Over the last two decades, Alberta has benefited from unprecedented economic growth, but with such prosperity also came an increase in the number of people and groups involved in illegal activities. To address this issue, the Government of Alberta started to pursue integrated policing in the late 1990s with the transformation of Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta (CISA) into an autonomous organization with integrated resources from the RCMP, and municipal police services.

CISA's integrated approach to intelligence gathering and strategic analysis was the province's first foray into a policing model that recognizes the value of combining the efforts of multiple police agencies to target a specific crime problem that is complex and crosses multiple jurisdictions. Law enforcement agencies in Canada and around the world have been shifting more and more resources towards the integrated policing model as criminal organizations continue to become more complex and sophisticated, requiring a more coordinated response.

Over the next five years, the government continued to pursue the integrated policing model, creating the Integrated Response to Organized Crime (IROC), the Enhanced Response to Organized Crime (EROC), Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) units, the Alberta Relationship Threat Assessment Management Initiative (ARTAMI), and other specialized drug, gang, and intelligence units across Alberta.

It soon became apparent that while the integrated units were producing results, the management of funding and resources was becoming increasingly complicated. A coordinated strategy was needed to address this issue.

In March 2006, the Government of Alberta established the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT). Operating at arm's length from the Province, the organization brings together, under one umbrella, a number of integrated policing units to strategically tackle serious and organized crime in Alberta. The model is a first for Canada--no other province has one, central body for the oversight and governance of provincial integrated policing.

ALERT brings together over 400 municipal police, RCMP members, and sheriffs to work together in an integrated environment. These highly skilled teams are located in regions throughout the province, investigating things like drug trafficking, child exploitation, gang violence and organized crime.

ALERT's main objectives are:

• to provide a coordinated provincial focus to the strategic deployment of integrated law enforcement resources;
• to promote the practice of intelligence-led policing; and
• to promote the use of common, standard business practices and operating procedures.

ALERT's operational units are organized into three business lines--intelligence, enforcement, and support services--however, the strength of the model lies in the integration of these three areas. Intelligence analysts and enforcement officers work together to address a specific crime problem, often supported by one or more of our sheriffs units. This cooperative approach to policing has proven to be an extremely successful model, especially as the criminal landscape evolves, becoming more sophisticated and pushing beyond local and regional boundaries. 

ALERT teams are guided by five goals:

1. Integrated, intelligence-led policing is supported by strategic and actionable intelligence on serious and organized crime in Alberta.
2. Organized and serious crime in Alberta is reduced.
3. Law enforcement officers are supported in their efforts to effectively and efficiently combat serious and organized crime.
4. Law enforcement activities reduce harm and support safe Alberta communities.
5. Law enforcement officers possess an advanced level of expertise, skills and knowledge to effectively and efficiently target gang, organized, and serious crime in Alberta.