Tories pledge to be tough on crime and hire more cops

A Conservative government would put more police in Alberta communities, hire more prosecutors and judges and expand the powers of municipalities to shut down drug houses, Tory Leader Ed Stelmach pledged Thursday.

The Tories announced their "Tough on Crime" platform Thursday in Lethbridge during Stelmach's campaign swing through southern Alberta.

"Every Albertan has a right to feel safe in their community," Stelmach said. "We will provide the necessary tools to law enforcement officials and other front-line agencies to effectively reduce violent and organized crime and provide the social services to address the root causes of crime."

Stelmach promised to add a minimum of 100 additional police officers across the province this year, and an unspecified number of prosecutors and judges to speed up the handling of criminal cases.

He also said he would move to quickly proclaim legislation passed in December that will give local police wider powers to enter and shut down houses used for drugs and prostitution.

The plan also calls for:

• Increasing the number of special courts to handle drug and mental health cases.
• Providing more police resources to target repeat offenders and people with outstanding warrants.
• Broaden police tools to catch criminals who exploit children through the internet.

Stelmach said he also will provide more help to front-line agencies that work with victims of crime, including abused women, children and seniors, but gave no details.

The Tory platform is similar to a three-year, $470-million crime-fighting plan announced in November by theConservative government.

"This plan sends a message to Albertans: Progressive Conservatives believe in the rule of law," Stelmach said.

Lethbridge Police Chief Tom McKenzie, who was on hand for the announcement, welcomed the proposals, particularly the increased powers to deal with drug houses.

"So no more will we see fortified drug houses, where they can move in and sell their drugs from them, or move prostitution and all sorts of activities that we will not tolerate and do not want in our community," McKenzie said.

Tories stole our platform: Taft

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, who was campaigning in Edmonton, accused the Tories of stealing his party's policy. Taft's first major announcement of the campaign called for increased policing grants to Alberta towns and cities.

"We think ours would provide 113 new officers a year.So again, these guys have been in power for 37 years, I think it's kind of hollow for them to announce this halfway through a campaign."

Campaigning in Calgary, NDP Leader Brian Masonsaid his party would work on adding 800 officers across Alberta.

"We have significantly lower numbers of police officers per capita than the national average, so we believe that funding needs to be provided to municipalities to enable them to hire 800 new police officers, which would bring Alberta to the national average."

Challenge in finding police recruits

Mason said he would also consider establishing a provincial police force if there were substantial savings.

The RCMP in Alberta said Thursday that promises of new money to hire extra officers might not help bolster the ranks of law enforcement personnel. The force is having trouble filling the 100 openings it has now, with 400 more vacancies expected next year, said Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

"The problem is there is a limited pool of resources that is capable of being hired. That also applies not just to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but to other police agencies," he said.