There were a lot of sirens and speeding cars in the community over the last week. Community peace officers from across the province were in Lac La Biche last week for emergency response driver training. Peace officers were learning driving scenarios under a controlled and monitored setting at the Air Tanker Base at the Lac La Biche Airport.
Part of the programming available through Lac La Biche County's Law Enforcement Training Program, the certification course is one component of the locally-administered program that draws trainees from across the province. The training program is a partnership between Lac La Biche County, Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, and Portage College, and offers a full, 11-week peace officer induction program, as well as 30 individual certification courses for peace officers.
Chris Clark, Lac La Biche County's manager of Enforcement Services oversees the training program. He is also a certified provincial instructor for the program. With three other instructors, he spent much of the last week watching and guiding community peace officers from the Siksika Nation, Parkland County, the Municipal District of Bighorn, Spruce Grove, Camrose, and one of the local officers, as they sped through a marked course of pylons representing scenarios officers may face while on duty.
"It's a timed course and on points," explained Clark, raising his voice to be heard over the constant siren sounds and engine noises that took over the road-course area. "They can't hit any cones, which represent people, obstructions, walls — one part of the course mimics a U-turn in an alley or driveway, another is for backing into a prisoner bay ... there's a collision avoidance section."
Speeds on the tight road course can get up to 70 or 80 kilometres per hour. A perfect session sees an officer completing the circuit in just over two minutes without contacting any pylons.
"In this course, they are being tested on all the things we have taught them, emergency lights, sirens, communicating while driving, and of course the driving skills," said Clark.
The final road course test for the officers is a 'pass-fail' scenario that comes after a week of practical tests and a written exam.
Other individual courses offered through the Lac La Biche County training program include officer safety, shotgun training, radar, first aid, drug awareness, communication and crime prevention.
As the emergency driving course ends, local training continues to roll with two Community Peace Officer Induction Program (CPOIP) courses being offered in 2023. The first 11-week program begin on March 20 and goes to June 1. Another full class of peace officer students will be in the community from August 21 to November 2.
Since the Lac La Biche training program began in late 2021, two classes of Level 1 peace officers — 22 recruits — have graduated. An additional 32 recruits are expected to attend the program in the two intakes for 2023.
The program, with its partnership between the province, a municipality and a post-secondary institution is the first of its kind in Alberta.
Clark is proud of the local work being done with the training, saying it does a lot to bring awareness to the profession and to the community, joking that the sight of the peace officer vehicles on their way to and from the week of training has definitely caught some looks.
"We've had a few heads turn," he said.
