page_title: Alberta Sheriffs Branch
section_title: Investigation and Enforcement Operations
hierarchical_section_title: Alberta Sheriffs Branch / Services / Investigation and Enforcement Operations
caption_attribution_description: Alberta Sheriff SCAN sign on shuttered dwelling house
context_page_description: The Alberta Sheriffs Branch is a provincial law enforcement agency overseen by the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General of the province of Alberta, Canada. Under the authority of the Peace Officer Act, Alberta Sheriffs are provincial peace officers with jurisdiction over the province of Alberta. The Premier of Alberta has the authority to grant emergency police powers to all Alberta Sheriffs in the case of any major emergencies that occur within the province. The Alberta Sheriffs Branch is the largest and most versatile provincial sheriff service in Canada.
  There are several divisions currently operating in various areas around the province. The sheriffs can enforce all provincial and Federal acts with active enforcement depending on unit. Training is completed at the Justice and Solicitor General's Training Academy, located in Edmonton. Sheriff recruit training is a fifteen-week course, and once on specialized units, an additional eight to twelve weeks of training is conducted.
context_section_description: Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Unit (SCAN) teams improve community safety by performing investigations under the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, targeting properties used for illegal activities such as drugs, gangs and prostitution.  The SCAN Act holds owners accountable for what takes place on their property. Using the provisions contained in the act, a dwelling can be shuttered by court order to temporarily  discourage usage by criminals.
  Sheriff Highway Patrol collaborate with the RCMP in an integrated team model. Within these integrated traffic units (ITUs), traffic sheriffs perform traffic law enforcement duties in addition to education and awareness initiatives. Traffic sheriffs are deployed to reduce high-risk driving behaviour, improve traffic enforcement on highways, reduce the incidence of injury and fatality collisions, and to restrict drug trafficking throughout the province.
  Sheriffs Investigative Support Unit (SISU) teams provide investigative support to police agencies for major and organized crime investigations within Alberta.
caption: A dwelling shuttered by the Alberta Sheriffs Branch SCAN Team
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