Lacombe looking at expanding community peace officer duties

Lacombe city council voted to make some late changes to its Strategic Plan to consider boosting the role of community peace officers.

Lacombe looking at expanding community peace officer duties Published 1:30 pm Wednesday, July 15, 2026 Lacombe city council voted to make some late changes to its Strategic Plan to consider boosting the role of community peace officers. The three-year plan lists 45 actions to taken in the next years in Responsible Growth and Infrastructure Readiness, Economic Prosperity and Affordability, Communication, Trust and Civic Engagement, Community Safety, Health and WellBeing and Shared Service Delivery Through Regional Partnerships. Action items were arrived at following council workshops and surveys, input from department leads and through an organizational capacity review.

Not everything could be included in the plan. Thirty-five actions were left in a Strategic Reserve. Two of those, a proposal to look at a review of community peace officers (CPO) with the aim of expanding their duties, and a proposal to create a Municipal Endowment Fund Framework through which funding could be handed out to community organizations and other local initiatives.

Coun. Justin de Bresser said he heard a lot about community safety on the campaign trail and he wanted to see a peace officer review included in the Strategic Plan. De Bresser said Lacombe Police Service representatives told council earlier in the year that their duties are getting “stretched.”

It is worthwhile to ask administration to look at how CPOs could take some of the pressure off LPS by taking on some traffic enforcement, he said. Coun. Chris Contenti, who voted against adding CPOs to the plan, said that at the same police meeting the chief said he had enough resources to handle its local policing duties.

“That to me said they can handle whatever they need to do.” Coun. Torie Goings said she has also heard from residents who want to see community peace officers play a large role in enforcement and she would like to see administration come back to council with options.

Mayor Thalia Hibbs did not support adding additional items to a Strategic Plan that already has many items that need to pursued in coming years. She does not support adding more duties to community peace officers. Traffic enforcement as an example should remain with Lacombe Police Service.

Hibbs said the policing commission is putting together its own strategic plan in the fall and the public will have the opportunity to provide input. Adding more duties for CPOs could add costs because more members will be needed and it could take them away from enforcing municipal bylaws. She also did not support adding an endowment fund to the plan.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. It’s just not a priority.” Council voted 4-2 in favour of adding CPO and municipal endowment fund reviews with Councillors Kim Proud and Matt Span, de Bresser and Goings for and the mayor and Cententi against.