In the words of mayor Kim Craig, “It’s a done deal”.
The town of Coaldale is switching police forces, moving from the Lethbridge Regional Police to the RCMP on of January 1st, 2016.
It’s a move that is expected to save the town around $500,000 a year, and provide huge economic spinoffs
“It will be one of the larger employers in Coaldale and the more jobs the more reason for people to shop and move to Coaldale,” says Kalen Hastings, Director of Municipal Relations
Mayor Kim Craig says the town is working to secure land for a regional facility. That’s where the bonus comes in for approximately 7500 people. It will accommodate resources currently in Lethbridge, as well as an integrated traffic unit, a police dog unit and a forensics unit.
“With that building obsolete, it was just a natural fit to put the building in place that was going to be policed by RCMP,” adds Craig.
The change will mean seven full-time officers for Coaldale, as well as two clerical staff. The positions will be in addition to staff from other regional based services.
“Having a federally funded building is going to be huge for Coaldale. It will be a show piece building and it will something substantial about Coaldale moving forward,” says Craig.
The RCMP will work out of a storefront in Coaldale as of January first, 2016 until the new regional detachment is built, with an estimated opening of 2018.
“People are excited to hear about the details. We will be holding a public information session in November. We will discuss what the rationale was and how this is going to look in practice and what the transition will look like,” explains Hastings.
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