Edmonton may add LRT station attendants, hire more transit peace officers

Edmonton could soon swap security guards at LRT stations for new attendants and more transit peace officers.

City council is set to continue a debate this week on whether to keep spending $5 million for Commissionaires security guards at 19 transit stations or direct the funding somewhere else. Transit and security managers first gave council four options last month meant to improve security and safety, though crime severity on public transit is declining.

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A new report suggests $1.6 million could be used for station attendants to greet visitors, patrol, and report incidents at 10 locations. The remaining $3.4 million would be used to hire transit peace officers, but it’s unclear how many positions this would pay for.

Council is scheduled to discuss the plan Tuesday.

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The option to hire 30 more transit peace officers, for a total of 120, is on the table. But last month’s debate showed some councillors are interested in splitting the funding between peace officers and non-uniformed “safety attendants,” in part because of the role security guards have played in giving naloxone to people having a drug overdose on the public transit system.

In fact, the city warned having only transit peace officers (TPOs) around could increase the number of drug overdoses in transit stations. This is the risk noted in an option that contemplates removing Commissionaires from the five Downtown LRT stations, having patrols just by peace officers instead.

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“There may be an increase in drug poisoning overdose-related activity in transit spaces during times TPO teams are not physically present in a station, compared to having Commissionaires physically present at stations,” the report states.

Commissionaires administered naloxone 207 times in the first two months of 2025 alone, compared to 524 all of last year.

If council wants to have attendants and transit peace officers instead, pairs of attendants would work in stations in off-peak times when there are fewer people around, depending on the day of the week and the time of year, focusing on “hot spots” for drug overdoses and security issues. Attendants could help riders find their way, help keep stations clean, provide a watchful eye and deliver naloxone if they come across a person in crisis.

Transit peace officers would travel between “hot spot” locations in the downtown area including Churchill Station, Central Station, Corona Station, and Bay-Enterprise Station.

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Churchill and Central Station had the most security incidents in 2024, followed by Southgate, Kingsway and Coliseum Stations, the report states. Naloxone was administered 81 times at Central Station, 70 at Coliseum Station, 63 at Kingsway / Royal Alex Station, and 47 times at MacEwan Station in 2024.

Statistics reported by the Edmonton Police Service in January show average crime severity at LRT stations or transit hubs dropped by six per cent in 2024. At the same time, the number of calls from these locations went up 12 per cent, something EPS partially attributes to more calls coming from the police because transit and community safety teams are patrolling more frequently.

lboothby@postmedia.com

@laurby

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