Use of force, traffic safety focus of Calgary police commission meeting

The Calgary Police Commission is set to discuss use of force and traffic safety during its monthly meeting on Wednesday

First on the agenda is the new traffic safety plan, a partnership between police and the City of Calgary.

The safety plan looks to cut the number of fatalities and major injuries by 25 per cent by 2028.

The plan outlines how engagement, equity, engineering, education, enforcement and evaluation will help work towards safer roads.

Also on the agenda is the annual de-escalation and use of force report.

The report says in 2023, the volume of officer-public interactions reached the highest count since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It found the volume and severity of violent crime as well as the frequency of complex calls involving weapons and drugs are increasing.

The report details conducted energy weapon use increased by 41 per cent and the use of dynamic takedowns increased by 50 per cent.

It also found the number of incidents where police pointed firearms was 54 per cent higher than average.

That means an officer in the city pointed their weapon around once every two weeks.

While incidents involving force were up from the last couple of years, it's still below 2019 levels.

Also on the agenda are several crime trend updates and a policing plan for the Dashmesh Cultural Centre parade, where two people were injured there during protests in January.

The meeting takes place at 3 p.m. and will be live streamed here.