Town of Coaldale forms new Police Committee

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Sunny South News

• Committee looking for one more volunteer member

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

The Town of Coaldale is moving forward with its new Police Committee. 

Mark Anderson, Manager of Bylaw and Regulatory Services with the Town of Coaldale said the committee was first created in 2025, following the introduction of new legislation by the province, which requires all municipalities in Alberta to establish a policing committee. 

“The police committee came into being because of changes to the Police Act in the province of Alberta where municipalities who are policed by the RCMP, were now required to have a police committee or be a member of a regional police committee,” said Anderson. “The idea was to foster communication and community involvement in policing in their communities.”

Anderson explained the Town of Coaldale applied to the province and requested to form its own police committee, as the town is far removed from other communities that are policed similarly to the town. The nearest regional committee for it to join would have been in Brooks or Banff. 

“We’re actually policed under something called an MPSA or a Municipal Police Service Agreement and our next closest (community) would be Brooks. The other groups that we could form a regional committee would be places like Banff,” said Anderson, noting the distance to the other communities was not practical. 

The committee is not yet fully constituted, noted Anderson, but is in the process of finalizing committee members and positions and will hold elections for chair and vice-chair at their next meeting in April. There are legislated requirements for the town’s Police Committee and things they must do, which are outlined in the Police Committee Bylaw, which is posted on the town’s website, noted Anderson.  

“The Police Committee is responsible for engaging with the community to find out what the community’s needs are and what the priorities for the community are in policing,” said Anderson, noting the committee also liaisons with the RCMP to have their input into that. “We would hope that they’ll be doing engagements in the community to see where do we need more resources and things like that.”  

They have recruited several volunteers from the community, who completed application forms with is just one vacancy remaining, noted Anderson. Committee members meet quarterly (or as required) and are appointed to a three-year volunteer term. 

The committee can have maximum of seven members and includes two council members and up to five community members. In addition, they have several non-voting members, including Anderson, the mayor and the CAO. 

“The idea is that the committee really should be community driven. We’re there to provide an ear back to the town for what they say,” explained Anderson, noting the new Police Committee is going to be a great benefit to the community. 

“It’s going to help the community because it’s going to provide an opportunity for the town’s people to actually communicate through the committee and to the RCMP what their concerns are within the community,” said Anderson. “It gives them a voice in determining the policing priorities for the town.” 

Anyone who is a Coaldale resident and at least 18 years or older, who wants to volunteer on the Police Committee can email Mark Anderson at copanderson@coaldale.ca