Calgary police growth hiring could stop altogether if no funding is provided to cover a $28 million budget gap due to a provincial clamp down on photo radar.

Even if a portion of funding is provided, 61 Calgary police officer positions could be at risk.

Three options were outlined in a four-page memo from the Calgary Police Commission (CPC) that’s coming to the March 18 Regular Meeting of Calgary city council, ranging from fully funding the shortfall to offering no funding whatsoever.

Earlier this year, Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said that recent provincial government changes to the deployment of photo radar across Alberta will leave the $28 million hole in the Calgary Police Service (CPS) budget.

Shortly after, four Calgary city councillors pushed for an urgent discussion on looking at funding options to support the Calgary police.

The CPC memo said that the recent change to photo radar was in addition to the freeze on new locations put in place in 2019, the high-vis wrap required on all enforcement vehicles, and a ban on photo radar on Stoney Trail. The budget impact those have had was absorbed through unfilled vacancies, CPC said.

The three options laid out by CPC were: Fully funding the shortfall, partial funding of the shortfall, and not funding it at all.

“The Commission believes that steady progress is being made to alleviate staffing issues and better address the crime and social disorder that contributes to Calgarians feeling unsafe,” the memo read.

“However, not continuing with the planned staffing growth and other work planned for the 2023-2026 budget cycle will likely stop and potentially reverse this progress.”

The Calgary police expected to add 290 new, full-time positions (though not all front-line officers) through the 2023 to 2026 budget cycle.

The commission memo also says that police fine revenue should be completely taken out of the police budget to be replaced with other sources.

61 officer positions at risk, even with partial funding: Memo

The memo reads that CPS has been trying to manage the projected budget shortfall, with a team of people from all operations looking at spending reductions. They identified $10.2 million in potential savings.

That, however, would mean that 28 new officer positions approved for 2025 wouldn’t be filled. It would also postpone the filling of 33 existing vacant officer positions and freezing of civilian hiring outside of critical needs areas.

“While the Commission always expects the CPS leadership to find efficiencies where they should exist, the list above will reduce service levels, reduce the number of officers available to respond to calls for service, significantly impact employee morale and wellness, and hinder the CPS’ ability to address Calgarians’ crime and social disorder concerns,” the memo read.

In a recent Calgary police employee satisfaction survey, inadequate staffing was one of the top concerns of current police and civilian members.

The third option, or no additional funding, would mean “all growth hiring would need to stop and an internal restructuring of CPS would be necessary.”

“Units focused on crime prevention, community-based programs, and intervention efforts would need to be downsized or disbanded so officers could be redeployed to front line policing to keep up with the calls for service,” the memo reads.

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, one of the councillors who asked city admin to examine support options for CPS, said that while it would likely have to be taxpayer-funded, they can’t stop the momentum built up in public safety by refusing funding.

“We’ve achieved some very significant improvements to public safety and security, especially around our transit stations,” Chabot said, noting downtown and Marlborough LRT locations.

“I’m saying don’t take your foot off the gas; whatever it takes to make sure that you maintain that same level of enforcement and visual presence to prevent that criminal activity from re-establishing itself in those locations.”

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal equated the city’s police funding position to that of an apple and a knife. He said it doesn’t matter if the apple falls on the knife or the knife falls on the apple.

“The apple’s going to get cut,” he said.

“If we don’t fund it, how come crime is going up. If we fund it, well, we’re wasting money because we don’t see any change in our neighbourhood.”

Still, from the perspective of public safety perception, Dhaliwal said that it’s not wise for city council to say no to filling the budget shortfall.

Councillors will discuss the item further on March 18.