This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk to a lawyer. Links go to official sources.
1. File a complaint about police conduct
As of December 1, 2025, complaints about non-RCMP officers in Alberta go to the independent Police Review Commission (PRC). Serious matters (death, serious injury, criminal allegations) are handled by ASIRT under the PRC.
- Submit your complaint to the PRC — in writing, with the date, time, location, officers involved (badge/car number if known), and what happened.
- Keep copies of everything, names of witnesses, and any photos or video.
- You can complain even if you were not the person directly affected.
Police Review Commission — complaints ↗ For RCMP officers, complaints go to the CRCC.
2. Request records (FOIP / ATIA)
Alberta's Access to Information Act (which replaced the access part of FOIP on June 11, 2025) lets you request records from a police service or city — budgets, policies, use-of-force data, and sometimes incident records.
- Send a written request to the police service's or city's FOIP/access coordinator describing the records as specifically as you can.
- A $25 application fee applies for general (non-personal) requests; requests for your own personal information are free.
- They have 30 business days to respond. Police often redact under a law-enforcement or privacy exemption — you can ask the Information and Privacy Commissioner to review a refusal.
How to submit a request ↗ Privacy Commissioner ↗
3. Contact your councillor or MLA
City councils set police budgets and appoint police commissions; MLAs set the laws. Tell them what you think — about funding, oversight, or a specific case.
Be specific: name the case or the budget line, say what you want them to do, and ask for a written reply.
4. Know your rights
- Detention vs. arrest: ask "Am I being detained or arrested? Am I free to go?" If you're not being detained, you can walk away.
- Right to silence: you generally do not have to answer questions beyond identifying yourself in certain situations. You can say you wish to remain silent.
- Right to a lawyer: if detained or arrested, you have the right to speak to a lawyer without delay — ask for it clearly.
- Street checks ('carding'): in Alberta a street check must be voluntary and non-random — you can ask if you're free to go and decline to answer.
- Recording: you are generally allowed to film police in public from a safe distance, as long as you don't obstruct them.
Sources: Government of Canada (Charter rights), Alberta street-check regulation, Canadian Civil Liberties Association. This is general information, not legal advice.
5. Support & legal help
- Legal Aid Alberta — legalaid.ab.ca
- Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre — aclrc.com
- Canadian Civil Liberties Association — ccla.org
- If you've lost a loved one in a police-involved death, you can ask the Justice Minister for standing/funding at a public fatality inquiry; a lawyer can help you apply.