Calgary police put in shoot-or-not situations 'far too frequently,' union head says

Calgary officers are being put in situations where they have to decide whether to shoot somebody "far too frequently," says the new president of the police union, who has pledged to give members more of a public voice.

"The last thing we want is to be forced into a situation where we must use deadly force," Les Kaminskitold reporters during a news conference Wednesday.

• Calgary Police Association head asks for 100 officers to act as backdrop for 'powerful' news conference
• Widespread dissatisfaction in Calgary Police Service, employee survey finds

It has been unusual in the past for the Calgary Police Association (CPA) to hold news conferences but Kaminski, who was elected as its president in November, said he intends to change that.

"I won the election on the platform that I'd provide a voice," he said.

The CPA participated in a meeting with the Calgary Police Commission on Tuesday, somethingKaminskisaid hasn't happened in years and another change he intends to continue.

Kaminskisaid he initially intended to have up to 100 officers stand behind him at Wednesday's press conference in order to "to really create an impact" but said he decided to drop that plan after Tuesday's meeting, at the request of commission chair Brian Thiessen.

"Mr. Thiessen, he expressed some concern about the optics of having those members there," Kaminski said.

"I want to create a good working relationship with Mr. Thiessen."

There have been numerous public controversies surrounding police in Calgary recently, including the frequency with which they have shot people.

Police officers shot 10 people in 2016 killing five of them.

That's more than any other city in Canada.

• Calgary police shot 10 people in 2016, more than any other Canadian city

Kaminski said officers are as worried about the spike in shootings as anyone else and want to see a change in deployment strategies so they end up high-risk situations less often.

"We are answering more calls where those decisions (to shoot) have to be made now," he said.

"We have to go after the source of those problems that's the prolific offenders."

Kaminski figures auto thefts, for example, could be cut in half by focusing more heavily on those "prolific offenders."

Police also need torefocus their tactics on the drug trade, Kaminski said, which he described as "one of the main driving factors" behind the recent increase in property crime, in particular.

"We've had crime waves before and we've put resources to directly deal with those issues," he said. "I think we could really have a positive impact if we take some of those lessons from the past and plug them back in."

Kaminskiheld the news conference on the same day that CBC News learned he wasunder investigation over allegations of perjury, uttering false documents, obstruction of justice, assault causing bodily harm and bringing false charges.

• Calgary Police Association president under criminal investigation

Workplace culture

Kaminskialso addressed recent concerns that have been raised about workplace culture within the Calgary Police Service, specificallyamong some female members.

The concerns were outlined in a partially redacted 2013 workplace review document that surfaced in 2016, which outlined what some members described as an "Old Boys Network."

Coun. DianeColley-Urquhartalso revealed last year thatnumerous female officers had come directly to her with concerns because they had a "significant feeling of retribution and fear" if other police officerswere to find out abouttheir complaints.

• Calgary police workplace culture will improve for women, mayor and chief pledge
• Calgary Police Commission rebukes members for speaking in public on workplace issues

Kaminskiacknowledged the concerns as valid but said the problems have been isolated and are "not systemic" to the service as a whole.

"I know there's incidents where some of our members, especially our women, are victimized or have really bad experiences," he said.

"We have incidents because we have 2,200 members."

Police officers charged with crimes

Numerous officers have recently been charged with criminal offences, a fact Kaminski said is as troubling to police as it is to the public if not more so.

"Every good cop in this city doesn'twant the bad cops here," he said. It paints us all with a really bad brush."

• Calgary police officer charged with assault in second domestic incident
• 3 Calgary police officers charged with assault in violent arrest caught on video
• Calgary cop charged with illegally buying, storing shotgun
• Calgary police detective on trial for selling personal information of 43 people to company

Kaminskialso said it's important for officers who break the law to be prosecuted in order to preserve the integrity of the service.

"The vast majority of our members are absolutely outstanding police officers," he said.

"If the bad ones get caught and go through the court system, we believe justice will be served."