Calgary police see decrease in officer-public interactions, use of force: report

Amir Said · CBC News

· Posted: May 29, 2025 2:36 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 29

There's been a driblet successful the usage of unit by Calgary constabulary officers, suggests a study presented to the Calgary Police Commission by the Calgary Police Service connected Wednesday.

According to the report, constabulary utilized unit successful 818 incidents past year. 

It's a alteration of astir 9 per cent from 2023's number of 901 cases, arsenic good arsenic astir 8 per cent little than the five-year mean of 893 incidents.

The numbers go hand-in-hand with an wide driblet successful officer-public interactions successful 2024, with officers making nationalist interaction 574,246 times past twelvemonth compared to 588,407 successful 2023.

Of those astir 575,000 officer-public interactions, unit was utilized by officers successful 0.14 per cent of responses, oregon 1 successful each 702 cases.

Mount Royal University transgression justness prof Doug King highlighted two factors helium says are apt down the caller alteration successful usage of unit by officers.

"My inclination is to deliberation that determination whitethorn person been a service-wide directive indicating, 'Hey, don't beryllium doing this unnecessarily, marque definite you person immoderate reasons for doing it," helium said.

"It could besides person been a alteration successful constabulary serviceman grooming that they were past twelvemonth being trained to bash it, and this twelvemonth they were being told, 'Well, that astir apt wasn't the close tactic.'"

The Calgary Police Service study indicates that "de-escalation connection skills and argumentation compliance proceed to beryllium emphasized done training, usage of unit reporting reappraisal and feedback."

It besides states that an serviceman information and tactics grooming researcher with a inheritance successful psychology, quality show and behaviour was recruited astatine the Chief Crowfoot Learning Centre, a grooming centre for Calgary constabulary officers, successful 2024. 

Responses to spot crimes specified arsenic break-and-enters and conveyance theft decreased this year, portion convulsive crimes including assaults and home unit accrued from some 2023 and the five-year average.

The 4 uses of unit astir often executed by constabulary past twelvemonth were dynamic takedowns (335 cases), stuns/strikes (184), Tasers (162) and limb restraints (102). Police work dogs made interaction with radical 49 times, the aforesaid fig arsenic successful 2023, portion firearms were fired 4 times and lone 1 tyre deflation instrumentality was deployed.

King criticized the report's nonaccomplishment to sermon high-profile cases involving the Calgary Police Service successful 2024, including its effect to an encampment astatine the University of Calgary past May and the decease of Jon Wells, a Blood Tribe subordinate and accomplished rodeo rival who died successful constabulary custody successful September.

"It would beryllium much utile if the Calgary Police Service was a small spot much proactive successful these kinds of higher illustration incidents," said King, acknowledging that the circumstances astir Wells' decease stay unclear and are inactive being investigated by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.

When asked astir those cases aft the presentation, interim constabulary main Katie McLellan said she didn't "want to talk astir immoderate circumstantial case" but highlighted the enactment being done by the Calgary Police Service to prosecute with antithetic communities.

"It's for america to bespeak and inquire the why, the however come, the what, and however tin we bid better? How tin we beryllium better? How tin we alteration our policies, and what benignant of further engagement that we request to person to guarantee that everyone is kept safe?"

The study indicates that the highest percent of radical that constabulary utilized unit against past twelvemonth were achromatic (43 per cent), followed by members of the Indigenous (18 per cent), Black (11 per cent) and non-Indigenous, non-Black communities (nine per cent).

While achromatic radical were the subjects of the highest percent of incidents, the study highlights disproportionate practice of non-white radical successful cases involving usage of force: the percent of Indigenous and Black peoples successful those figures is substantially greater than their practice successful the city's wide population.

At the aforesaid time, the percent of cases involving racialized radical different than Black oregon Indigenous is little than their colonisation percentages.