Calgary Police Service expanded its Community Engagement Response Team in September 2024 with 25 additional officers, bringing the initial deployment to 50. The provincially funded teams were assigned across the city’s four districts to address recurring public-safety concerns linked to disorder, addiction, homelessness and mental-health crises.
The model emphasized neighbourhood deployment
CERT officers were intended to work proactively in locations generating repeated calls rather than respond only after an incident. Their role included visible patrols, problem-solving and coordination with city peace officers and service providers.
Local knowledge can help distinguish chronic conditions from isolated complaints.
Police described a changing call load
Businesses and residents reported open drug use, social disorder and concerns in transit and public spaces. Police also encountered people whose primary needs involved housing, health or addiction treatment rather than criminal prosecution.
A mixed problem requires more than one institution.
Enforcement is only one tool
Officers can intervene where conduct is violent, threatening or illegal, but they cannot create shelter beds, psychiatric care or affordable housing. Repeated displacement without services may simply move vulnerable people between neighbourhoods.
CERT therefore needs reliable referral partners and follow-through.
Rights and proportionality remain essential
People experiencing homelessness retain rights to equal treatment and public space subject to lawful limits. Stops, searches and use of force must have legal grounds and should not be driven by appearance or poverty.
De-escalation and trauma-informed practice are particularly important in crisis encounters.
Community engagement must include affected people
Consultation should extend beyond property owners to outreach workers, Indigenous organizations, disability advocates and people with lived experience. They can identify unintended effects and service gaps that enforcement statistics miss.
Information sharing must respect health privacy and confidentiality.
Success needs outcome measures
Arrest, ticket and contact counts describe activity, not necessarily safety. Evaluation should examine repeat calls, victimization, complaint patterns, connection to care, displacement and public perceptions across different communities.
Race-based and use-of-force data can reveal unequal impacts.
Funding should be transparent
The province supported 50 positions, while city budgets carried related supervision, equipment and partner costs. Public reports should show whether posts remained filled and what work officers performed.
Temporary grants can create instability if local agencies cannot sustain a programme later.
The expansion created an opportunity and a test
Dedicated teams can build relationships and relieve frontline patrols when they operate consistently with health and social services. They can also become a costly cycle of moving people along if mandates are vague.
The 25-officer announcement should therefore be treated as capacity added, not proof of a solved problem. Calgary’s strongest evidence of success would be fewer harmful incidents, respectful encounters, durable service connections and residents—including those most frequently policed—reporting that public spaces are safer.
Publishing both positive and negative findings will help council decide whether to expand, redesign or end the model. Evaluation should compare similar places and periods so seasonal change or displacement is not mistaken for a programme effect.
Clear complaint routes and civilian oversight are equally important, particularly when a specialized unit repeatedly encounters the same individuals in public spaces.
