Red Deer County will help in the fight against increasing crime rates in Central Alberta by funding an RCMP Enhanced Policing plain clothes position at the Blackfalds detachment.

That General Investigation Section Officer would be tasked with investigating more complex and involved cases with a focus on crime prevention, identifying habitual offenders, conducting surveillance, gathering intelligence and focusing on the underlying causes of crime.

Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood hopes the province and other municipalities will also see the merit of having more boots on the ground "because we have had so many people to approach Red Deer County to do something, we're doing what we can to try to set an example, to try to show the Solicitor General and others that Red Deer County wants to take the lead, we want to see crime reduced in this area. Will one Officer be the correct number? Probably not. We're going to probably need a whole lot more, but we're setting an example that we're doing something at Red Deer County within our means, we're hoping that this is a start".

The cost for the position is $115,000 per year, and while the plain clothes Officer will be housed at the Blackfalds Detachment, that member will be working with all detachments within Red Deer County.

Currently Blackfalds RCMP has a complement of 15 provincial members, up 15% compared to 2012, but there's been a 65% increase in the file count, and nearly a 110% increase in the number of Criminal Code files, which translates into an almost 80% increases in the number of Criminal Code cases per member, with a notable increase in property crimes over the past 4 years.

Wood says crime has become a huge concern for their ratepayers; in their annual satisfaction surveys it never used to even make the list of concerns, now crime is in the top 3 priorities.

Typically the province considers new Police Officers as part of the province's contract with the RCMP but there are no anticipated additional positions for 2017 due to a cap on resources.