RCMP officers move back to Conklin Alberta under new pilot project

A new RCMP pilot project in northeastern Alberta is bringing police officers back to live directly within the remote communities they serve for the first time in nearly two decades.

The six-month initiative, launched in April, has stationed RCMP officers in the hamlet of Conklin, located more than 150 kilometres south of Fort McMurray. Officials say the move is designed to improve emergency response times, reduce officer burnout and rebuild trust between police and local residents.

According to RCMP Staff Sgt. Sabrina Clayton, the project represents a return to traditional community policing, where officers become active members of the communities they patrol rather than simply responding to emergency calls from outside the area.

“We are stepping back into this community policing model where officers can actually become part of the community and know the people they serve,” Clayton said.

The pilot program involves eight RCMP officers working on rotating eight-day shifts. Officers stationed in Conklin will patrol the surrounding communities of Janvier, Chard and the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation.

For years, officers serving the region were required to commute daily from Fort McMurray, often travelling between 300 and 400 kilometres during a single shift. RCMP officials say the long commute created significant challenges, including exhaustion among officers and slower response times for residents needing police assistance.

Clayton explained that RCMP members had previously lived in Janvier between 1986 and 2009, but housing limitations eventually forced the service to relocate officers back to Fort McMurray.

Community leaders have long argued that the absence of local officers weakened public trust and reduced police visibility in the area.

Scott Duguid, chief executive officer of the Conklin Resource Development Advisory Committee, said many residents felt disconnected from officers who only entered the community during patrols.

“People felt the officers weren’t truly part of the community because they weren’t living here,” Duguid said.

He added that predictable patrol schedules often allowed criminal activity to occur during periods when police were absent from the area.

Residents also reported hesitating to call police because response times could stretch close to an hour due to the distance between Fort McMurray and the southern communities of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

“We’ve heard from people who said situations would be over before officers could even arrive,” Clayton noted.

Housing remains one of the biggest challenges for maintaining a permanent RCMP presence in the area. For the current pilot project, temporary housing arrangements were made with support from the Alberta government.

Duguid confirmed that one of the homes being used during the pilot came from Indigenous social housing stock, but emphasized that no residents were displaced as part of the agreement.

Local leaders hope the pilot project will eventually lead to permanent housing solutions for RCMP officers in Conklin through future residential developments.

Community representatives say the renewed police presence is already helping residents feel safer.

Valerie Quintal, president of Conklin Métis Local 193, said increased interaction between residents and officers could strengthen relationships and improve confidence in local policing.

“I think having them in the community will eventually become a very positive thing,” Quintal said. “People will get used to seeing them more often and build stronger relationships with the RCMP.”

The RCMP says the pilot project will continue through the coming months while officials assess its impact on crime prevention, emergency response and community engagement in the region.

Courtesy: CBC