The Airdrie RCMP and Municipal Enforcement will be hosting a town hall on Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers.

The event will also be live-streamed online for those who cannot attend in person. The City of Airdrie has provided a link to watch the town hall online.

"This is a chance to share your feedback regarding safety in our community, which will help set policing priorities for the coming year," a notice on the City's website stated.

According to a news release from the City of Airdrie, the focus of the forum is to discuss issues specific to safety and policing in Airdrie. Topics that fall under provincial and federal jurisdictions will not be addressed.

Earlier this month, Airdrie and Beiseker RCMP hosted a Rural Town Hall in Rocky View County. Among the topics that were discussed, Mounties offered a summary of policing activities from 2023 as well as their ongoing community initiatives.

In early February, the Police Service Model Review Update that was presented to council noted that while Airdrie's Crime Severity Index (CSI) is low in comparison to other municipalities, the perception of residents is that Airdrie is less safe. 

"The percentage of residents that consider Airdrie a safe place to live is declining. [It] dropped from 92 per cent in 2021 to 72 per cent in 2022... Increased to 76 per cent in 2023. Community survey results indicate there are several priorities above community safety but satisfaction with the service has dropped. This is consistent with stakeholder feedback that there are community service gaps residents would like filled and that growing population is putting pressure on existing capacity for services," the report surmised.

There was also mention that, 'data supports stakeholder observations that youth population is growing as well as anecdotal accounts that Airdrie’s schools are experiencing overcrowding and that the City is experiencing an increase in youth loitering and youth crime.'

The presentation to council also assessed that there continue to be shortages within local policing.

"Personnel vacancies were repeatedly mentioned as a challenge affecting policing within the City of Airdrie both in the initial study and during the update consultation," the report cited.

Between 2014-15 and 2022-23, Airdrie RCMP experienced an average vacancy rate of 12 per cent of authorized strength, with lows of 3 per cent in 2016-17 and a high of 17 per cent in 2018-19.

"These are primarily due to soft vacancies. Vacancies are not unique to the Airdrie RCMP. Recent reports of national RCMP vacancy rates show that in 6 of the 11 provinces and territories where the RCMP are the policing service provider, vacancy rates are in the double digits, with Alberta RCMP vacancy rate sitting at 15 per cent as of February 2023." 

According to the presentation, Airdrie’s officers per 100,000 population is 85lower than comparator municipalities with RCMP police contracts, which average 161, and municipal police services at 165.

Last year's policing town hall in Airdrie was one of the best attended in recent memory, with residents bringing forward concerns regarding traffic safety issues, mental health and policing, as well as staffing and resources.

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