The local RCMP could be looking at hiring more officers or changing their approach to policing after a report discovered officers are spending too much time running from call to call.
A report using a national RCMP computer model recommended adding officers to the general duty section of the detachment to help them keep up with service calls.
The report was completed in September and served as the basis for a proposal to add six new officers on the unfunded list of the 2010 budget.
City councillors left those officers on the unfunded list, however council did not see the report justifying those six officers before they made their decision. If approved, the officers would have cost the city $367,800 next year and $735,600 thereafter.
Insp. Warren Dosko, head of the St. Albert detachment, said he is not upset the report wasn't put before council because they have to look at more than just staffing.
"The issue is a lot more complex than saying we need more officers," he said. "I think it would almost have been seen as painting council into a corner on the decision."
The RCMP's computer model is used across the country to determine the appropriate number of police officers to meet a community's needs.
Dosko said the program doesn't look at a community's population, but at what the officers spend their time doing.
"It looks at the types of calls we respond to and the time it takes to deal with those calls."
The model also aims to have officers devote a quarter of their time in preventative patrols, rather than simply responding to calls.
New model
Dosko said the plan is to discus the issues with council early in the new year. As well as possibly revisiting the proposed officers, they might look at a new way of policing.
The St. Albert RCMP currently work on a 'no call too small' approach, which sees them respond to everything from minor vandalism to bank robberies.
Dosko said that approach ties up officers on smaller calls like thefts from vehicles where there is very little police can do.
"Responding to a call for service isn't always the best way to control the crime."
He said another option for officers would be to gather information on where and when the thefts were happening and set up surveillance operations.
He said the detachment's drug unit already works with a more intelligence-driven approach that could be applied to general duty work as well.
"We don't just drive around and hope to find someone selling drugs."
St. Albert has the dual distinction of being among the lowest spending municipalities on policing and having one of the lowest crime rates, according to Statistics Canada.
Its clearance rate, the number of crimes that are solved, is also very low.
The clearance rate suffers in St. Albert in part because of the city's higher number of vehicle thefts, vandalism and break-ins, which are usually difficult to solve and the lower rates of assaults and more violent offences that are more straightforward.
Dosko said switching away from 'no call too small' policing would improve the clearance rate, but it might also have an impact on how safe residents feel because police won't come to every call.
"It drives up your clearance rates, but it can also have an affect on the community's perception of safety."
