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Edmonton’s police chief says some community police stations will close, but a new counter-terrorism bureau will open as part of an ongoing plan to refocus resources to get “a bigger bang for our buck.”

Rod Knecht said Thursday the police department will be create a fourth bureau, the counter-terrorism intelligence unit, to focus on intelligence-based policing and address terrorism threats.

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“This is to deal with the emerging threat of terrorism, as well as being more proactive and being more intelligence-led in the way we deal with policing,” Knecht said.

Edmonton police already share information with the Alberta Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, created to better share police intelligence nationally in response to the threat of terrorism.

However, Knecht said INSET, like other policing agencies, is struggling to balance increasing responsibilities with limited resources, meaning it “can’t keep up” with its caseload and must focus on high-level cases or those that present the most immediate risk.