Governance

Provincial oversight

The Police Act establishes two separate provincial entities to oversee police: the Director of Law Enforcement and the Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board (ALERB). The Assistant Deputy Minister for the Public Security Division of Public Safety and Emergency Services is the Director of Law Enforcement.

The Director of Law Enforcement's main responsibilities are:

Monitoring police services to ensure that adequate and effective policing is maintained;
Monitoring the handling of complaints by police services;
Directing police services on the process for investigations of serious incidents involving police officers;
Developing and promoting crime prevention programs;
Developing and promoting training and performance standards and ensuring that police services meet the standards;
Assisting in the coordination of policing services; and
Assisting and advising municipal governments and commissions.

The Police Act allows the Minister to intervene in a municipality where, in the opinion of the Minister, the policing is not adequate or is not in compliance with the Police Act.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board's primary role is to hear appeals from individuals who have filed complaints about the actions of a police officer and who are not satisfied with the disposition of their complaint. The Board's role is to conduct an independent and impartial review of the decisions made by police services about complaints. The Board also hears appeals by police officers resulting from any disciplinary findings, or action taken against them, arising from a complaint.

In addition, the Board may, on its own motion, conduct inquiries respecting complaints and, at the request of the minister, conduct inquiries in respect of any matter respecting policing. To date, the main focus of the Board has been in the area of appeals. Because the RCMP is governed by federal legislation, ALERB's role is restricted to the area of municipal policing. The Board's jurisdiction covers municipal police services, including officers employed with First Nations police services in Alberta. It also covers peace officers whose appointments have been cancelled under the Peace Officer Act.

The Provincial Police Service Agreement defines the role of the province in overseeing the RCMP as the provincial police in Alberta. The federal government is responsible for directly supervising or managing the RCMP under the RCMP Act, while, under the agreement, the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, in cooperation with the RCMP "K" Division Commanding Officer, establishes a yearly business plan that sets out provincial policing objectives, priorities and goals.

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP is to:

Receives complaints from the public about the conduct of RCMP members;
Conducts reviews when complainants are not satisfied with the RCMP's handling of their complaints;
Initiates complaints and investigations into RCMP conduct when it is in the public interest to do so;
Reviews specified activities; and
Reports findings and makes recommendations.

The Police Amendment Act, passed in December 2022, establishes an independent agency, the Police Review Commission, to manage all complaints against police and conduct disciplinary proceedings in Alberta. It is not yet known how this agency will interact with the RCMP.

Municipal and civilian oversight

Public Safety and Emergency Services sets the standards for effective policing across Alberta, while police commissions and policing committees oversee policing in the province’s municipalities. Members of a police commission or policing committee are usually citizens from the local community. They can include city employees and/or town council members.

The rules for police commissions and policing committees are defined in the Police Act. As per the Act, a municipality which has established a municipal police service must establish a police commission.

The Police Amendment Act establishes formal governance bodies for all communities policed by the RCMP in Alberta, giving them a role in setting policing priorities and performance goals they have not previously had. For more information, see the Police Act Review section of the Policing Hub.

Police Commissions

Police commissions provide oversight of municipal police services. The membership of each commission is selected by the municipal council, enabling the appointment of people with a wide range of skills and expertise who know their community. The commission may issue instructions only to the chief of police, not to any other police officer, and those instructions must not infringe on the chief s responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the police service.

Each police commission must:

Produce a yearly budget and plan that specifies the level of police service and desired policing programs (includes input from the chief of police);
Submit the yearly budget and plan to the city/town council;
Allocate budget funds provided by the council;
Establish policies for efficient and effective policing;
Instruct the chief of police, as needed, about policing policies;
Ensure that the police service has enough staff to perform its duties; and
Appoint a chief of police (subject to the council’s approval).

Under the Police Amendment Act, police commissions will no longer be required to appoint a public complaints director as all complaints against police in Alberta will be managed by the Police Review Commission.

Policing Committees

The Police Amendment Act creates new mandated structures for municipal input into policing:

Communities with a population of under 15,000 policed by the RCMP with a Municipal Police Service Agreement (MPSA) will be represented by regional policing committees but will have the option to form their own municipal policing committee.
Communities with a population over 15,000 that are policed by the RCMP with an MPSA will be required to establish a municipal policing committee.
Communities policed by the RCMP under a Provincial Police Service Agreement (PPSA) will be represented by a Provincial Police Advisory Board (PPAB).

The composition, powers, duties, and functions of these policing committees are not yet known, as the province is in the process of developing the associated regulations. The regulations are expected to be unveiled in late 2024 or early 2025.

Policing Standards

The Law Enforcement and Oversight Branch of Public Safety and Emergency Services works with its stakeholders to develop Alberta’s policing standards.

