2024 was a year of growth for the Grande Prairie Police Service, with experienced officers and new recruits completing their training throughout the year.
GPPS Chief Dwayne Lakusta was brought on in the summer of 2023, with several goals in mind to help the police service through the planning, development, and transition stages.
“I’m very very pleased with 2024, in fact, I would say it exceeded my expectations, so we’re now on track to take this from a five-year transition to a two-and-a-half-year transition,” he says. “I say that with confidence because we’ve had such strong support from the community, from the ministry, from council, from the commission, we’re proving the concept that transitions can take place efficiently and effectively.”
So far, 32 officers have been sworn in, and with another class of 14 scheduled to begin on March 31st, Lakusta says the number could be as close as 70 by the end of the calendar year.
“Here we are sitting, just about the end of Q1 and we’ve already got recruit training class number two lined up for March 31st, and we’re already processing applicants, and already identified some candidates for recruit class three, which takes place in October,” he says.
It’s not just new recruits joining the ranks either. Lakusta maintains that the GPPS continuously sees interest from experienced officers looking to make a move to the city. He says now, thanks in large part to their interest, the GPPS can begin developing its specialized units, which means lower wait times for service for more specific law enforcement needs.
“We’re going to have another experienced officer class, number four, start at the end of May, and then we’re going to start processing applications for the fall time,” he says. “What we’re doing now here is we’re starting to build up our specialized units, so by building them up, we’re able to offer all those services, in-house, right here in Grande Prairie.”
Looking ahead, Lakusta says working with municipal agencies from across the province like Lethbridge and Edmonton will continue in 2025; however, this time with a focus on technology.
“We’re also utilizing and working with a number of partners right now to identify technology, and we’re going to be utilizing a lot of automation to improve the quality of service that the residents of Grande Prairie are receiving,” he says. “All things are just going in the right direction here, so I’m very very pleased with our trajectory so far, a lot of milestones we’ve hit so far.”
“Grande Prairie residents can expect just a better, higher level of service quite frankly.”
The Grande Prairie Police Service is on track to become police of jurisdiction for the City of GP in 2026.
