Fred Makowecki, chair of the Drumheller Police Committee has taken on a bigger role being appointed Chair of the Alberta Association of Police Governance (AAPG).
Makowecki attended the annual AAPG conference in Taber last week. He has served vice chair three times and this year is excited to be appointed chair.
“’We are working to bring more police governance bodies together to share information on best practices for police governance and oversight,” he said.
On the local level Makowecki has been involved for a number of years. He worked on a Crime Stoppers Initiative, and then with the first Citizens Advisory Council and then helped to start up the local police advisory committee.
“John Sparling and Karen Bertamini came up to me and said 'you don’t need to be on council, to make a difference in your community,’ and that rally stuck with me,” he said.
About seven years ago, he attended his first AAPG conference and it was an eye opener.
“We learned how we could utilize the knowledge of other areas to make policing better in our community,” Makowecki.
He then came involved at the board level shortly thereafter and began to understand the importance of working on policy lobbying and governance.
“Canada is strong with its over sight, and Alberta has an exceptionally strong model for oversight, especially when policing is provided mostly by the RCMP,” he said.
“I still think that on a local level, or on a provincial level that public input is important,” he said.
He would like to work towards governance organizations in the province to be all working on the same page.
“Moving towards a standardization for oversight and working with the RCMP would be one of my goals while I am chair,” said Makowecki.