Police services are required to have standards for:

Organizational management, including planning, financial management and internal audits;
Personnel administration, including recruitment and selection, training, performance evaluation and professional standards;
Operations services, including crime prevention, criminal investigation, traffic safety, pursuits, disaster planning and use of force; and
Support services, including victim/witness assistance, high-risk incidents, people in custody, records, media relations and facilities and equipment.

The Provincial Policing Standards Manual can be downloaded here.

Police commissions and policing committees are the civilian groups that oversee policing in the province’s municipalities. The Alberta government has standards for police commissions and policing committees. These standards deal with:

Roles and responsibilities for the municipality, the oversight group, and the public complaint director;
Training and development for each board member in the oversight group; and
Organizational management, including policies and procedures, business plans, reports, fiscal management, records management and media relations.

The Policing Oversight Standards can be downloaded here.

Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT)

ASIRT investigates policing incidents or complaints involving serious injury or death, and matters of a serious or sensitive nature. While ASIRT is an agency within Justice and Solicitor General, it operates at arm's length from police agencies. All ASIRT investigations and decisions are independent of the government.

Complaints and appeals

Civilians who are not satisfied with municipal or First Nations police service, or the conduct of a police officer, have the right to complain about it. A complaint about the police may be filed up to one year after the incident took place.

Currently, a complaint against a member of a municipal police service can be submitted to the chief of police or the relevant police commission. Complaints against a chief of police are sent to the police commission. The police will review the complaint and may offer informal resolution and/or formally investigate as required. If the complaint is formally investigated, the chief of police will send a disposition letter.

Complaints about the RCMP can be filed with the:

For more information on filing complaints, please see the Complaint Process for Police Services.

Note that the Police Amendment Act establishes an independent agency, the Police Review Commission, to manage all complaints against police and conduct disciplinary proceedings in Alberta. It is not yet known when this agency will become operational.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board hears appeals from individuals who have filed complaints about the actions of a police officer and who are not satisfied with the disposition of their complaint. The Board does not hear appeals about complaints against a police policy or service. The police commission is responsible for those appeals. The Board conducts an independent and impartial review of the decisions made by police services about complaints. The Board also hears appeals by police officers resulting from any disciplinary findings, or action taken against them, arising from a complaint. In addition, the Board may, on its own motion, conduct inquiries respecting complaints.

The Board's jurisdiction covers municipal police services, including officers employed with First Nations police services in Alberta. It also covers peace officers whose appointments have been cancelled under the Peace Officer Act.

The following individuals can appeal to the Board:

Complainants – Citizens may appeal the decision of the chief of police about a complaint that they have made about a police officer's conduct.
Police Officers – Police officers may appeal the findings or the penalty imposed against them arising from a complaint or from a disciplinary hearing.
Peace Officers – Peace officers may appeal the cancellation of her or his appointment, or an employer may appeal the cancellation of its authorization.

The Board also has jurisdiction over peace officers who have had their appointment as a peace officer cancelled. Peace officers are also subject to a complaint process under the Peace Officer Act. A peace officer whose appointment is cancelled may, within 30 days of being advised of the cancellation, appeal the decision to the Board. The Board does not have jurisdiction to hear appeals arising from complaints made under Section 14 of the Peace Officer Act. The Director of Law Enforcement within Justice and Solicitor General is responsible for handling those matters.

The Board has no jurisdiction for criminal or other law enforcement matters. The Board has no jurisdiction over complaints about police policy or service, only police conduct complaints. The Board does not, for example, have anything to do with the laying of charges, or withdrawal of charges laid by police, or appeals from convictions for federal or provincial offences. Nor does the Board have any authority to award monetary damages in relation to police conduct.

Police Officer Discipline Process

Municipal police officers are subject to a discipline process under the Police Act. An individual can, in certain circumstances, complain about the conduct of a police officer. The Police Act provides that the chief of police is responsible for the investigation and disposition of complaints concerning officer misconduct or policies and services. Complaints about a chief of police are dealt with by the police commission for that police service.

Once a complaint investigation is completed, the chief may order a disciplinary hearing before a presiding officer, who will hear evidence and decide whether the officer is guilty of misconduct. Such a hearing is a kind of trial, to determine if the officer is guilty of the misconduct alleged. If an officer is found guilty, the presiding officer will impose a penalty, which can range from demotion or suspension to dismissal.

The chief may decide not to send a complaint to a disciplinary hearing if she/he concludes, based on the complaint investigation material, that there is no reasonable prospect of establishing the facts necessary to obtain a conviction at a disciplinary hearing. A complainant may appeal dismissal on this basis to the Alberta Law Enforcement Board. The chief also may dismiss a complaint if he/she concludes that the conduct complained about is not of a serious nature. The decision of chief to dismiss a complaint because it is not of a serious nature is a final decision. Once a decision has been made by the chief or presiding officer, the affected individual is advised of the decision in writing and is told about the right to appeal. To appeal a decision, a notice of appeal must be filed with the Board within 30 days of being advised of the decision.