On Sept. 18 the City of Chestermere announced an expanded partnership with the City of Calgary 9-1-1 services which will increase Municipal Peace Officers safety when responding to complaints.
“Today marks a critical step for our community, and indeed for the province,” said Mayor Marshall Chalmers.
“It’s my hope that together we can set an example for other communities throughout the province and ensure greater protection for our men and women in uniform,” he said.
He added, “We are a direct neighbour of the City of Calgary, and we lean on them because they are our big brother and they can provide services which really enhance our community. This is just another example of cooperation and making it safe for everyone in our community.”
The expanded partnership between cities was a result of the loss of former RCMP Officer, Rod Lazenby, who entered a rural property alone, while working as a Peace Officer, and was killed during an altercation in 2012.
The provincial wide tragedy promoted the Solicitor General’s Officer to investigate what could be done to improve the safety of Peace Officers, Chalmers said.
One of the recommendations from the Lazeby report was to ensure all Peace Officers are connected to a communication system.
Now, Peace Officers must check-in with the dispatch before responding to a complaint, dispatch will monitor their location, provide extra information on the residence or person enforcement is responding to and call for additional assistance or resources if needed.
“Our Peace Officers have been working alone, essentially, as they go out to complaints or investigations. They are going into an unknown situation a lot of the time, and this is extremely important for them,” Chalmers said.
“As a former police chief myself, I recognize that our officers are placed in unpredictable and potentially dangerous situations.”
Municipal Enforcement has a multitude of responsibilities and jobs that they perform each day, from investigating municipal bylaw issues, assisting with traffic direction, responding to neighborhood complaints, handling animal issues, conducting traffic safety checks, and providing support services in handling municipal complaints.
“A vicious dog complaint can turn into something unordinary in a hurry. You never know what you’re walking into, or who you will be dealing with. At the end of the day, we will know everybody is safe,” Chalmers said.
Adding, “In Chestermere safety is of the utmost importance, our city council has a new vision, not to be good, not to be great, but to be amazing.”
One of the pillars of the Amazing Chestermere strategic vision is to have amazing neighbourhoods, and community safety is a key element to ensuring neighbourhoods are safe, friendly, and accessible.
“Our Peace Officers make our streets and neighbourhoods safe, our Peace Officers are a critical piece of the safety of our community,” Chalmers said.
“As evidenced by the Lazenby incident, they haven’t always had the support they need to do their duties,” he added.
With the expanded partnership, the City of Chestermere and the City of Calgary now have the ability to rapidly provide backup to Peace Officers, while providing extra information to ensure their safety before attending residences or dealing with dangerous individuals.
A police agency could know that there is an address that is potentially violent or dangerous and would only respond to the residence with multiple officers.
That same information can now be shared with Peace Officers to make sure they don’t visit that location alone.
“If they do get in trouble, they have the ability to communicate with dispatch and get the assistance they need as quickly as possible,” said Calgary 9-1-1 Commander Doug Odney.
“Every day and every night that officers in uniform provide services to the community, they can do so in a safe manner, be monitored and have the ability to have information available to them that does not put them in harm’s way,” he said.
Adding, “I’m so pleased in Rod Lazenby’s name to say that we’ve learned, and we’re implementing changes now.”
