Unfortunate “learning experience” as CPA watches deadly police shootings in U.S.
Posted Jul 23, 2016 4:15 pm.
Last Updated Jul 23, 2016 4:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After two separate police shootings in the United States, some are wondering if officers on our side of the border are protected.
Earlier this month, five Dallas police officers were shot in killed during a protest. Ten days later, three officers were killed in Baton Rouge, La.
The Calgary Police Association says police forces in Canada and the U.S. are very different, but the CPA is taking notes on the situation.
President Howard Burns says officers have made changes in reaction to tragedies in the U.S. before.
He points to the Columbine school shooting in Colorado 17 years ago.
“We adjusted our tactics and we prepared for that possibility, that eventuality, and it made us better,” Burns said.
Burns says Calgary has one of the best trained forces in the country to deal with violent crime, but the challenge is keeping up its preparedness to adjust to escalating situations.
“We’re watching with interest and sadness with what’s going on south of the border, but we’re also in the background preparing. Giving those ‘what if’ scenarios ‘what if it happened here,'” he said.
According to recent Statistics Canada numbers, Calgary’s Crime Severity Index was up 29 per cent last year, marking the biggest spike in the country.
