Majority of Albertans Give Proposed APPS the Cold Shoulder, Support for RCMP Remains Strong

EDMONTON, AB, Nov. 25, 2021 /CNW/ - A recent Pollara Strategic Insights survey concluded on the eve of the Government of Alberta's release of the Alberta Provincial Police Service (APPS) Transition Study and released today by the National Police Federation, reveals that 80 percent of Albertans in RCMP-served communities remain satisfied with RCMP policing¹.

Support for RCMP policing has held strong in ongoing surveys over the past year despite political criticism, and the ongoing revolving jailhouse door created by prosecutor shortages in the provincial justice system due to ongoing provincial neglect.

Establishing a provincial police force remains a very low priority for Albertans with almost 2/3 saying it "does not help at all" and 70% opposing replacing the RCMP.

"Albertans couldn't be less interested in this proposal, despite repeated attempts by Premier Kenney and others to make a case for a smaller, prohibitively costly and untested provincial police service," said Brian Sauvé, President of the National Police Federation.

"Even more importantly, now that the APPS Transition Study has finally been released confirming that a new provincial police service will cost Alberta taxpayers about $550 million more for about half as many fully trained police officers, support for this will undoubtedly slip even lower," he added.

Since the NPF launched its KeepAlbertaRCMP campaign, Albertans have sent more than 45,000 letters to Government opposing the transition.

"The NPF very recently attended the Alberta Municipalities', and Rural Municipalities Association's conferences where we spoke with literally hundreds of municipal leaders and engaged residents. Not a single person, even those in non-RCMP served communities, supported this transition. All wanted to keep the RCMP, providing further confirmation that this Government is simply not listening to residents or their elected representatives," said Sauvé.

The NPF will continue to raise awareness of this expensive and ill-conceived proposal through KeepAlbertaRCMP.ca and a targeted advertising and social media campaign.

About the National Police Federation:

The National Police Federation (NPF) was certified to represent ~20,000 RCMP Members serving across Canada and internationally in the summer of 2019. The NPF is the largest police labour relations organization in Canada; the second largest in North America and is the first independent national association to represent RCMP Members.

The NPF is focused on improving public safety in Canada by focusing on increasing resources, equipment, training, and other supports for our Members who have been under-funded for far too long. Better resourcing and supports for the RCMP will enhance community safety and livability in the communities we serve, large and small, across Canada.

For more information: https://npf-fpn.com/ and KeepAlbertaRCMP.ca

Follow us:
NPF:  LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
KeepAlbertaRCMP: Facebook

___________
^1	The online survey of 1,221 Albertan adults was conducted October 27 to November 4, 2021, by Pollara Strategic Insights.

SOURCE National Police Federation

Media contact: Fabrice de Dongo, Manager, Media Relations, [email protected], [phone]