The Taber Police Service is turning 120 years old this year and say they have many things worth celebrating.
There are many municipal police departments in Alberta, but Taber — with a population of around 9,000 — has the last remaining town police service, according to Chief Graham Abela.
And he said a reason why they’ve been around so long is the officers they’ve had over their history.
“Attitude: attitude of police officers, the attitude of the people we work with, is second to none,” the chief said. “That attitude that we have here is very special. That is something that I have seen that has been consistent across the years.”
The service has always taken a unique spin on municipal policing that seems to be working.
“I can tell you, last year we had maybe 16 or 18 uses of force out of 6,000 encounters with people,” Abela said. “The way in which we police, we get public cooperation, we get public buy in.”
That public support is shown in the municipality’s crime numbers and in complaints against the town’s police.
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“We’re able to help people here in our community,” the Chief said. “We’re effective and efficient as a police service. We have very few public complaints against us. In fact, I can only remember one in the last four years.”
Although there aren’t a lot of complaints against the police service, residents say other crimes are still a problem.
“Just this morning, my truck was broken into!” recalled Brenda Pyne, the manager of a local museum. “It’s an old truck and there isn’t anything in it, but it happens.”
“Property crimes and mischief are the most common things out here we take just as seriously as any other crime,” Abela said.
Pyne is the manager of the Taber Irrigation Impact Museum. That very museum has a special corner reserved for the Taber police.
“It’s been in Taber since 1904, and so it’s interesting to see how their uniforms have changed the systems they use,” Pyne said “Now, everything is on the computer, so when kids come in, generally kids, but anybody can see how archaic it used to be.”
The corner has historic handcuffs showing their progression, multiple shields as well as several badges and other memorabilia.
A policeman’s ball will be held later this spring among other festivals and events to be announced.
The Taber police service has been awarded for their unique approach, which the chief attributes to an adage: “An old police chief told me one time, walk softly and carry a big stick.”
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