New data initiative helps identify top offenders in Alberta [Video]

Alberta law enforcement agencies have joined forces to identify and take down the province’s top offenders.

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Details on a new data system were announced Friday. It’s an RCMP-led initiative that allows different police agencies in Alberta to share information on offenders with each other.

“The reality is that criminals don’t care about borders,” said RCMP Supt. Mike McCauley.

“They operate across jurisdictions, harming communities throughout the province.”

The new system has helped officers identify Alberta’s top 10,000 offenders – and arrest almost 1,000 of them in a two-week period.

“That’s a pretty strong number,” McCauley said. “It would probably be around 1,200 in a full month normally. So, it’s pretty substantial.”

Charges include serious crimes like theft, robbery, drug trafficking, sexual offences and attempted murder.

Almost all the offenders identified are repeat offenders, McCauley said.

“In each individual community, their crimes wouldn’t have marked them as priority offenders for …