The question facing Calgary city council isn’t necessarily about the need for a new Calgary Police Service (CPS) gun range, it’s about the best way to pay for it.

Calgary city councillors heard from a variety of public safety and emergency organizations during budget deliberations Tuesday, and the Calgary Police Service (CPS) gun range was the target of questions.  

Day 2 of the mid-cycle budget adjustments saw councillors have the opportunity to ask questions of the City of Calgary’s different business units.  One of the big questions came during a timed item just after lunch, as Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott wanted to know why Community Safety Investment Framework (CSIF) cash was reallocated to the CPS capital project.

Walcott had raised the issue through a Notice of Motion earlier this year, after the proposed gun range was up to $13 million over budget. The Calgary Police Commission had determined that $9.5 million in previously unallocated CSIF cash could be put toward the project.

CSIF monies were intended to provide alternative responses to non-emergency matters that police officers were commonly dispatched to. This would be done through community outreach programs, partnerships and other endeavours to have social services groups help respond to problem areas.

Coun. Walcott said that it’s not about determining if a gun range is needed. He said that component is contributing to community safety.

“This discussion is not one where anyone actually disagrees with each other. It’s a values-based decision with where does the money come from?” Walcott said.

“The values-based decision that was made here is that Community Safety Investment Framework, direct funding to community, is less important than the firing range.”

Walcott suggested that there should have been discussion of the money coming from the city’s Fiscal Stability Reserve before it being brought up Tuesday by Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong, who is one of the city’s representatives on the Calgary Police Commission. The commission is where police budget questions are hashed out.

Why is a new gun range needed?

Calgary Chief Constable Mark Neufeld said that the need for a replacement gun range, which was initially approved as a part of the 2023-2026 four-year budget, was two-fold. First, the current location presents a health and safety problem, given the exposure to lead in the building.

Chief Neufeld said one of the components of a round of ammunition is the lead end on it. Wherever lead is found, there’s a potential health hazard, he said. A new facility helps to better deal with the health aspect of it, through updated technology and ventilation.

The other need is around proper training facilities.

“We’re not building the Taj Mahal here. It’s a training facility with some classrooms and then 16 bays for the range. So, that increases our capacity,” he said.

“Right now, we’re set up for recruits about 80 a year, and we’re hiring at 135 so as the city continues to grow and as the Service continues to grow with it, you can see the math problem that we have in terms of being able to meet those needs.”

Chief Neufeld said it wasn’t just about target practice at the training facility. Use was about learning the appropriate use of force and how to operate in different circumstances that might present themselves in the field.

“When you think about police officers using firearms, like what I’ll call round accountability, is very important,” he said.

“We need officers to be proficient in the work that they do in order to make sure that the community is safe, and that’s what this facility does.”

Calgary Police Commission Chair Shawn Cornett said that this is a timing issue. While there are programs in the queue that could be funded with CSIF cash, at the same time, the commission was also presented with the overage on the gun range. At the time, City officials told them there was no additional cash to help, so they had to devise a plan to pay for the project.

“I think we’ve worked really hard at making this decision. It was not made lightly,” she said.

“We spent, we that is the commission, has spent an amazing amount of time working through what the possibilities were.”

Cornett said they looked at other options, including the use of private facilities, leasing space, and even renovating the old space, with none offering the same long-term solution as a new building.

Dipping into reserves

Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong said right now, there’s a $9.5 million shortfall that the Calgary Police Commission has to make up after they’ve put in $2.5 million from the red light camera reserve, and then from the expected CPS surplus.

He asked Acting CFO Les Tocher if there was money available in the fiscal stability reserve to cover the project overrun. Tocher confirmed that while there was room in the reserve, and this would not take it to the minimum, there are other priorities that may need to be funded.

“The danger is, of course, you don’t want to draw below a certain threshold, and there’s going to be a prioritization exercise when we get down to talk about amendments,” Wong said.

Walcott said the fiscal stability reserve is where this conversation should have started. He doesn’t want funding taken from the CSIF.

“My hope is that some of the colleagues that are on commission recognize that the Community Safety Investment Framework is a significant contributor to community safety,” he said.

“It was one of the most significant things that we’ve done in the last six years, and needs to continue, and that we should seek funding elsewhere.”

CSIF funding has helped boost mobile response teams, bolster Police and Crisis Team (PACT) units, allow for consolidated call response program for 211 and 911, and provide additional support for the CPS professional standards section to respond to complaints.