Calgary downtown receives support from Alberta Sheriffs
Posted Feb 14, 2023 4:07 pm.
Last Updated Feb 17, 2023 7:55 am.
The Government of Alberta announced Tuesday that Alberta Sheriffs will support the Calgary Police Service (CPS) in the city’s downtown to deter crime and social disorder.
Calgary police will receive 12 sheriffs for the downtown core as part of a 12-week pilot program for the province’s Calgary Public Safety and Community Response Task Force.
Areas sheriffs will be deployed to include downtown Calgary, the Beltline, Inglewood, and East Village.
Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis made the announcement alongside Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Calgary police chief Mark Neufeld.
“In partnership with CPS, Alberta Sheriffs are being redeployed to work alongside CPS beat teams that work in the inner city,” Ellis said.
“By working together, CPS and sheriffs will patrol these communities so that people can feel safe regardless of where they are or what time of day it is.”
In addition, CPS will use collected data from the pilot program to identify “crime and social disorder hotspots” where police will focus their patrols.
When it comes to what will signal a successful pilot program, Ellis says, “people need to feel safe in the city.”
“Every interaction is going to be documented, and there’ll be detail showing what types of interactions and how they dealt with individuals when they have those interactions. So there will be metrics that we’re going to assess.”
Neufeld says this is a program that will be led by Calgary police.
“The sheriff’s are going to be an integral part of that, obviously, but so are the City of Calgary bylaw officers as well as (Calgary Transit) peace officers, as is always the case,” he said.
“This is around leveraging all of the resources and coordinating in a way that makes the biggest impact.”
The additional support will arrive on Feb. 27, and the pilot will finish on May 31. The police and the sheriffs will decide on the next steps once the project is complete.
The province made a similar announcement in Edmonton in December.
