LPS master plan puts spotlight on present and future needs

By Lethbridge Herald on November 23, 2024.

Herald photo by Al Beeber A needed expansion of Lethbridge Police Service headquarters is among the items contained in the LPS Master Plan that was presented to the Social and Safety Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council on Thursday.

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge Police Commission chair Douglas Thornton on Thursday presented the Lethbridge Police Service Master Plan to the Safety and Social Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council.

The council met at 1:30 p.m. in council chamber at City Hall.

A report to the SPC says the plan was adopted by the commission at its June 26 meeting and is being forwarded to council to identify future policing services needs and to provide a framework for future planning.

The commission chair asked the SPC to recommend council adopt the plan in principle as a guiding document. It also asked the SPC to direct LPS and the commission to return to council through the Economic and Finance SPC for approval of any objectives contained in the plan.

The SPC voted unanimously on a motion recommending council  adopt the plan as a guiding document in principle. Committee members are also asking their council peers to direct LPS and the police commission to return to council through the Economic and Finance SPC for approval of any of the objectives identified in the plan  including capital projects to be submitted to future Capital Improvement Program deliberations and initiatives requiring operating budget changes to be submitted to future operating budget deliberations.

LPS chief Shahin Mehdizadeh told the SPC police headquarters is already too small and expansion is needed to provide services to residents with anticipated growth. 

He said when the HQ was first built, it surely met needs at the time but won’t in the future. Among the pressing needs are separate locker rooms for female officers and space for a cyber crimes unit to operate.

Councillor Rajko Dodic told his colleagues on the SPC – councillors Ryan Parker and Belinda Crowson – that the master plan is a good document and it’s important to act on some of the matters contained for the public safety so LPS has the resources it needs to with problems facing the city, which he pointed out in terms of drug addiction, aren’t unique to Lethbridge.

Councillor John Middleton-Hope is also a member of the SPC but was absent after taking an unpaid leave of absence from council duties to focus on his candidacy for the vacant Lethbridge West seat in the Alberta legislature.

LPS initiated the plan in 2022, says a report to the SPC. Between October of 2022 and June of 2023, more than 28 engagement sessions were conducted with more than 20 participants, says the report.

The 97-page plan itself is “a dynamic living document. It is intended to serve as a guide for the City of Lethbridge, LPS and coordinated services in other departments, and will be used to inform budgeting and long-term planning. Any recommendations with capital implications would be referred back to Council to consider through the budget process,” says an executive summary of it.

The city policing jurisdiction includes 124 square kilometres of area.

The plan says in the short term, the city police should secure funding for several projects which include: 

•  Relocate Records Management Section and long term storage for Property and Exhibits to a City of Lethbridge facility.

• Renovate and restack to alleviate critical space constraints and service impacts.

• Undertake due diligence to select and acquire sites for a new 15-acre indoor training campus and a five-acre divisional station.

Long-term options account for the relocation of the LPS training facility and traffic unit to  a training campus. 

“Extensive renovations and a restack are proposed within the HQ to allow for future growth and new amenities that were determined as essential to a police headquarters such as a community and media room. In the long term the LPSMP also proposes the construction of three new facilities,” says the plan.

Long-term plans include: 

• Re-stack of HQ.

• A 15-acre training campus.

• A 30-acre emergency vehicle operator course/scenario training campus.

• A five -acre divisional station which will allow LPS to provide a physical presence on the west side which the plan says continues to be the fastest growing area in Lethbridge. 

Total cost of implementing the plan is $64,738,435.75. But as Crowson pointed out to residents, this doesn’t mean council is going to spend that money until, or unless, approved in future budgets.

A critical priority is the HQ which the plan says is near or at capacity for most teams with an imminent increase in staff likely to put the service over capacity.

The present gun range in the river valley limits training outdoor training opportunities because it is outdoors and safety concerns exist with adjacent pedestrian walkways and the University of Lethbridge.

The plan says the emergency vehicle operator’s course utilizes a track at the Fort Macleod airport which wasn’t designed for police training purposes.

LPS also utilizes borrowed City space in the Civic Curling Centre for training purposes and that building is nearing the end of its life and may not meet current safety codes, says the report.

It also notes that LPS has a compound for seized vehicles that is getting close to capacity and other options need to be evaluated.

The plan says other City organizations are also facing increased demand and opportunities exist to collaborate with sharing of resources demonstrating fiscal responsibility and a willingness to collaborate.