Calgary Police Commission hears recommendations on District 1
Posted Feb 23, 2016 5:51 pm.
Last Updated Feb 23, 2016 6:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
While crime remains a problem right across the city, the Calgary Police Service continues to focus its attention on District 1.
CPS gave a presentation on a large operation over the past couple of months lead to the arrests of 30 people, who are now facing nearly 130 drug-related charges.
The commission also heard recommendations from officers on ramping up efforts in the downtown core will ultimately keep people safe.
Insp. Cliff O’Brien said officers have been focusing on the CTrain line on 7th Avenue and the busy red mile on 17th Avenue, which have been common areas of drug activity putting the public at risk.
He told 660 NEWS that if you’re in those areas and notice something shady, pick up your telephone.
“What we encourage people to do is phone us, and not think that the police are too busy,” O’Brien explained. “We may be busy, it may take us time to get to a call if it’s a lower priority call, but at least we’ve tracked it and we know where the problems are and we know where to put our resources.”
He added another priority is to work with the businesses along both those corridors and figure out ways to discourage criminal activity.
“We can see some of that downstairs outside the Tim Horton’s where we have worked with them to shut of Wi-Fi at a certain time,” he said. “We’ve worked with them to fix the ledge on the building, so it makes it uncomfortable for people to hang out there, as well as making sure that people can’t get free electricity and plug in their drug-dealing cell phones.”
