Following a day with two high-risk incidents in Lethbridge, protective services in the city say new changes are coming in 2025.
On Monday, residents on the north side of the city were on alert as two high-risk incidents occurred just hours apart, with two people being taken into custody, according to police. However, the response strategy by police and on-scene paramedics will shift slightly in the new year.
“We will be launching our TEMS (Tactical Emergency Medical Services) team. TEMS team is a tactical EMS team. This team is there, and they train with Lethbridge police service — LPS, and our men and women will be heading out with the high risk incidents that LPS members go to, to ensure and enhance the safety of these men and women,” said Greg Adair, fire chief of Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services.
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This stronger bond between both emergency departments in Lethbridge is nothing but positive, according to LPS chief of police, Shahin Mehdizadeh.
“With this training, our relationships have been becoming better. The way we are reacting to these unfortunate incidents is much more efficient and we continue to train with them to actually, during a crisis, we are actually one team. No more two teams,” said Mehdizadeh.
While the final week of 2024 saw the two aforementioned high-risk incidents, as well as two bodies being discovered, Mehdizadeh says the annual trend saw crimes going down.
“We have seen significant decrease in crime and CSI (crime severity index) in the city, which, once we are ready share that, the true numbers, we are excited to share that with our community.”
Similarly positive trends were also seen by Adair for Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services.
“From an EMS perspective, our call volume has gone down in the neighbourhood of 10 to 15 per cent in 2024, as compared to 2023.”
However, both chiefs pointed to recruitment numbers as arguably the most positive thing to come out of this year for Lethbridge. Mehdizadeh says LPS added nearly 30 new personnel, while Adair says LFES is looking to add double digits in 2025.
“Next year we hope to bring on an additional 10-plus individuals, depending on attrition, which will help enhance our department’s capabilities, response capabilities and service that we’ll be able to provide our citizens,” said Adair.
For residents in Lethbridge’s downtown core, Mehdizadeh says more officers means more presence in the downtown.
“We want nothing more but an amazing, safe and prosperous city like everybody else,” said Mehdizadeh.
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