Strict rules are now in place to ensure Black Diamond Town employees are protected when stepping onto private property - prompted by the murder of a peace officer in the Foothills seven years ago.
Black Diamond Town council authorized changes to the Town’s standard operating procedures for its employees at its June 5 meeting to be in compliance with Alberta’s Communication System Policy Protocol.
The protocol was established after Trevor Kloschinsky ambushed, beat and killed Foothills peace officer Rod Lazenby near Priddis in 2012. Lazenby had gone to the property to speak with Kloschinsky about concerns over the number of dogs kept on his property after previously issuing a stop order on a dog-breeding operation on the land.
The standard operating procedures call for regular checks between peace officers and the Foothills Regional Emergency Services Commission (FRESC), flagging properties that pose a safety risk to employees and ensuring extra officers are at properties deemed to be at risk.
Black Diamond peace officer Jim Berry said these procedures had already been in place for peace officers, just not in writing.
“We have a standard policy where we flag properties that are considered aggressive towards law enforcement,” he said. “The two officers (Berry and Devon Bartek) know which properties not to attend themselves.”
What has changed, said Berry, is the information is now available to all Town employees.
“Now it’s on a computer system and available for all staff,” he said. “Before we (peace officers) just knew.”
Black Diamond administration and peace officers, in consultation with Foothills County, have a communication protocol using FRESC as the point of contact, Berry said.
The standard operating procedure calls for FRESC dispatch to conduct 60-minute welfare checks on officers. If after five minutes FRESC dispatch can’t contact the missing officer, the RCMP are told the last known location using the vehicle’s GPS and a search commences.
Officers are required to communicate with dispatch when leaving their vehicles, stating their intention for the residential visit and possibility of high-risk activity, and proceed when cleared by FRESC. The location, resident’s name and time expected to return must also be stated, according to the new policy.
“Every time a vehicle is stopped we give a location description, vehicle description and how many passengers,” said Berry. “That’s been in place since I started.”
Officers must also contact FRESC when entering areas with intermittent radio availability and must not answer another officer’s check, the policy states.
Property flagging was established in the policy to identify individuals or sites that pose a risk to peace officers or staff. Employees are required to check the program before attending any property and follow the appropriate measures.
Medium-level hazards - identified as non-violent or threatening - require at least two staff members to attend and high-level hazards - known as violent or threatening - require employees to be escorted by both an RCMP and peace officer.
“We have a couple of flagged properties,” said Berry. “If I’m not working Devon will get an RCMP member to attend. If public works needs to go they can request us to be there with them. If somebody with the Town needs to go to these properties to serve documents they request that we’re with them for safety reasons.”
According to the standard operating procedure, once a flagged property is attended a report must be submitted to the senior enforcement officer to assist with ongoing and annual reviews. Flagged properties must be reviewed annually.
“This is our way of making it safer for us to know what properties we may have issues with,” Berry said. “Anything that makes officer safety a little bit better is a positive thing.”
Black Diamond Mayor Ruth Goodwin said the standard operating procedure has been a longtime coming.
“I’m happy as a result of the Lazenby inquiry that provincially they’ve updated their measures for safety and security in the workplace,” she said. “This is for all staff that have to enter or approach properties.”
