Calgary police chief warns vaccine policy non-compliance could further stretch already thin resources

CALGARY -

While the vast majority of Calgary Police Service employees declared their COVID-19 vaccine status ahead of the deadline, the chief of police says the unknown status of the remainder could potentially prove detrimental to staffing levels.

CPS Chief Mark Neufeld, during his CTV Morning Live appearance Tuesday, confirmed nearly 96 per cent of CPS staff had submitted their immunization status prior to Nov. 1 and roughly 86 per cent of respondents indicated they are fully vaccinated. 

"We've got a small number that have not yet declared one way or another," said Neufeld. 'We're working through that, and then the numbers for unvaccinated for us are not very high."

Despite the currently strong vaccination levels, Neufeld says existing staffing issues would be exacerbated if a large number of the undeclared are determined to be unvaccinated.

"This is a very busy time for us and we've been stretched quite thin with increasing numbers of demonstrations and increases in violent crime and just disorder and a number of different drivers of that. So this could be quite significant for us," said Neufeld. "I'm thinking that as we work through that five per cent (of undeclared), the vast majority of those will be individuals who probably had technical issues or whatever, who will actually want to come aboard and comply.

"Hopefully we're left with a small number that wouldn't be overly impactful but we're certainly preparing for the impacts of a further reduction in staffing because of this vaccination policy and the choices that are made here. So this will be an interesting next couple of weeks to just figure out where people sit on that continuum, and who's going to be in what category and what the impact will be."

According to Neufeld, there are currently two CPS employees who elected to go on leave without pay rather than declare their vaccination status or participate in rapid testing.

Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday he encourages every Albertan to get vaccinated, including the police, but says there are other options.

“If there are some people who are absolutely determined not to get vaccinated, getting a rapid test that can demonstrate that they're safe to work, I think that that could be a sensible compromise," he said.

Calgary police are offering free rapid tests until Dec. 1, then it will be up to each individual member to purchase their own if they refuse to be vaccinated. 

Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra believes police officers not willing to get vaccinated are not doing the job they signed up for. 

"All members of the police service understand that it their job to keep the public safe and getting vaccinated is just a table stakes first thing," he said.

CTV News reached out to the union representing workers and the Calgary Police Commission but has not received a response.

With files from CTV Calgary's Tyson Fedor