A Cold Lake woman who reportedly had 50 interactions with police in the past 18 months was among the people who were targeted by RCMP in a province-wide warrant roundup.
The 28-year-old woman had one warrant for her arrest for driving offences. Interactions with police in the past have included robbery, assault with a weapon, drug trafficking and firearms possessions investigations.
"As part of a new RCMP-led data sharing initiative, Alberta RCMP, Calgary Police Service, and Alberta Sheriffs worked together in a Joint Forces Operation (JFO), targeting the top priority offenders in the province, through a warrant roundup," according to information from Alberta RCMP.
The initiative came about because it was noted by Alberta RCMP that law enforcement agencies in Alberta were ranking priority offenders in different ways.
"Understanding that criminals operate in various jurisdictions, it was determined that a province wide-model to identify and prioritize offenders was required," according to information from RCMP.
Through the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police, police forces in Alberta have now entered into "an information sharing agreement that will allow for intelligence and statistical data to be routinely shared."
RCMP hope the outcome is that police have a better understanding of who the priority offenders are that are causing the most harm across the province.
"This shared data allows police agencies to properly prioritize and take enforcement action on the most harmful offenders, ensuring the safety of all Albertans."
The RCMP information further explains that, "To determine the harm caused by these individuals, the Alberta RCMP Strategic Analysis and Research Unit developed a matrix to determine which offenders were causing the most harm in Alberta. This determination is done using the uniform Crime Severity Index scoring that is typically applied to communities by Statistics Canada and applying it to individual’s offenders."
In November, the Joint Forces warrant apprehension team took to the streets of Calgary and southern Alberta, resulting in 88 arrests, and 177 warrants executed.
Province-wide, RCMP executed 1,005 warrants associated with 948 difference offenders.
RCMP gave a few example of people who were arrested, including the 28-year-old Cold Lake woman.
A 55-year-old man from Calgary who had four warrants for his arrest with over 42 charges - mostly related to property crime - was also arrested.
A 42-year-old man from Airdrie with seven warrants for his arrest and 27 charges for property crime and failing to comply with court ordered conditions was arrested too.
A man from Calgary, 34, who was wanted on five warrants with a total of 32 charges was arrested, according to RCMP.
“Law Enforcement needs to work together to ensure that jurisdictional borders do not impede our ability to catch the criminals causing the most harm across Alberta,” said Supt. Mike McCauley of the Alberta RCMP. “A small percentage of criminals cause a significant amount of harm across the province, and by using data to drive our work like we do in operations like these, the impact is incredible.“
