Submitted by: Katie The Alberta Police Act in its current form came into effect in 1988, though there have been many iterations of such legislation dating back to the start of the settler colonial project that is "Canada" since the early 1870s.
Last updated on May 16, 2024, “This act mandates the Government of Alberta to ensure that adequate and effective policing is maintained in Alberta. It mandates the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General to administer the act and provides that police services and peace officers shall act under the direction of the Minister, in matters concerning the administration of justice and enforcement of the law.”
Policing of the area colonially known as the "Province of Alberta" began in 1874, after the creation of the violent North-West Mounted Police in 1873. The sole function of the NWMP was to steal Indigenous lands, genocide Indigenous peoples, and control "free" Black people after the "abolition" of slavery across so-called Canada. This colonial force is now called the RCMP, and operates under the federal Ministry of Public Safety. Today, the layers of policing in "Alberta" are vast. On top of municipal police forces, RCMP’s K Division (aka Alberta divisional headquarters) and the Alberta Sheriffs Branch (operated and funded by the province) exist "for additional provincial law enforcement." We will get into the RCMP in a future post, but it’s important to recognize how expansive and expensive policing is and has always been.
The Alberta Sheriffs Branch, which is the largest in Canada, employs Elena Cunningham, the white woman who assaulted Taylor on August 12, 2021 and is the cause of Taylor’s imprisonment.
One of the main reasons why and how the Police Act protects Alberta cops is the lack of a truly independent oversight body. While the Act purports to lay the foundation for several provincial “oversight” bodies, in reality, these entities are just cops behind computers.
In addition to creating the Calgary and Edmonton Police Commissions (which are meant to “provide independent civilian oversight and governance” of previously mentioned Police Services), the Act specifically establishes two separate provincial entities to “oversee” police:
ASIRT is an "independent" agency that investigates police incidents and complaints involving serious injury, death and other serious matters. This agency was launched in 2008, implemented by Calgary’s own police chief Mark Neufeld. ASIRT is overseen by the Director of Law Enforcement, who also holds the title Assistant Deputy Minister for the Public Security Division of Public Safety and Emergency Services. As of January 2024, former RCMP Chief Curtis Zablocki held this position. He spent 30 years with the RCMP. As of December 2021, former Assistant Chief Crown Prosecutor Mike Ewenson is the executive director of ASIRT (under Zablocki’s direction).
"ASIRT is one of the three investigative oversight agencies for police in Canada (the other being the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba and Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team) to have current sworn police officers from the Province appointed as investigators. On the other hand, the Special Investigation Unit of Ontario, the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia, and the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes of Quebec prohibits serving police officers from their respective provinces from being appointed as an investigator. -- There are 11 civilian investigators and 11 police officer investigators. 7 are from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2 from Edmonton Police Service, 2 from Calgary Police Service and 1 from Canadian Forces Military Police. Civilian investigators are appointed as Peace Officers under Section 46.2(1)(2)(b) of the Police Act." (Wikipedia)
ALERB, another "independent" quasi‐judicial administrative tribunal established under the Police Act in 1973, reviews public complaints about police officer conduct and appeals from police officers on disciplinary action. There are currently 13 members of the Law Enforcement Review Board. One of the newest members is Brendan Miller, the former "Freedom Convoy" lawyer. His appointment in August 2024 to the board of a police oversight committee is a further example of a system built on white supremacy continuing in its design to protect and elevate whiteness and maintain control.
Furthermore, the government bureaucrat mostly responsible for overseeing the ALERB is the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services. As of January 2023, former correctional peace officer Rae-Ann Lajeunesse held this position. Coincidentally, Rae-Ann Lajeunesse had a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit against her that was dropped in 2015.
If the conflicts of interest aren’t clear enough, take a look at the ministers in charge of enforcing the Police Act. UCP’s Mickey Amery, Alberta’s Minister of Justice and MLA for Calgary-Cross, is a lawyer by training, sits on the Social Services Cabinet Policy Committee and the Legislative Review Committee, and was appointed appointed Alberta Minister of Children Services in 2022.
Or Alberta’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, UCP’s Mike Ellis, MLA for Calgary-West. Prior to becoming a politician, Ellis spent 12 years with the Calgary Police Service. Given his history, of course the work he does will always be in favor of policing.
Essentially, these "police oversight" agencies are cops investigating themselves. The conflict of interest is obvious – cops cannot and should not oversee ANY complaints against other cops. These practices highlight how deeply entrenched the "independent" agency is in cop mentality and bias, which has severe impact on our communities. In 2017, it was determined that since the creation of agency in 2008, it had handled 402 files, and only 26 of those had actually resulted in any charges.
This system allows cops to get away with literal murder; it allows for police to protect their own.
This is the thin blue line in practice.
When police investigate themselves, it creates loop-holes to protect their violence - such as the way police officers are able to resign to avoid accountability. As shared by CBC, "Alberta is one of the few, if not the only, jurisdictions in the country where police officers can resign in the face of discipline and maintain a clean record if they haven't been charged and convicted criminally." In 2023, it was determined that "88 cops in Edmonton and Calgary have left their jobs while under investigation since 2012." (CBC News)
This is what a police state looks like. Both in the imperial core and around the world, we see how futile and unserious government efforts towards “accountability” and “oversight” are. And their control is growing – Marlena is currently trying to create a new police service under the sheriffs’ banner. Now is the time to act.
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