Calgary police eye auxiliary cadet program relaunch after complaints

Calgary police are hoping to resurrect their cancelled auxiliary cadet programafter it was cut due to multiple concerns from the union.

The program, which began in 2013,helped train young adults for a career as a police officer, before joiningthe force. They worked shifts that compared to a part-time job, under the mentorship of an enlisted officer.

The training programended last month after the Calgary Police Service (CPS) failed to address concerns raised by the union. The program was brought up atTuesday's police commission meeting, at which memberssaid theyhope the program can be reviewed by the falland perhaps reinstated after that.

The union complaints, and call for a program review, stemmed from how cadet responsibilities grew beyond, they say, the intention of the program, which was supposed to be akinto a paid internship.

So the union asked for aprogram review in 2017 but thatrequest got lost and the complaints were not addressed,Acting Chief Steve Barlow said.

"The exuberance of these young people wanting to be able to help out in every place they possibly could causeus some grief and it's not their fault," said Barlow. "What I am saying is, we didn't do our job."

The issue resurfaced earlier this year during collective agreement negotiations. But aresolution wasn't reached on the program, so the union walked away from the contract. That left 50 to 75 young people without work.

Cadets were assigned to district offices to work at the front counter under the supervision of a police officer. They averaged 24 hours a week, at the new hire rate of $19.99 with increases based on time served, CPS says.

The crux of the issue centred around clarifying hours worked and at which point cadets could go from being mentored to doing work on their own, the force says.

"We just want to make sure CPS is engaged on it, that we can re-engage with those individuals," police commission chair Brian Thiessensaid. "We think the auxiliary cadet program, whether it's reimagined or not, offers a real benefit to Calgarians and CPS."

The Calgary Police Service also runs a cadet program for teens, which is entirely separate from the auxiliary program.