‘Chronic understaffing’: Calgary Police Association speaks out against management in wake of $28M shortfall

Calgary's police association says officer and public safety is compromised by budget cuts, and is citing recent examples.

The Calgary Police Association is expressing “grave concerns” over measures to further reduce what it calls an already insufficient number of officers on the front line, all while the service struggles to deal with a $28-million revenue shortfall in 2025.

In a memo sent to members earlier this week, CPA president John Orr cited issues with management protocols that have led to “alarming consequences.”

He points to reductions in the 60 per cent minimum staffing protocol for officers on certain night shifts and one particular instance in which no available units were available to respond.

“This forced a unit from across the city (to respond), resulting in a 30-minute response time. In this case, the victim had to barricade themselves in a room to avoid further harm until help arrived,” read the memo.

Orr also noted that there have been situations in which just one single officer has had to respond to dangerous incidents involving offenders or individuals in harm’s way.

“We’ve seen chronic understaffing for a number of years now, especially on the front line of the Calgary Police Service and our patrol area,” said Orr.

“Due to recent budget implications, management has taken steps to reduce minimum staffing even further to what we believe is a dangerous level.”

Orr said the City of Calgary must step forward to address budgetary issues, but that long-term, the police commission also needs to look at better recruiting practices and what other jurisdictions have done “to decouple fine revenue from the budget.”

Fine revenue is a line in the Calgary Police Service’s budget and recent changes from the Government of Alberta to restrict photo radar have resulted in the shortfall.

In a statement to CTV News, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) says any grievances filed by the CPA are addressed through a process governed by the applicable collective agreement and comments on the matter are limited out of respect for that process.

“Broadly speaking, the Calgary Police Service is currently engaged in a comprehensive process to evaluate our service delivery model, with the aim of ensuring adequate, efficient and effective policing for Calgarians into the future,” read the statement.

“This includes strengthened measures to ensure we are only using overtime when service requirements demand it.”

CPS went on to say that it is ensuring it first employs other options, such as moving or reallocating resources, as its number one priority remains member and public safety.

“The CPS’s service delivery modernization work has been underway for some time and has been further expedited due to the estimated $28-million shortfall caused by the decision to restrict automated traffic enforcement. Fiscal challenges are one of the factors that necessarily impact how we deliver services to Calgarians.”

Calgary mayor calls out province

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek has gone as far as accusing the province of defunding Calgary’s police, adding that fine revenue accounted for six per cent of the CPS budget.

“We have consistently increased our funding to Calgary Police Service based on growth in population, based on their needs, and based on increasing the number of recruitment classes that are needed,” she said.

“I think the other important thing to recognize is this question of photo radar. It has taken sort of a strange turn. There are people calling it a cash cow. There are others that are saying it shouldn’t be a budget line item. Let’s be clear about photo radar: it is to protect people on the roadways, to save lives and to prevent collisions.”

Gondek added that “if someone is breaking the law, it makes sense that they should face a penalty.”

“Traditionally that penalty has been a fine, and the revenues generated from those fines in part are shared with the municipality. That money is then dedicated to the police service, so the fundamental issue here is: do we want to keep people safe on our roadways? I think we can all agree that ‘yes,’ that should be a primary concern,” the mayor said.

However, Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis does not agree with Gondek.

“Nobody’s public safety should be dependent on the amount of tickets that are written to the public, and no police officer’s job should be dependent on the amount of tickets that he or she has to write a member of the public or somebody who’s doing photo radar,” he said.

We have photo radar in the city; it’s never been meant to be a revenue generator. So, if the city of Calgary and the Calgary Police Service can demonstrate this as something that is public safety-oriented, we’re happy to entertain that, and we are expediting to try and figure out what those regulations are going to be.”

Ellis mentioned his commitment for the province to fund 50 police officers in both Calgary and Edmonton is something that he says will make a lasting difference.

Meanwhile, Doug King, a professor of Justice Studies at Mount Royal University, says even the slightest cut to a police budget can have a “trickle-down” impact on the future of frontline public safety services provided to citizens.

“The thing that strikes me in terms of this whole thing is that the Alberta minister of transport (Devin Dreeshen) can influence public safety by cutting $28 million out of the police budget without the Minister of Public Safety saying a thing,” he said.

King notes that Calgary’s population has grown at one of the fastest rates in the entire country, so naturally more officers will be needed to respond to calls.

“The provincial government needs to understand that when you start to erode the number of people that are working for a police agency, eventually it will impact public safety,” King said.

“You can’t skate around it by saying ‘cash cows’ and all that. You know, you can’t hold an infomercial saying you’re going to cut the photo radar. I mean, it just doesn’t make sense, but I mean, that’s where we are right now.”