Calgary Police Service struggling to reduce gun violence
Posted Nov 26, 2019 9:13 pm.
Last Updated Nov 27, 2019 8:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The City of Calgary is seeing a dramatic rise in gun violence, and the Calgary Police Service is having a hard time dealing with the situation.
A Calgary Crime Trends report was tabled at the Calgary Police Commission board Tuesday night, showing the city has seen 78 shootings so far in 2019, compared to 44 during the same time in 2018.
Chief Mark Neufeld recognizes it’s a challenging environment right now for officers.
“We certainly have our hands full in terms of trying to keep the city safe right now, and deal with the issues we see,” said Neufeld. “regardless of the outcome of budget deliberations and that sort of thing, we are going to be here for Calgarians either way.”
The police service is facing a $12-million cut to services as a result of the 2019 provincial budget.
The Chief said the Guns and Gangs Unit has identified around 100 individuals it wants to investigate, however, with budget cuts, the force has to be cautious about where it mitigates money.
“The biggest challenge is to manage all of the different folks that present a risk and get that right,” said Neufeld.
Gun violence isn’t the only problem police face, as officers are seeing a rise in domestic violence and the use of methamphetamines.
Over the past six years, domestic violence incidents have increased each year by an average of 15.3 per cent.
The report said the level of seriousness of violence in domestic incidents has also increased, requiring more “time-intensive and resource-heavy investigations.”
Methamphetamine use is being associated with unpredictable behaviour resulting in random acts of crime. Officers contribute this behaviour to increased property crime including vehicle break-ins.
Chief Neufeld believes the rise in crime is due to Calgary’s economic downturn, with no visible change happening until 2020.
