Taber Municipal Police Commission Jan. 17 briefs

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The following are selected briefs of the Jan. 17 meeting of the Taber Municipal Police Commission. 

Nov. 15 Closed Session

The following resolutions were passed by the commission at the conclusion of the in camera (closed session) proceedings.

TPS Officer Complement Increase: The commission voted unanimously to agree to a Taber Police Service complement increase to 20 police officers, with one position funded at a cost-neutral operating wage to the Town of Taber through the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) Integrated Child Exploitation Unit provincial budget. 

TPS Jurisdiction: The commission voted unanimously that pursuant to Section 38 (2) of the Police Act, Taber Police Service officers have jurisdiction throughout the Province of Alberta and are not restricted by territorial jurisdiction.

TMPC Secretary Position: The commission voted unanimously to continue their current contract with Tenille Miller to provide administrative support for the commission for the 2024 year.

Appointment of Commissioner

Shaun Kinniburgh was officially sworn in as a member of the Taber Municipal Police Commission for a term of three years. His term will expire on Dec. 31, 2026.

Nominations for Chair and Vice Chair

John MacDonald was officially re-appointed as chair; Wendi Chisholm was re-appointed as vice chair. Chisholm was also re-appointed as a commissioner for a term of three years, which will expire on Dec. 31, 2026.

Appointment of Head for FOIPP Act

The commission voted unanimously to appoint Tenille Miller, commission secretary, as the head of the public body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Chief Graham Abela’s Report January 2024

POLICE

Community Involvement: Taber Police SRO was extremely busy with Christmas concerts for the schools in the month of December; SRO Cst. Chris Nguyen has been awarded the Citizen of Taber Award by the Chamber of Commerce; Taber Police will start sending social media posts and further celebrating our 120th year of service to the Town of Taber and area; Members of the Taber Police Service assisted the Coaldale Community Peace Officer program by providing some field training on conducting proper traffics tops and provincial statute awareness. 

Training: Members of the Taber Police Service underwent SOC round recertification in the month of December; Members of the Taber Police Service underwent Taser recertification training in the month of December; Sr. Cst. Vowles and Comm Op Ashley Edgson underwent Critical Incident Stress Training this past month; Cst. Kitto and Cst. Neufeld recertified in First Aid; Cst. Brevik assisted the Blood Tribe Police Service as an assessor for their final testing of their police recruits. 

Equipment: The new police vehicle is being ordered; With the approval of the capital and operating budgets we are working towards our objectives of the Axon purchase, building refurbishment, console upgrade etc. We will be getting assistance from procurement to do so with the capital projects other than the car; We will be spending the encryption capital monies to encrypt our radios. A newly identified possible software solution has been investigated and is not an option. As a result, the delay in activating was necessary but the money saving is not possible, and we need to go with the original plan. 

Personnel: Cst. Cobarrubias and Cst. Demers both successfully passed their field training and are now on their own performing RSCO function in the Town and MD of Taber; Cst. Weersink has successfully passed his probation and has been confirmed under the Police Act as a police officer; Cst. Woytowich is in field training for the position of patrol constable. Sr. Cst. Evanson has been tasked as the field trainer; one auxiliary applicant successfully passed the physical testing and is moving on in the program; We posted and received several experienced officer applications. Interviews will be held in mid to late January. We will have representation of the Commission, Association and executive conducting those interviews. This position is to back fill the patrol unit for the approved ICE Unit position. 

Policy: Insp. Gyepesi continues to sit on the body-worn camera committee that was struck by the Ministry. The Ministry has met with the Alberta Chiefs and discussed possible funding for cloud-based storage, but we are unsure at this time how that will impact budget. 

December Statistics

The numbers in brackets represent the year-to-date figures for December 2022 for comparative purposes.

Traffic: impaired operation 30 (36); dangerous operation of a motor vehicle 23 (12); traffic collisions 125 (129); other Criminal Code 7 (3), provincial traffic offences 1586 (1703). Liquor Act: 83 (52). Other Criminal Code: 226 (181); offensive weapons 16 (11); corruption/public mischief 9 (7). Drug Enforcement: trafficking 8 (12); possession 13 (14); other 5 (3). Crimes Against a Person: sexual offences 18 (11); robbery/extortion/harassment/threats 72 (68); kidnapping/hostage/abduction 0 (4); assaults 63 (78). Crimes Against Property: theft under $5,000 166 (119); theft over $5,000 24 (20); possession of stolen goods 27 (16); fraud 70 (43); break and enter 55 (53); mischief 118 (89). Bylaw: traffic 20 (12); non-traffic calls 638 (508). 

“In communication with other Chiefs of Police, similar trends have occurred in the province,” said Abela in his written analysis of the statistics.

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