The Calgary Police Service (CPS) will be getting a $14.3-million budget increase, despite initial recommendations by city staff to cut the force’s budget by about $6.5 million.
City council voted on Wednesday to increase funding to the force.
“We cannot continue a hiring freeze on police as the city grows and as officer workloads become stretched,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said.
“We need to not only replace existing officers, we need to hire news ones and fundamentally, council ultimately agreed to do that.”
The vote on the police was split into two sections; voting on whether the funding should be cut and whether the CPS should be given a large top-up.
George Chahal, who voted against the budget increase, said his decision came because of a lack of clarity regarding the body-camera debate.
“My concerns are over body worn cameras and lack of details and information on that program and cost versus lease analysis,” he said.
Calls for a budget increase have been growing, as the police service said it’s struggling with exhausted officers and increased calls for service.
In September, CPS launched a 10-week pilot project that would see officers in District 1 patrolling alone during the daytime as a way to improve response times.
That decision came despite criticism from officers and the Calgary Police Association, which said the solo patrols would be putting officers in danger.
The Calgary Police Commission praised the city’s decision in a statement on Wednesday, saying it acknowledged how difficult it was to make in light of economic restraints.
“However, we know that this increase is necessary to ensure that the service has sufficient resources to keep our city safe and to prevent crime,” the statement reads.
“This increase will help CPS respond to the priorities we’ve heard from citizens and the challenges facing public safety in Calgary.”
The commission said its looking forward to working quickly with the city and CPS to discuss next steps.
— With files from News Talk 770’s Aurelio Perri