Alberta government pushing to add 100 more police officers between Calgary and Edmonton

The Alberta government says it's doing what it can to get more police officers on the streets of both Edmonton and Calgary to counter an increase in violent crime, particularly at transit stations. 

Premier Danielle Smith announced Tuesday that Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis will work with his cabinet colleagues to develop a plan to get 100 more officers on the ground between Alberta's two largest cities. 

"The province is prepared to do whatever it takes to restore the streets to safety," Smith said at a news conference outside Calgary's Sunalta LRT station.

She noted both Calgary and Edmonton have seen significant increases in violent crime at transit stations in the past year. 

Details on the province's plan to add police officers were not available.

In response to reporter questions, the public safety minister estimated that hiring 100 more officers would cost roughly $15 million, about $150,000 per officer. In a statement, it said the funds would be distributed over the next 18 months. 

Ellis stressed that the province would not offload the costs onto the cities. 

There were also no specifics on how the officers would be split between the two cities, nor a timeline on when they would be seen on the streets. 

The police chiefs for Edmonton and Calgary were at the news conference, but no police commission officials from either city were present.

Chief Mark Neufeld of the Calgary Police Service said his department is receiving more applications from potential officers than ever before. 

"We are hiring steady right now, as quickly as we possibly can," he said, noting Calgarians will soon see more boots on the ground due to the intense interest. 

He added the city is on track to hire 135 officers this year, which is the most the service could feasibly onboard. 

The story isn't the same in Edmonton. Dale McFee, the city's police chief, said recruiting figures are down. However, he noted that since the deaths of two officers in the line of duty last month, the numbers have gone up. 

"As weird as this sounds, and as heartfelt as this is, since we've lost our two officers, recruiting has gone through the roof," he said. 

He attributed the increase in applications to the community's display of appreciation for police in the wake of the officers' deaths. 

During the press conference, additional funding was also announced to clean up transit stations and to increase the number of police crisis teams.

In a statement, the province said it will give $5-million grants to each city for transit platform and vehicle cleanup. 

As for the crisis teams, officials specified that $8 million over three years will go toward police and crisis teams (PACT), in which police officers are paired with mental health workers to respond to calls where mental health is considered a factor. 

The funding would double the number of PACT teams in Calgary from 12 to 24, and triple the number in Edmonton, from six to 18.