Calgary police call for 73% boost in capital funding for infrastructure, technology investments

Calgary police call for 73% boost in capital funding for infrastructure, technology investments

Funding request does not include new downtown police station, which Mayor Farkas has advocated for

Calgary police are asking council to consider a significant funding increase in the upcoming four-year budget cycle.

The Calgary Police Service (CPS) wants to see its 2027-2030 total capital budget go up to $191.90 million — a 73 per cent increase.

"It's a bit of a catch-up for all of our capital needs," Deputy Chief Asif Rashid told CBC News.

"It comes down to public safety challenges and our ability to deliver services to Calgarians in an efficient manner and be responsive to emerging needs of a growing city, a growing population and increasing complexity of crime."

He said CPS fell short in the last two budget cycles, leaving the police service unable to properly maintain and replace aging infrastructure.

"There are buildings that are in disrepair," Rashid said. "Roofs that needed to be replaced decades ago, parking lots that are crumbling, and frankly, the physical infrastructure is not sufficient to keep up with a growing number of officers that need to work out of these buildings as well."

He said upwards of 75 per cent of the capital budget ask is dedicated to replacing aging infrastructure and vehicles. This includes a request to cover a growth of 160 vehicles.

“Our vehicles are getting miled-out a lot quicker than they did, because our officers are having to travel greater distances to get to calls for service," Rashid said. "The vehicles get driven hard. Some vehicles are operating literally 24 hours a day without even shutting off."

The budget request also includes $55.2 million for information technology, which Rashid says would be invested in AI, virtual policing, mobile technology, computer-aided dispatch, and records management systems.

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Rashid said the requests CPS made were determined to be the police service's "highest priority needs," meaning there were many "budget asks that were considered medium or lower priority that were left on the cutting room floor."

"We think that we've put forth the budget ask that is the most responsible and the absolute bare minimum of what we can get away with to keep the lights on for the next four years," he said.

There is no request for funding a new police facility in this four-year budget cycle, though Mayor Jeromy Farkas has made it clear a downtown police station is a priority for him.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas speaks to reporters on Oct. 9, 2026. (Brendan Coulter/CBC)

"I'll be looking into their rationale for why they think Calgary shouldn't have a downtown police station," Farkas said. "I would say it's quite disappointing for most Calgarians ... if we're looking to see a significant increase in support for the police, and a significant increase in taxation, if they're not seeing visible improvements like having a downtown station."

"Calgary is the only major North American city without a downtown police station," he said. "It doesn't make sense to me."

Mayor interested in putting police station downtown

Farkas said he's willing to have a conversation and look at alternative plans if CPS has a viable strategy to address downtown safety without a physical station.

Council will debate the police funding request and more during budget deliberations in late November.

Amir Said is a multimedia journalist with CBC Calgary. He is an alumnus of the University of Regina, and his award-winning work as a writer and photographer has been published by outlets across Canada, including Postmedia, The Hill Times and The Narwhal. Amir can be reached at amir.said@cbc.ca or through social media.

With files from Brendan Coulter