Jason van Rassel visited Medicine Hat with other members of the Police Review Commission this week to check on progress as the new commission hits three months of operation.--NEWS PHOTO ZOE MASON
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
It has been three months since a new commission took over responsibility for investigations and disciplinary hearings for police across the province. The Police Review Commission formally launched Dec. 1, consolidating various local and provincial bodies into one new agency.
Jason van Rassel, senior manager of community connections with the new commission, says public awareness is essential to its success.
“I think it’s important that we make the process as efficient and easy to understand as possible. One of the ways you can do that is by creating that proverbial one-stop shop.”
That’s why they looked to streamline the process, which was previously administered by several bodies, including the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team and municipal professional standards branches. These bodies would investigate complaints and facilitate hearings when necessary.
Since Dec. 1, all that falls under the PRC umbrella.
“We want to make sure that if someone is in the unfortunate position where they have a negative encounter with the police, or have encountered misconduct, that they’re going to know what to do and where they can go,” said van Rassel in an interview with the News on Wednesday.
A PRC envoy including van Rassel was in southern Alberta this week for the first check-in since the agency was stood up to meet with stakeholders for status updates and increase public awareness of the new system.
Under the new structure, ASIRT will still be responsible for investigating deaths, serious injuries and sensitive allegations involving any police service in Alberta, the same mandate it has followed since 2008. Since relocating under the oversight of the PRC, ASIRT’s mandate has expanded to include other, less serious criminal allegations that don’t meet that threshold.
Non-criminal complaints – things like neglect of duty, unlawful use of authority or deceit – were formerly handled by individual local police services. Now, those are the domain of the PRC.
As peace officers, Alberta Sheriffs are currently only part of the PRC if a serious incident were to require ASIRT investigation. Any other complaints would be processed by the local police service.
Should the Alberta Sheriffs expand to become a provincial police force, as has been discussed in the legislature, investigation of complaints involving those officers would also fall to the PRC. The only agency it will not oversee investigations for is the RCMP, which has its own complaint review committee.
Van Rassel says the goal is to allow individual police departments to focus on human resources issues and complaints that do not demand discipline, but might require additional training or corrective measures.
He says as operations continue, the PRC will be able to facilitate sharing of information about complaints – what kinds of complaints are filed and how long they take to reach resolution – to the local departments.
In its first three months, the commission received a total of 1,026 submissions. Submissions move through an internal process before they are classified as complaints, and many of those submissions are still in that pipeline.
To date, 38 submissions were received in Lethbridge and 11 in Medicine Hat.
The PRC is required to complete investigations within 180 days. It is mandated to issue public reports when a complaint surpasses that deadline.
The southern Alberta region – which also includes the Taber and Blood Tribe police services – accounts for 5 per cent of submissions the commission has received so far. The vast majority of the remainder come from Calgary and Edmonton.
The new commission expanded eligible formats for complaints. Concerned citizens can submit complaints online or by phone, and support persons for individuals who can’t file their own complaints can file on their behalf.
Van Rassel says the Medicine Hat meeting was a success. The local commission was updated on operations so far, initiatives coming down the pipe and expanded cultural competency trainings. The last matter has been a focus for the new commission.
“There’s an element of trauma-informed training involved, because we also talk about the times in our history that, unfortunately, the police have been instruments of oppressive government policies towards racialized people and towards Indigenous people,” he said.
“We want our staff to understand they may be in a situation where a complainant may be hesitant to come forward, and it might not just be because of the experience that brought them to the PRC, they may have a lack of trust in government institutions more generally.”
The commission also has a focus on alternative dispute resolution. Where possible and consented to by both parties, van Rassel says the PRC can mediate complaints to reach outcomes that might be faster and more satisfying than a lengthy and bureaucratic investigation.
“If someone says to us, ‘You know what, I’m just really upset, and all I want is an apology.’ That’s something we can facilitate through alternative dispute resolution,” he said.
The first alternative resolution mediated by the PRC was just completed last week. Van Rassel says it was a milestone for the organization.
“To see the thing you built actually start working, it’s been really gratifying.”
The Police Review Commission received a nearly $5-million bump in Budget 2026.
