RCMP launches digital criminal record check pilot in select detachments, Provost among them

The Alberta RCMP is launching a pilot project to test if online criminal record checks would be a viable option in the province.

The provincial detachment opened the program in select detachments Wednesday, including Provost locally. More are planned if it is successful as a pilot.

Once applied for, the record check will be processed in the same timeframe as an in-person check, and then mailed to the applicant, unless people have arranged to pick it up at a detachment. 

People will be able to get standard criminal record checks and vulnerable sector checks, which is included in the service provision for criminal record checks. A VSC is the most thorough of all background checks available, and the RCMP says it protects children and other vulnerable people from physical, sexual, mental, and financial abuse.

Alberta RCMP Superintendent Curtis Zablocki says that they’re always looking for ways to streamline services across the province, and this move makes services like criminal record checks more accessible. He also notes this helps in a time when physical distancing is preferred. 

 The other detachments currently testing online criminal record checks are Bashaw, Cochrane, Consort, Drayton Valley, Drumheller, Grande Prairie, St. Albert, St. Paul, Sundre, and Sylvan Lake.

Anyone looking to get these checks done and who live in the above areas can find them on the RCMP’s website.