Calgary police face huge budget shortfall, warn of ‘impacts across the organization’

Calgary police confirm the service is facing a $28-million shortfall in its operating budget this year “and beyond.”

While CPS Chief Mark Neufeld wasn’t available for an interview, CPS provided a statement to Global News on Thursday afternoon.

The statement didn’t provide an explanation, but during a press conference in January Chief Mark Neufeld expressed concern over how the provincial government’s decision to restrict the use of photo radar would affect police revenue.

“From the budget side, the revenue piece is part of our budget, so it has an impact – just the way that the budget is constructed,” said Neufeld.

Over the past five years, the provincial government has introduced big changes in the use of photo radar.

In 2019 it introduced limits on use in areas like speed transition zones where the speed limit changes on highways.

In 2022, restrictions were put in place on its use in many residential areas with speed limits below 50 km/h, and photo radar vehicles were required to have high visibility decals on them.

In December of 2024, Alberta’s Minister of Transportation Devin Dreeshen tightened up the rules even further, saying the provincial government wanted to “ensure that photo radar is a tool for protecting people, not a cash cow.”

Those new rules reduced the number of sites where photo radar could be used by about 70 per cent — from 2,200 sites to just 650 — limiting use to just school, playground and construction zones.

At the time, Calgary’s police chief responded by saying “it was quite insulting to police services to have their integrity questioned — to make it sound like they are out there, putting these things wherever to make money and then using the money for the Christmas party.”

As for how CPS will deal with the shortfall in funding, the statement from CPS reads: “We are examining strategies to maintain core services to address public safety but recognize there will be impacts across the organization.  We will continue to evaluate and monitor to determine the full scope of how this will impact our service to Calgarians.”