A Moment to Reflect: Public Safety & System Capacity
in Calgary’s Downtown
Recent reports show that in downtown Calgary, a focused
exercise by the Calgary Police Service (CPS) resulted in 25 arrests and 115
referrals to social agencies. On its face, such numbers may feel like progress,
but they also point to a deeper truth: safety isn’t simply about policing.
The limits of enforcement
In the operation, individuals charged numbered 25; 40
charges were laid.
At the same time, referrals to social agencies numbered 115. These data suggest
that law enforcement and social supports were working side by side. But we must
ask: what happens after the referral?
Downtown safety isn’t really a policing problem, it’s a
system capacity problem.
You can’t ticket your way out of a housing, addiction, and mental health
crisis. For years, we’ve seen the warning signs: rising overdoses, stretched
services, and widening inequality. The system simply hasn’t been able to keep
pace.
Enforcement can’t fix what underfunding and fragmentation
have created. Real safety comes from readiness, coordination, and prevention,
not reaction.
If Calgary wants lasting change, we need stronger connections between agencies,
better communication, and a shared commitment to act before crisis hits.
Because safety doesn’t come from punishment, it comes from
preparation, capacity, and community.
Why this matters to Accessible Housing
Our mission is to ensure that people have homes that are
both affordable and accessible. One of the core building blocks of
community stability is safe, welcoming housing, for people with disabilities,
for people with mental-health and addiction vulnerability, and for the broader
population.
When downtown public spaces become fraught with disorder, drug use, encampments
or other visible signs of crisis, it signals a breakdown in the upstream
supports that should be tied to housing, health care, addiction services, and
outreach.
What an integrated approach looks like
The Safer Calgary initiative led by Calgary’s City and CPS
outlines an integrated model: enforcement and social outreach, service
referral hubs, coordinated patrols, and shared data across agencies. But on the
housing side, we believe further steps are essential:
- 24/7
wraparound support aligned with housing, not just short-term
encampment cleanups.
- Data-sharing
and early-warning so when public-space crisis begins to rise, the
housing and health sectors activate before visible disorder mounts.
- Stable
funding and capacity building for the social supports that follow
referrals — too often someone is identified and referred, but the service
queue is long or the housing isn’t ready.
- Inclusive
design and access—accessible homes mean fewer people become homeless
because of mobility or accessibility barriers, which then reduces the load
on emergency and outreach systems.
The path ahead
The downtown operation signals intent. But intention must
become infrastructure. For Calgary’s downtown to be genuinely safe and
inclusive, we must treat housing and accessibility as core safety infrastructure,
not as an afterthought to policing.
Public-space safety is about dignity, connection, and the right to a place to
live. Housing is the foundation. When the system is ready, when coordination is
seamless and capacity is built in, then enforcement becomes one part of a
broader ecosystem, and not the whole story.
Let’s work toward a Calgary where everyone is seen, everyone has a home, and
everyone can move through our city feeling safe, valued, and supported.
Sources:
Global News+2newsroom.calgary.ca+2
https://www.calgary.ca+2newsroom.calgary.ca+2