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 2024-07-26 03:48:21

Grande Prairie Police Service’s (GPPS) first graduating class of experienced officers celebrated in a low-key event with their families and dignitaries at Teresa Sargent Hall on June 21.

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The graduation is a culmination of several years of research and a highly criticized decision in March 2023. City council’s regular meeting pushed over past midnight and into the next day marking a nine hour meeting as they listened to delegate presentations from the public, special interest groups, the RCMP and police union.

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City council sought an outside assessment of the internal study which confirmed the validity of the move to a municipal run and dedicated service. The report hailed the tiered approach to policing that would have the city responding to incidents based on needs rather than a catch-all reaction.

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The five week experienced officer program includes Police Act, trauma-informed care, Indigenous teachings, firearms, mental health first aid, conducted energy weapons, unconscious bias, immediate action rapid deployment, first aid and GPPS policies and procedures.

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“The experienced officer program graduation is a significant milestone in our municipal police force transition, and a great moment of celebration for the Grande Prairie Police Service as this is the first class, and all training was provided locally,” said Grande Prairie’s mayor, Jackie Clayton.

In a larger city, problems are lost in the hundreds of thousands of people trying to access resources. Here things are more easily identified.

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Part of developing the police force was building a training program. GPPS hired its initial team of directors to develop the training and it proved to be successful.

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The experienced officers class are not recruits embarking on a new career. They have extensive experience from various services nationwide, including the RCMP and Toronto Police Service. Over the coming weeks, the class of five will take on the new assignments that put them back in active policing roles. Two will work with the local RCMP. One will work out of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) regional office. Two others will work directly inside the GPPS system to develop the forensics identification unity, SWAT/Tactical Team and the Community Engagement Team (CET)

“The conceptual design of the Grande Prairie Police Service (GPPS) has been developed by the City’s Municipal Police Transition Team (MPTT). The operating model proposed for the GPPS is comprised of four bureaus: Community Policing, Investigations and Operational Support, Community Safety, and Corporate Services, staffed with 100 police officers, 31 peace officers, 13 outreach staff and 76 civilian support staff. This progressive service model allows for a ‘Tiered Community Response,’ which focuses on deploying the most appropriate resource(s) based on required expertise, authorities, and equipment to best deal with a situation.”

There were multiple factors guiding the city’s initial decision to explore the possibility of municipal police force. A 2016 article in Macleans Magazine listed the city as the most dangerous in the nation. Not a moniker city council appreciated, it further propelled discussions.

Chief Dwayne Lakusta was hired in the summer of 2023. With his focus firmly fixed on ensuring the transition meets its overall goals, deploying a tiered system that ensures needs are met with the right resources and expertise is the crux of that goal, he told DHT in January.

The city’s strategy for its policing model presented publicly by former director of public and protective services, Chris Manuel, provided a plan that would integrate GPPS over a transition period, culminating in a seamless move from the RCMP to the city police.

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