Downtown police patrols could be cut if the police service is forced to drop positions, leaving one business manager concerned for the safety of her staff.
On Monday, 4th Street Jugo juice was robbed and the potential of even less security downtown is unsettling, according to manager Fiona Wong.
“There’s only one girl working at night,” she said.
“All my staff are girls so their safety might be at risk.”
Following council’s decision Monday to defer talks about the Calgary Police Service budget until November, CPS was forced to cancel two training classes for the fall, meaning 65 positions won’t be filled next year, said the Calgary Police Association head.
John Dooks said because of this, he would be asking the police chief to consider redeploying downtown beat officers to other areas of the city.
“We can’t sustain this loss of manpower in the districts for the beat project if we don’t have an end in sight for when the loss of manpower in the districts is going to be replaced,” he said.
Dooks said it’s unfortunate that cops may be taken out of the downtown as they’ve made huge strides in safety.
“The members on the street can’t continue to do more with less.”
