Edmonton police officers are coming to Winnipeg next week in an aggressive search — not for criminals, but for potential recruits.

The Edmonton Police Service hopes to recruit 20 Winnipeggers from recruitment events at both city universities and Red River College.

"Are we poaching? Are we coming to poach? I guess so," said Const. Val Hoglund, a recruiter with the service.

Hoglund said Edmonton desperately needs about 100 new constables to address the needs of a growing city. The service hasn't been able to find enough officers in Alberta, she said, while a number of current officers are retiring.

"We are hiring so many people that your chances of being hired are so high, and in a fairly quick time period as well," she said Tuesday.

In fact, in as little as three months, successful Winnipeg candidates can be on Edmonton's payroll, earning $45,000 a year — about $10,000 more than the starting constable salary in Winnipeg's police force. Hoglund said her service is also considering signing bonuses.

The Calgary Police Service also has plans to launch an aggressive recruitment campaign in Manitoba early next year.

Hoglund said she likes Winnipeg because she feels it's similar to Edmonton.

"I kind of refer to Winnipeg as our sister city. We're both [in] Prairie provinces and we are fairly similar size," she said.

Winnipeg needs its own recruits

But Winnipeg cannot afford to lose much-needed police recruits to other cities, said Coun. Gord Steeves, chair of the city's protection committee.

The Winnipeg Police Service has already been struggling to find enough recruits, so countering the Edmonton and Calgary campaigns will be a challenge, he said.

"I don't begrudge them the fact that they've got a real problem. They have to try to deal with it. But make no mistake, we are not going to be caught wanting just because somebody else is trying to recruit police officers," Steeves said Tuesday.

"This only tells me that the pressures that we were feeling are not a blip and that we are going to have to keep our nose to the grindstone when it comes to recruitment."

Steeves said he hopes new advertisements on buses and in movie theatres will attract police recruits in this city. Otherwise, Winnipeg may also have to resort to recruiting in other cities in the future.