New peace officers graduate in Calgary ceremony

City welcomes new peace officers A graduation ceremony was held Friday for more than two dozen new peace officers.

A couple dozen more peace officers will soon be on the Calgary streets, fresh off their graduation.

A ceremony was held Friday at the Mewata Armoury, for 12 community peace officers and 14 transit peace officers.

That brings the total number of transit officers to 141 in Calgary.

The city says beefing up resources is already starting to pay off, with transit-related crime slowly decreasing.

The new recruits will hit the beat very soon.

"This group will be deployed beginning next week," said emergency management and community safety director Iain Bushell, "for approximately 12 weeks, shadowing other, more experienced peace officers on the transit system.

"So you'll see them buddied up, and then they will be deployed to add a uniformed presence on the transit system, predominantly on the C Train system but also on the bus system as well."

The city is also hiring more transit security guards this month, and six more ambassador teams.

It's all part of the city's plan to address transit safety concerns.