A city police patrol van parked at transit station in downtown Calgary on January 19. The Alberta government is paying to deploy 100 more police officers over the next 18 months to address rising violence and criminal activity on public transit in Calgary and Edmonton.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
The Alberta government is paying to deploy 100 more police officers on public transit systems over the next 18 months to address violence and disorder in Calgary and Edmonton.
Premier Danielle Smith and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis made the announcement Tuesday, outside an inner-city transit stop in Calgary. Mr. Ellis estimated the cost at $15-million, or $150,000 per officer.
Municipal leaders in both cities, where the United Conservative Party must hold on to seats in order to retain power in next month’s provincial election, are responsible for setting police budgets. But Mr. Ellis said all expenses for these street-level officers will be paid for by the province.
Neither the Calgary nor Edmonton police commissions, which provide civilian oversight and governance of city police forces, were consulted prior to the provincial announcement.
Mr. Ellis said the Calgary Police Commission reached out to him on Monday: “They had a number of issues that they wanted to talk about,” he said, adding there are plans to meet next week.
Commission Chair Shawn Cornett in a statement said it would “have been nice” to be consulted by the province prior to the announcement, but that they were kept informed by the police service. She said they welcome financial support, but added that more front-line officers is not a long-term solution to curbing crime and disorder.
“Officers need somewhere to take people who are dealing with mental health, housing or addiction challenges, and outreach teams with medical and social work expertise need to be a significant part of crisis response moving forward,” Ms. Cornett said.
During next week’s meeting, she said the commission plans to discuss stronger and sustainable funding for civilian-led supports, such as the Calgary Downtown Outreach Addiction Partnership – a mobile response to street-level intoxication.
Ms. Cornett applauded the government for earmarking $8-million over three years to increase the number of police and crisis teams in both cities – a move also announced Tuesday. Police constables and therapists are paired to respond to situations where individuals are facing mental-health or addictions concerns.
Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld said his service is hiring up to 135 officers this year, the same target as last year, considering resource and training constraints. He said the service must also factor in attrition, but that hiring is steady.
“There’s a calculation that gets modelled out, but I can tell you that the reality of it is this is such a high priority that Calgarians will see more police officers on transit and in public spaces addressing these issues right now,” said Mr. Neufeld, who was joined by Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee at the provincial announcement.
The province is also pushing municipalities to transfer control of transit peace officers to police forces to “better lead a co-ordinated and strategic response.” Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said at the news conference that the city is already building relationships between those law enforcement branches.
Tuesday’s provincial plan came a day after Ms. Gondek outlined city actions to reduce crime on the transit system, which included an increase in security guards and overnight patrols.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, who spoke to media in the capital city, said it will take time to recruit and train new officers, but efforts will be under way shortly.
“These investments will help us stabilize the situation,” Mr. Sohi said, adding that other challenges remain. “We will continue to work with our partners in the provincial government on addressing long-term, sustainable solutions, such as supportive housing and wraparound service to deal with the mental health and substance use crisis.”
Both Calgary and Edmonton are also set to receive a $5-million grant from the province to keep transit stations clean.
For years, officials in the two cities have clashed with the UCP over police funding.
In 2019, the UCP increased the portion of revenue the province keeps from traffic tickets, at the expense of municipalities. Local governments argued this would impact the money available for services such as policing; the province said municipal leaders should sharpen their budgeting skills.
The following year, Kaycee Madu, then Alberta’s justice minister, said the government was considering giving money directly to police forces, as councillors in Edmonton and Calgary debated cuts to their respective police budgets. The province did not end up following through.