July 15, 2021 – The County of Grande Prairie council agreed to the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the RCMP that renews six policing positions within the county.
“The memorandum of agreement had expired, so council had to make a decision as to whether they wanted to renew and continue providing the enhanced service by continuing with those additional members for the Grande Prairie (Rural) detachment,” said Dan Lemieux, County of Grande Prairie director of community services.
The MOU includes one general investigative section (GIS) member, one crime reduction unit (CRU) member and four enhanced policing unit members.
Enhanced policing unit members do specialized patrols using mountain bikes, jet boats, ATVs and can assist in search and rescue, said Lemieux.
The enhanced members also patrol special events like rodeos, school presentations, check stops, and compliance checks, he added.
Under the new agreement, one of the members of the enhanced policing unit will be attached to the special investigative unit (SIU) along with the GIS and CRU officers.
Council directed the county administration to specify in the draft that the enhanced policing member is to be attached to the SIU until March 31, 2022.
The three other officers are based out of the Grande Prairie Rural Detachment.
The county has two MOUs with the RCMP, one for the Grande Prairie detachment and one with the Beaverlodge detachment.
“We have two enhance policing unit members that the county is paying for in Beaverlodge,” said Lemieux.
The cost for policing does fall on to the county with the new provincial funding model.
“There’s a provincial funding model now, so every municipality is now paying their share of the cost for all police service,” said Lemieux.
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