Use revenue from fines to hire ‘desperately needed’ staff, police urge council

Calgary police have asked city council to authorize a “desperately needed” boost in staffing, funded in part through fines collected from red-light cameras and photo radar.

Deputy Chief Paul Cook told council members Tuesday that the service hopes to make 24 full-time hires over the next two years even though CPS isn’t expected to see an increase to its operating budget until 2021.

“We’re asking council to consider that we fund those 24 positions through (fine) revenue, because I can tell you we desperately need those positions,” Cook said Tuesday.

“There is not a position, there is not a dollar we’re asking for that we don’t need. I can’t describe to you the pressures that our front line and investigative folks are feeling every single day.”

Cook made the comments during council’s second day of deliberations on the municipal budget.

The proposed funding for CPS would see a nearly five per cent increase to the service’s base operating budget by 2022, which would allow the force to hire an additional 120 staff members in 2021 and 2022.

The total number of new hires, sworn officers and civilian staff alike, would be 144 by the end of the four years.

In the interim, Cook said, the service hopes to use revenue from expanded electronic enforcement to keep on top of hiring.

“We’ve seen an increase in crime. We’ve seen an increase in the complexity of crime and the demands that are placed on our members,” Cook said following Tuesday’s meeting at city hall.

“There (are) no new services that we are proposing within this budget. It’s about trying to maintain the service that this community expects and trying to support our folks in both front-line patrol and our investigative areas to provide them the capacity for the workload that’s facing us now.”

Also included in the budget proposal are new capital dollars for police equipment, red-light enforcement and vehicles.

CPS also is proposing to spend $11 million to replace the 15-yearold HAWC2 and HAWC1 helicopters.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Calgarians shouldn’t worry about increased ticketing by police to fund hiring, since council makes the final decision on how much of the fines are funnelled back to CPS.

“Sometimes people worry that it becomes a cash cow; you’re going to have speed traps just to get money. But that doesn’t really happen because, fundamentally, council still has to approve the use of those funds,” Nenshi said.

“Ideally, if we can figure out ways to get more boots on the street in a reasonable way, I think it’s worth it.”

The Calgary Fire Department’s budget is proposed to take a significant hit in 2019, according to figures discussed Tuesday.

The base operating budget for CFD will drop by $11 million next year to $218 million — though funding for fire services will be restored and increased by the end of the budget cycle.

Fire Chief Steve Dongworth explained Tuesday that the proposed decrease in 2019 means cutting a rescue unit at the No. 9 fire station in Ogden.

Ideally, if we can figure out ways to get more boots on the street in a reasonable way, I think it’s worth it. MAYOR NAHEED NENSHI

“We’d obviously have to redeploy our resources to fill that hole the best we can. Although we have a fragile system and it will create more gaps citywide,” Dongworth said, adding it will result in a slowed response time for serious fires in Ward 9.

Councillors Gian-Carlo Carra and Jeff Davison both suggested Tuesday they will bring an amendment to the budget to restore funding for the Ogden rescue unit.

“We fought so hard during (the debate on new communities) to ensure that we had appropriate response times that we’re not addressing in the inner-city communities, we’re not addressing our existing communities,” Davison said.

“There’s cutbacks but then there’s a cutback that is critical. When you need this service, it’s essential.”