Calgary police officers ‘exhausted’ as call load increases

Calgary police officers are stretched to the limit according to Calgary’s top cop, who said in a statement to Global News on Tuesday that exhausted officers are doing all they can to keep up with an increase in people and crime in the city.

“Each and every day, officers are going from call to call to call and often can’t get to all of them before the end of their shift,” Chief Roger Chaffin said.

In an effort to decrease the amount of time Calgarians wait for service from police, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) is piloting a new project in the downtown core.

Officers on patrol during the day are now working on their own — instead of with a partner. Global News first reported on the 10-week pilot project last week.

The police union has said it’s opposed to the practice, and said it puts both officers and the public at risk.

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“One-person cars is a dangerous practice with no benefit to the officers or the public,” Calgary Police Association president Les Kaminski said in a statement to Global News last week.

The chief said the service is constantly trying to come up with new ways to deal with an increased call load without affecting safety in the community.

“This includes regularly looking at our deployment models, adjusting our organizational structure and prioritizing resources to try and address specific crime trends and challenges,” Chaffin said.

Chaffin said CPS could always use additional resources.

That will be a part of budget deliberations and discussions with the Calgary Police Commission in the coming months.

“We are not naive to the fact that the city is facing tough economic times, but I also know that our members are exhausting themselves trying to keep up with the demands of a growing city,” Chaffin said.