It is now easier for you to apply for your police record checks and get the results. Effective this past Monday, the police departments in Altona, Morden and Winkler began offering the service online through their respective websites.

Inspector Sean Aune with the Morden Police Service is looking forward to learning the new process.

"...the eventual goal is that simply, people would not have to make the trips to our office to have them done or return to pick up the results. It could all be technically done online, and they can receive the results online if everything works out smoothly."

This, he added, will save people from having to visit their local police station during regular business hours. 

"This also isn't anything new," noted Aune. "There are police services across Canada that have been switching to this. Obviously, you know, the online stuff has become more of a popular option, so this is just us trying to keep up with the trend and to try to make more options available to the end users."

Police record checks are big part of what the Morden Police Service offers the community, he added.

Dan Defer, Chief of Police for the Altona Police Service, explained the process of getting your record check completed hasn't changed outside of the option of being able to apply and receive the results online. The forms, however, have changed to mirror those of other police departments in Manitoba. 

"The checks are still physically done in our office, so that doesn't change whether you come in-person or do it online," he said. 

Available for the online service are criminal record, police information and vulnerable sector checks. 

Defer explains, residents anywhere in Canada can go to the link and fill out the applications for criminal record and/or police information checks. For vulnerable sector checks, however, applicants need to make the request with the police authority of where they live. This means, for example, residents of the Municipality of Rhineland, excluding Plum Coulee, still need to request a vulnerable sector check with the RCMP. 

Another change is the fees applied to the checks. 

Visit the Altona Police Service, Morden Police Service or Winkler Police Service websites to find the application and information on what's required to complete one, as well as associated fees. 

With files from Robyn Wiebe