The guardian of
Public Trust

The Commission is a non-political, civilian governance board providing oversight of the Edmonton Police Service.

The Commission is responsible for:

• Allocating police service funds provided by City Council
• Establishing policies for efficient and effective policing
• Issuing instructions, as necessary, to the Chief of Police
• Ensuring effective service and that sufficient persons are employed for the functions of the police service
• Responding to public complaints about key policies and decisions made by the Chief of Police
• Engaging with Edmontonians

Under the Police Act, the Commission is responsible for providing effective civilian oversight of policing. As part of this oversight role, the Commission monitors and reviews public complaints and serious incidents in a variety of ways.
The Commission’s role in the public complaints process is to monitor and ensure that investigations are thorough, fair and conducted in accordance with policy and the law. As the governing body for the police service and as a statutory decision maker, it is important for the Commission to ensure integrity of the process by reserving comment on any potential police misconduct matters before they have been adjudicated. It’s important we don’t prejudice any parts of the matter that may come before the Commission for decision. The process must be conducted fairly and transparently, and the Commission won’t be offering an opinion on the matter before it has been properly adjudicated.

There are legislated paths set out in the Police Act to submit complaints about police actions, and the Commission has no legal authority to act outside of these processes. The Commission monitors the complaints process, and complaints about policy and officer misconduct can be made directly through our website. Complaints are investigated by the Professional Standards Branch of the police service.

Police Commissions are civilian groups that provide governance and oversight of
police service. This oversight is provided through:

• developing annual policing plans; observing and measuring outcomes
• allocating the budget and monitoring through review of financials
• appointing the Chief of Police
• establishing policies for efficient and effective policing, and issuing instructions to the chief of police in respect of those policies
• independent oversight of the public complaints process
• decision making tribunal in public complaints about the Chief of Police
• review tribunal in public complaints respecting the policies and services of the police service
• conducting inquiries into any matter respecting the police service or the actions of any police officer

Currently, the Professional Standards Branch of the EPS investigates complaints against police officers. The Commission’s Public Complaints Director monitors this process. Recent legislative changes made by the Government of Alberta will create a Police Review Commission as an independent body to investigate complaints against the EPS.

Under the Police Act, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigates Alberta police officers whose conduct:

• fraud
• may have caused serious injuries
• may have caused death
• has led to serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct, such as:
• breach of trust
• obstruction of justice
• sexual assault
• perjury
• theft