Canmore RCMP Staffing Stabilizes As Vacancies Are Filled

Canmore RCMP says its staffing situation is stabilizing after several years of vacancies and members away on leave.

An update to the MD of Bighorn’s Protective Services Committee said three constables, a corporal and a sergeant were joining the detachment over the summer and fall.

The staffing changes were expected to help get its General Investigation Section running again.

Staff Sgt. Greg Tulloch, commander of the Canmore RCMP detachment, said there is an important distinction: these aren't new positions being added to the detachment.

“We aren't adding any more police to the detachment establishment,” Tulloch told Bow Valley Insider. “Staffing hasn't really changed at all.”

Instead, more of the detachment's existing positions are being filled and members who have been away are returning.

Tulloch said the detachment has dealt with staffing challenges for several years, including vacancies created by transfers and members away on medical or parental leave.

At one point, as many as 11 members were unavailable for a variety of reasons.

Now, Tulloch said most of those issues have been addressed.

The detachment currently has several members away on medical, parental and other forms of leave.

“All of a sudden things are looking a lot better than they have in quite some time,” Tulloch said.

More Members Available For Investigative Work

One of the biggest changes is the return of the detachment's General Investigation Section.

When staffing was particularly tight, Canmore RCMP temporarily closed the section and reassigned its members to frontline policing.

Tulloch said one of the section's two positions has already been restored, with a second member expected to be added within the next few weeks.

“Our general investigation section has been stood up again,” he said. 

During the staffing challenges, the detachment took several steps to maintain its policing services.

That included changing schedules, using overtime and reservists and, in some cases, bringing in officers from neighbouring detachments.

There was also a period overnight, when call volumes typically dropped to near zero, when officers were available to respond from home rather than actively patrolling. 

Tulloch stressed that moving officers out of the General Investigation Section did not mean investigations stopped or that expected police services were dropped.

“We made a real big focus on not allowing that service delivery to change,” he said.

“We were doing all those things the entire time. We just had to work harder, longer and a lot more man hours per person rather than less man hours per person.”

Tulloch said he has not seen evidence that the staffing challenges caused the detachment to miss things the community expected it to handle.

“Those things have not fallen off or been missed. We've just had a harder time of staying on top of them.”

‘We’ve Turned A Corner’

Tulloch said many residents may not have noticed what was happening behind the scenes.

“I expect that members of the community probably didn't notice any difference to our service levels over the last number of years where we've been dealing with these human resource challenges,” he said.

He credited the detachment's scheduling and redeployment decisions with maintaining its public-facing services during that time.

Now, with more members available and the General Investigation Section returning, Tulloch said things should become easier internally.

“I think we've turned a corner and things, at least from our perspective, should start feeling a lot better,” he continued.

The additional capacity should also allow the detachment to work more effectively on some things that had taken what Tulloch described as a “side burner” while staffing was stretched.