Lloydminster is continuing the process of creating a Municipal Police Committee.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says this item comes from the provincial government.
“This is a directive from the Government of Alberta, this is what we’re following. We’re just following the policy of the provincial government,” he said.
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The terms of reference were first presented to council at the Feb. 10 Governance and Priorities Committee meeting. Only one notable change was made from that meeting to the Feb. 24 council meeting.
The term police chief was removed and changed to Officer in Charge to better align with the language in the Municipal Police Service Agreement.
Clarification was also given regarding the enhanced security clearance people would need to get to be part of the committee. People would have to go through a criminal record check, local police indices, open-source inquiry and if needed, a security interview.
“They’ll be required to go through some certifications and a criminal record check. That may potentially eliminate some people from putting their name forward,” said Aalbers.
At the Feb. 10 meeting, discussion revolved around how recruitment was going to happen and how the public would be involved in the committee.
“Administration has reached out to individual groups, as an example, the chamber of commerce has been asked if there is someone interested in putting their name forward. There’ll be a bit of a selection process, we have more than six people and one member will be from council,” said Aalbers on the topic of recruitment.
He says having a broad perspective from the community would help the committee.
“Getting a broad perspective of the community’s involvement from business to non-profits to social organizations would be beneficial to ensure all the needs of the community are met through policing,” said Aalbers.
Council approved the terms of reference for the police committee.
Read more: Lloydminster works towards creating police committee
