Calgary police say 74 city shootings random amid poor survey results
Posted Sep 28, 2022 7:50 pm.
Last Updated Sep 28, 2022 7:52 pm.
Calgary police say 74 of the 100 reported shootings this year — up until Sept. 12 — have been determined to be random, amid poor citizen satisfaction results.
The data came out of the September meeting of the Calgary Police Commission on Wednesday afternoon.
Officers say 556 charges have been laid in direct relation to total gun seizures in the city, with 340 crime guns seized and 14 3D printed firearms recovered.
Calgary police stats on gun-related crimes on Sept. 28, 2022. (CPS photo)
Superintendent Boyd says shootings don’t trend for any particular day of the week or time of day.
“As the data suggests to us, I don’t think it’s unique here for us. It really is just the reality of the factors in Calgary that all areas, all districts, and communities are impacted and that makes a wider challenge for sure,” Boyd said.
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During the meeting, citizen satisfaction survey results were also shared, and perceptions of the Calgary police have declined across all metrics.
Officer conduct is perceived by citizens to be an area of lowest performance,
“The results were not unexpected given the conversations we have been having about needed police reforms over the past few years, but it is still disappointing,” said Commission Chair Shawn Cornett in a statement.
“A lot of work is underway to address the concerns of Calgarians, but the complexity of problems like systemic racism and needed police reform have made these changes slower than any of us wanted.”
The steepest drop comes from the view of the Calgary police taking responsibility for its actions, which dropped from 70 per cent to 61 per cent.
How police handle incidents involving people in crisis, according to the survey, dropped from 81 per cent to 68 per cent.
“It is encouraging to see that the vast majority of Calgarians are still happy with the policing they receive, but the survey also confirms what we already knew – Calgarians want some real changes,” Cornett said.
“We are committed to working with [CPS] to make these changes happen.”
Confidence in the CPS to deliver services needed to make Calgary a safe place to live has declined to its lowest level since 2010.
A random sample of 1,000 Calgarians was interviewed for the 2022 citizen satisfaction survey.
