Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act, 2024

Summary#

• This bill changes Alberta’s Corrections Act and Police Act to create new provincial policing tools and oversight. Its main goals are to allow electronic monitoring for people under court orders and to set up new, provincially run police services with their own oversight board.
• Key changes:
  • Creates “independent agency police services” that the provincial government can establish for all or parts of Alberta, directed by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services.
  • Sets up an Independent Agency Police Service Oversight Board to oversee those services, prepare budgets, allocate funds, and ensure staffing.
  • Lets the Minister appoint the chiefs of these new police services (based on recommendations from the Oversight Board); chiefs hire officers.
  • Brings the Oversight Board into police complaint, discipline, and serious-incident processes, alongside existing commissions and the Police Review Commission.
  • Authorizes a province-run electronic monitoring program for people under court-ordered conditions (tracking location, movement, activity, communications, certain behaviors, or biometrics).
  • Requires police commission members to be part-time (no full-time members), and makes several technical updates (uniforms/insignia approval, calendar-year budgeting terms, inquiry powers, and more).

What it means for you#

• Residents

  • You may see new provincial police units operating in some communities or across Alberta, in addition to municipal police or the RCMP.
  • Complaints about these provincial police services, including about their chiefs, can go through the new Oversight Board. You should still receive regular status updates during investigations.
  • Inquiries into serious matters involving these services can be ordered, and reports go to the Oversight Board and the Minister.

• People under court orders (bail, probation, etc.)

  • Courts may order electronic monitoring. The province can track your location, movements, certain activities and communications, and even biometrics, to check you follow your conditions.
  • The program will have protocols to run the technology and monitor compliance.

• Crime victims and families

  • The bill adds more oversight tools for serious incidents and complaints involving the new provincial police services.
  • It aims for quicker coordination and reporting among chiefs, commissions, the Oversight Board, and the Police Review Commission.

• Municipalities and police commissions

  • Commission members must be part-time, not full-time.
  • Complaint handling and reporting now also involve the Oversight Board for the new provincial services.
  • Budget and planning language is aligned to a calendar year, but core responsibilities for municipal services remain.

• Police officers and chiefs

  • A new provincial service may create new roles or transfers for officers and chiefs.
  • Chiefs of the new services report to the Oversight Board on operations, finances, staffing, complaints, and results.
  • Officers in these services must follow directions from their chief and the Oversight Board. Uniforms and insignia will be standardized.

Expenses#

• No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

• Gives the province a flexible way to deploy police where needed and to fill gaps, especially for specialized or cross-regional work.
• Creates clear oversight through a dedicated board with budgeting, staffing, and diversity responsibilities.
• Aligns complaint and serious-incident processes for the new services, with clearer routes to dismiss frivolous complaints.
• Electronic monitoring can improve public safety by helping courts enforce conditions and reduce reoffending.
• Inquiry powers allow faster, transparent reviews of serious matters involving the new services.

Opponents' View#

• Risk of political control over policing: the Minister directs the services, appoints their chiefs, and the Deputy Minister sits on the Oversight Board.
• Possible duplication and confusion: municipal commissions, the new Oversight Board, and the Police Review Commission all play roles, which may be hard for the public to navigate.
• Costs and staffing are unclear; creating new services and a board could strain budgets and recruitment.
• Privacy concerns about electronic monitoring, especially tracking communications and biometrics.
• Limiting commissions to part-time members may reduce local capacity and expertise to oversee municipal police.