CALGARY – The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating circumstances around the deployment of Calgary police resources during Alberta’s election, the office of the solicitor general confirmed on Friday.
An Alberta Justice spokesperson said in a statement the investigation is “to determine whether those circumstances provide reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been committed.” She called the allegation “sensitive and serious.”
The matter stems from Calgary’s former police chief Rick Hanson allocating 22 officers to District 5, a region in the city’s northeast, right before he resigned and announced he was running for office in that part of Calgary.
Hanson stepped down from his post on March 13 and was appointed as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Calgary-Cross the next day by then-Premier Jim Prentice. He lost to NDP candidate Ricardo Miranda during the May 5 provincial election.
When asked why the officers were added to District Five the day before Hanson announced his PC candidacy at a Thursday news conference, Superintendent Kevan Stuart said it was a “matter of a certain part of the city got officers, and that part of the city got officers.”
A Thursday release from Calgary police said the district boundaries were realigned based on call load, complexity of calls and time spent on calls. It came into effect on June 21.
“Chief Hanson has been in this organization for 40 years, he has served his community for 40 years, and he has served it very admirably with ethics and integrity,” said Stuart. “And I’m not going to question that.
“After 40 years of serving this police service and this community, taking on many roles that many people would not take on to make it safe, so I am not going to question that at all.”
A Friday statement from current Chief of Police Paul Cook said the decision to deploy resources and change district boundaries was based on “solid operational requirements supported by business analysis as well as officer and community input.”
“As recent allegations leave the impression of impropriety, I have reported it to the Alberta Director of Law Enforcement, who has directed the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team to investigate,” wrote Cook in the statement.
“The CPS remains steadfast that the decision to allocate resources was proper and based on sound operational needs. The referral to ASIRT was made to ensure that the public trust and confidence in the service is maintained.”
With files from Nancy Hixt and Phil Heidenreich
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