Wellbeing of People
Through our Extreme Weather Response with the Calgary Homeless Foundation, we help our most vulnerable when temperatures drop. This winter, the program saw over 22,000 visits to daytime warming spaces and 2,400 evening shuttle rides from transit stations to shelters. Partners are now expanding day spaces to year-round operation, expected to be announced publicly next week.
We’ve expanded Peace Officer Transit Community Outreach Teams from four to 12, tripling the response capacity. Last year the teams had over 4,800 client interactions and secured housing for almost 30 people while working with 35 agencies.
Perhaps most impactful at a systemic level is the progress we’re making on increasing affordable, supportive market housing, with the goal of adding 3,000 new non-market homes and 1,000 market homes above the number normally created per year.
A long-term Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan is also in development to align strategies, policies, and services provided by The City, CPS, partners, and other orders of government to work holistically to enhance safety, feelings of safety, and the overall wellbeing of Calgarians.
Great Public Spaces
Our Clean to the Core team has expanded to enhance cleaning, maintenance, and repairs in downtown public spaces seven days per week.
We are also engaging experts to take a more holistic look at how we can improve downtown public spaces through a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – or CPTED – lens. We are examining data-informed locations and will explore options for reimagining our current HELP button system.
City-led studies of the Plus 15 system are also underway to examine the functionality of the system and respond to immediate and chronic safety concerns.
Improving public washroom availability and access is another priority we’re focused on. In July, a washroom attendant program was rolled out at Olympic Plaza that saw 25,000 guests, with three instances of drug poisoning, compared to 122 the year prior. The program has since been expanded to Century Gardens, Central Memorial Park, and Devonian Gardens.
A final component of creating great public spaces is increasing event activations to draw visitors and enhance safety. Year-round event programming will nurture vibrant, inclusive spaces that make people want to spend time downtown.
Timely Response to Safety Concerns
Through our Public Transit Safety Strategy, we now have 45 officers deployed per shift across the system at any one time. As a result, we’ve seen a 15 percent reduction in disorder events and an 80 percent reduction in drug poisonings.
We also have better coordination of police and peace officers through the new Calgary Police Service Community Counter and Downtown Safety Hub, open Monday to Friday to assist Calgarians with reporting and questions, and through initiatives like Action Table Calgary; a groundbreaking partnership with the United Way of Calgary and Area bringing together 51 agencies to support people facing multiple risk factors and urgent safety concerns.
In June, The City and Calgary Legal Guidance piloted Community Court, to connect those experiencing vulnerabilities with a court diversion process to resolve bylaw infractions with community programs as an alternative to fines. Over 200 individuals have been supported and 35 have successfully graduated.
I can also share a couple of metrics we’re tracking to show that we’re starting to move the needle on safety.
Since last April, we’ve seen a 12% decrease in calls related to social disorder, public safety incidents, and medical concerns in the downtown area.
Transit ridership is not only exceeding pre-pandemic levels, but achieving historic highs, with over ten million trips last October alone.
We have additional information available at https://www.calgary.ca/major-projects/community-safety.html that may be of interest, including our monthly Community Safety and Wellbeing Indicator Report, and our Progress Tracker for the Downtown Safety Leadership Table Recommendations.
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