Calgary police requests $132 million increase in budget to maintain, upgrade vehicles, buildings, recruit more officers

The Calgary Police Service (CPS) has released its 2027 to 2030 Business Plan and Budget Recommendation and is seeking a four-year operating budget increase of $132 million.At a media briefing on Thursday about the recommendation, CPS Chief Katie McKellen stated that the number was decided with only the most important and necessary items in mind."During the budget planning process, we moved forward with only the highest priority positions and line items that would impact public safety."She alluded to the fact that Calgary's population has grown at a faster rate than the CPS has been able to keep up with and that at its current rate of growth the "cop-to-pop" ratio has been getting consistently larger, making maintaining current levels of policing increasingly difficult. "During the current budget cycle, we have seen unprecedented population growth, but that growth has not been met with the necessary resources for police.""Due to years of trying to keep the tax burden low for Calgarians, we have only asked for what we needed. Pairing that with rapid population growth, we are in a position that our cop-to-pop ratio is steadily decreasing."The CPS seeks to add 309 new officers by the year 2030, an increase of 13%; it is also seeking to hire 214.5 net new civilian employees in the same timeframe, a growth rate of 23%."Adding 309 net officers by 2030 will bring the cop-to-pop ratio closer to the 2023 ratio of about 153 officers per 100,000," McLellan said..McLellan added that this budget increase is the minimum amount required to make sure that the CPS is able to provide effective and efficient policing to all Calgarians.She also noted that this increase will only be used to hire more officers and employees as well as upgrade and maintain vehicles and buildings. She noted that the CPS does not have any plans to build any new buildings if this new funding increase is granted; this would include the proposed downtown police station previously proposed by Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas. McLellan said that while she has been talking to councillors and remains optimistic that this increase will be granted, she warned that an increase lower than this amount would leave Calgary at a serious disadvantage in terms of its policing."I don't want to paint a bleak picture in my closing thoughts, but if this budget proposal is not fully funded, there will be major impacts to Calgary's safety and perception of safety.""Officer response will be limited further than what it currently is, which will worsen public safety outcomes. Our proactive rate will stay restricted or decrease, limiting our ability to engage in proactive duties like crime prevention, community engagement, education, and traffic safety.""Crimes related to firearms, youth, drugs, child exploitation, and human trafficking will also increase."McLellan also admitted that the increase recommended will only be able to sustain the CPS and that "to be honest and to be totally transparent, we actually probably need double the amount of police officers that we're asking for."The City of Calgary is set to release its 2027 to 2030 budget on November 10, meaning that the CPS and Chief McLellan will find out shortly if their recommendation has been fully taken into account by the city.

Calgary police requests $132 million increase in budget to maintain, upgrade vehicles, buildings, recruit more officers

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