Pubdate: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Kim Guttormson MAYOR, CHIEF OUT TO FIGHT CRIME Mayor Dave Bronconnier and police Chief Rick Hanson are meeting this morning to discuss a strategy to combat gangs and violent crime in the city, which has seen three men gunned down in public this month. The mayor and chief have been meeting for the past six months and are prepared to reveal plans to tackle what appears to be escalating gang and drug-related bloodshed. Police have requested funding for 400 more officers over the next two years -- a move Bronconnier supports. Today's announcement is likely to include a call for the provincial and federal governments to step up with more help, along with policing strategies. "We do need more police officers on the street," said Doug King, a criminologist at Mount Royal College. "We need to increase the physical presence of police in areas that are in crisis." The issue of additional officers came to a head as recent high-profile crimes grabbed headlines. Gang and drug-related violence in Calgary has increased this summer, with five men shot and killed over the past three months in their cars or in front of homes. One was a high-ranking gang member, another had been a gang member and a third was a convicted drug dealer. Two young men shot in August were friends and while not gang members, police are investigating whether they were victims of a long-running feud between two local gangs. Five men were shot and injured during the same three-month period. Calgary has 159 police officers for every 100,000 residents, a ratio lower than many other major Canadian cities, including Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vancouver, according to a Statistics Canada study conducted last year. While the police service has seen an increase in the number of officers it can hire, it has struggled in the past few years to keep up with retirements and to put recruits into the new positions. This year was the first time since at least 2005 that the department has been able to staff a full complement of officers. Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart, who sits on the police commission, said Hanson is right to be requesting additional officers. "But I don't want people to have the false impression that putting more officers on the street alone will solve the problem," she said, adding that historically the province and the federal government "have never funded police to the extent they need to be." Both governments promised funding for more officers in their last budgets, but what that means to Calgary hasn't yet been determined. The provincial government will increase the number of police officers in Alberta by 300 over the next three years. It has funded 100 already, with Calgary receiving money for 41. It has also committed to funding integrated police units to investigate gangs and drugs, which Colley-Urquhart thinks is necessary. "We have to recognize organized crime is not just a Calgary problem," she said. The federal government has promised to spend $42 million for additional police officers in Alberta over the next five years, but details have yet to be determined. Colley-Urquhart said the Calgary Police Service has been working aggressively with the resources it has. "I wish the public knew more and could know more about what's going on behind the scenes to fight organized crime," she said. "I'm very impressed by what's being done." The strategy for addressing violent crime to be outlined today should be directed by the police chief, King said, while the mayor's role is to champion the ideas and put pressure on the provincial and federal government to deliver better funding to the entire justice system. "You can't play politics with criminal justice," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom