Calgarians concerned about crime in their community gathered in the northeast on Tuesday evening for a town hall to discuss strategies to reduce violence in the area.
Ward 5 Councillor George Chahal hosted the event at the Genesis Centre and the discussion was focused on concerns over rising crime in the community.
Representatives from the Calgary Police Service, YouthLink and the School Board were in attendance to talk about strategies to reduce violence in the area.
"It always doesn't have to be a police response, it can also be a collaborative response to these things and I think we just have to start maybe doing business a little bit differently, knowing fully well that we're growing, the economy's not doing that well, but knowing that we're going to have to probably start doing things a bit differently," said Deputy Chief Sat Parhar.
After a lengthy meeting on Tuesday, council voted 13 to 1 to approve a $60 million budget cut plan.
Chahal left that meeting to attend the town hall and says council took into consideration what would do the least harm to frontline services while deciding where to make the cuts.
"I know frontline services and officers are very important in our community and throughout the City of Calgary. I think the cuts we're looking at are more administrative or delaying future growth in future areas," he said.
Information about various programs and resources was also made available at the town hall meeting and police say everyone needs to play a role in keeping communites safe.
"The reality is that there are things going on in this quadrant of the city that are a little bit more dynamic than the rest of the city," said Parhar. "I think the idea here is we put resources where they're needed at the time and being agile with that, not just sticking to this is the way we do our business and trying to get the community to respond to us."
Officials say the goal was to help community members feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods.
