LETHBRIDGE – The Lethbridge Police Service’s first crop of nine community peace officers (CPOs) are now fully trained, and prepared to hit the streets downtown.
The CPOs have completed 22 weeks of in-house training and 16 weeks of field training on the street paired with an experienced police officer. LPS believe the addition of CPOs will supplement their street strength, particularly in the downtown core, and residents can expect to see the new officers primarily on foot patrol.
The first of nine CPOs to get out on her own, Raelene Austin said she’s excited to get started.
“I’m eager. I’ve gone through a lot of training to be here so I’m excited to get out onto the street and start my job,” Austin said.
The Lethbridge CPOs, as appointed by the solicitor general, can enforce a variety of provincial statutes as well as some provisions of the Criminal Code. In addition, they also have authority as City of Lethbridge bylaw officers.
Austin explained she’s gone to many calls during training that she would be attending as a solo officer.
“The theft under ($5,000) and the businesses, warrants, mischief calls, stuff like that. I’ve also been exposed to some policing calls that my FTO (Field training officer) had the full authority on but I had the chance to sit back and watch how he would work and how I would work as a police officer when that time comes.”
CPOs, who are sworn peace officers but have specific, limited authorities, can be visually distinguished from regular police officers by their uniforms.
The CPO uniform includes a light grey shirt and navy pants with a grey stripe, while a police uniform is all navy with a red stripe.
Sgt. Mike Williamson oversaw a lot of the CPO training and explained adding CPOs to the front line to respond to less serious calls will help free up regular officers to focus on more complex investigations.
“We have nine good people that are going to make a huge difference in the community and, ultimately, they all want to become police officers at some point,” he said. “They’re very well-trained, very knowledgeable, very good with the community, and I’m very excited to have them out here.”
