Hiring at the Calgary Police Service (CPS) has been frozen as the police force works to reduce spending, according to tweets by Calgary Police Association Vice President Mike Baker.
Baker tweeted Monday night that the association has been working with CPS to reduce its spending and a hiring freeze, along with retirement incentives, are part of the process.
The early retirement incentives are a way to “reduce payroll,” Baker tweeted, while assuring Calgarians no officers are losing their jobs.
“No active members will be laid off!” Baker tweeted.
He said the incentives have been offered to members with 35 years of service with the force.
“This is still bad news for cops and citizens,” he tweeted. “With no growth and attrition our cops are forced to do more with less. Calls up, cops down.”
A CPS spokesperson confirmed with Global News the service is “looking at potential scenarios” to deal with financial constraints facing the city.
“This is sound business practice to ensure we are prepared for whatever decision is made about our budget in November,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“This preparation includes scenarios relating a decrease in budget, status quo, as well as an increase in budget.”
The spokesperson also quashed rumours that the CPS would be laying off as many as 100 members, calling them “inaccurate and entirely irresponsible.”
“Other than looking at voluntary retirement incentives for 20 sworn CPA members, no decisions have been made in relation to the next budget.”
Last July, the city approved the hiring of 50 new CPS officers to help the city deal with a rising crime rate sparked by the recession and increasing drug activity.
Calgary Police Chief Const. Roger Chaffin said Tuesday afternoon he expects to know by November or December whether the force is in a financial position to start hiring recruits again.
Chaffin said recruits are typically hired in bulk — about 24 at a time — to keep up with members resigning and retiring. A hiring freeze could potentially set the police service behind.
WATCH: Calgary Police Chief Constable Roger Chaffin says reports of a reduction in staff at the service “somewhat irresponsible.”
With crime trends plaguing the city, Chaffin admitted a hiring freeze is concerning if it sets the force behind in staffing numbers.
“There’s a lot of key issues that we have to make sure we’re resourcing properly,” he said. “Our requirements in the community are so high right now.
“But we have to make sure that we’re also in a position to respect our budget limitations.”
Chaffin didn’t rule out the possibility of asking the city to reopen the budget to allow for hiring more officers, but the Calgary Police Commission Chair Brian Thiessen said that move would have to be approved by council.
“If the service comes back and says to us, ‘Listen we are running out of resources,’ it would be prudent for the commission to look at our budget and look at whether something can be done in 2018,” Thiessen said.
About 85 per cent of the CPS budget is dedicated to salaries and 15 per cent is allotted to other things, according to Chaffin.
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