Results of the 2017 Calgary Police Commission Employee Engagement Survey show morale is at its lowest point ever in Calgary Police Service history.
Click here to see full results of survey
Fifty-seven per cent of employees indicate their workplace satisfaction is worse than one year ago. Many don’t feel CPS supports its employees, citing poor communication from its leaders and failure to address problems. Inadequate staffing and increasing workloads also showed up as concerns on the survey.
“The dismal results of the commission survey come as no surprise to the association. This chief is in the third year of his action plan, and this plan is not working,” president of the Calgary Police Association (CPA) Les Kaminski said in a statement Thursday.
Officers are also losing faith in the belief that Calgary is a safe place to live, according to the survey. Reasons behind that perception include under-staffing on the front line, slow response times and not being able to investigate cases thoroughly.
“The survey is crystal clear. The chief has lost the trust and confidence of the members. Just as importantly, he has lost touch with the needs of this community,” Kaminski said, adding, “the sworn members are anxiously waiting to see what the Calgary Police Commission is going to do about it.”
Global News spoke to Chief Roger Chaffin about the survey results.
“I don’t think morale is something you just fix in a week or a day. If I was to point out one thing, it is the distance between the executive and the front line. So we have lots of work to do to engage our employees and talk about things that are important to them,” Chaffin said.
The chief believes increased funding this year will help, especially when it comes to workload.