Service. The community needs to get involved. We’ve listened carefully to your thoughts and concerns. They will be top of mind in future conversations. And when it comes time for Council to vote on appointing Commission members, a huge priority for me: appointing people I know reflect and will listen to our community.

That’s my thinking of the last few days, months, and years of work. As always, I welcome any questions or feedback you have. Although I prefer meeting for coffee to talking online!

If you have emailed or Direct Messaged me: I’m working hard to get through my inbox! As long as it isn’t abusive or threatening, I’m planning to respond to every message I got this week. But it will take time because I’m also doing a lot of coffee meetings.

If you do choose to comment on this post: I welcome that. Especially if you have questions. And even if you have criticisms. But please note that I delete any comments with name calling, threats, or other abuse. And  I am ok with civil pushback against the City, Council, or myself as an individual. But I don’t allow other individuals to be called out on my page- they should be addressed directly. 

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate residents willing to take time to learn about the work of Council. Especially when you have concerns about it.