Calgary police will receive $8M in funding from the province to hire 50 new officers

Calgary police will receive a promised funding boost from the province to hire 50 new officers who will be recruited, trained and deployed throughout the first half of 2024.

Approximately $8 million will be awarded to the Calgary Police Service (CPS), over the next two fiscal years, as part of a promise from the provincial government for more officers in Alberta's two major cities, Edmonton and Calgary.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mike Ellis, minister of public safety and emergency services, said the funding was a milestone and would provide much needed resources to help keep Calgary's streets safe.

"Calgary is a great place to live, to work, to raise a family, but there's no denying that the increase of crime and social disorder that began during the pandemic has not gone away," said Ellis.

"Officer presence matters, and 50 new uniformed CPS members will provide a visible deterrent to crime and a reassuring presence to law-abiding Calgarians, who have every right to expect they can go about their daily lives free from harm or the fear of being harmed."

The first $4.1 million of the funding will be allocated to CPS immediately, while the remaining funds will come into effect in the province's next fiscal year. The money will be used to pay officer salaries and cover costs such as vehicles, uniforms and radios.

Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said an initial 25 officers will be deployed in the first quarter of 2024in Calgary's downtown, District 5 (northeast) and District 6 (central southwest).

The second batch of new officers will be deployed in the second quarter, Neufeld said, and will be distributed throughout the city's other police districts.

CPS has already begun recruiting new members, according to a release sent by the province on Wednesday.

"These additional officers will be strategically placed in high-crime areas with the flexibility to be redeployed to other parts of the city based on evolving needs. When these officers are in place, high-crime areas like transit centres and the downtown core will see increased police presence," read the release.

Neufeld said the addition of the new officers is aligned with the city's transit strategy, which is meant to reduce crime on transit and repair public perception of safety while using the system.

Since the beginning of 2023, the chief said, officers have carried out targeted operations on city transit lines, pathways and parksin order to address public perceptions of feeling unsafe in these areas.

"As a result, these officers have laid more than 3,300 criminal charges, affected 5,600 warrantsand issued more than 3,600 tickets," said Neufeld.

Ellis noted that rising crime rates in the city point to the need to address underlying issues such as addiction, homelessnessand mental health struggles, and that police enforcement is only part of that strategy.

Neufeld said the addition of new officers will help CPS develop several new teams in the city. Theywill, in part, focus on "high systems users" across the city frequent offenders whose crimes are not necessarily serious in nature.

Working with partners in judicial and social services, Neufeld said CPS will aim to provide more individualized case management to effect "real change in the lives of these individuals."