Another step for the Grande Prairie Police Service came on March 19th announcing the appointment of the police commission’s new Public Complaints Director.
Lorrie Sitler has been serving as Executive Director of the Grande Prairie Police Commission since Spring 2023 and was chosen due to her background in public relations roles across the province.
The position is a requirement for all police agencies in Alberta and Sitler says it is an important role, as it gives members of the public the option to make complaints against the GPPS in a formal and friendly setting without having to deal with the police service directly.
“The opportunity for a public complaints director for the citizens is they have somewhere to go that is not the police service,” she says.
In her position, Sitler will engage with the public during internal investigations, monitor the process, and provide monthly reports to the police commission regarding any complaints in progress.
“It allows the community to have somebody within the community that is keeping an eye on any complaints that are happening,” she says. “It’s definitely a great accountability piece, and one of the benefits of moving to a municipal police service.”
Grande Prairie Police Commission Chair Dan Wong says he sees Sitler’s appointment as a step in the right direction as the police service continues to move forward with the transition to a municipal police service.
“This is definitely another step in the right direction, our first few months we were establishing the commission as an organization and the next few steps are now focused on how we get that 360 scan of Grande Prairie to identify all of its issues and monitor the transition, so we can establish a police service that’s responsive to the city,” he says.
According to officials, the transition timeline is on track as recruiting efforts continue and the rollout of the first GPPS officers is expected sometime this year.