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Despite a spate of violent crime throughout the city over the past few weeks, police chief Mark Neufeld says Calgary remains a safe place to live.

Speaking on Global News Morning Calgary on Wednesday, Neufeld said nine homicides have occurred from the start of December 2019 until now, but they’ve made good progress in arresting suspects and laying charges.

“We’ve gotten five of the nine cleared and we’re making good progress on the others,” Neufeld explained.

“The prevention piece is really important … I think by the time we have a homicide it’s already too far down the road,” he added. “We’d like to get in front of this and do the prevention work.”

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1:45 Timeline of violent crimes in Calgary over past 2 weeks Timeline of violent crimes in Calgary over past 2 weeks

Neufeld said the violent crime investigators are able to prevent never make the headlines.

“There’s been a number of times where we’ve been able to get in front of this … before bad things happen.”

“Calgary is still a very, very safe city. If you look at the numbers today relative to what they were 10 years ago — we’re seeing a spike right now — but we’re much, much safer than we were a decade ago, and the city is a very, very safe city.” Tweet This

Neufeld conceded it had been a “disappointing” start to 2020 – with a deadly shooting in Saddle Ridge, a stabbing death in the downtown core, shots fired in Auburn Bay, a shooting in Somerset followed by a deadly shooting in Penbrooke Meadows, and a stabbing at Hotel Arts.

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Despite this, he says it’s not an “epidemic.”

“We’ve got lots of resources working on this issue,” Neufeld added. “We’re heading to a better place.”

He said one of the drivers behind the violent crime in Calgary has been, and remains, illegal drugs.

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“We’re seeing a lot of use of methamphetamine[s]. It’s cheap, it’s easy to get a hold of, a lot of people are sort of getting into the market there … this is driving some violence in our city for sure,” Neufeld said.

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“I don’t think we should just sit back and just say, ‘Well, we’re safe and everything is OK.’ I think it’s [time] for all of us to lean into this and make sure that if we’re seeing things that we’re uncomfortable with, we’re reporting it to the police — and if we’re knowing people that are getting involved in the type of lifestyle that leads to violence, I think it’s really important to come forward.”

5:13 One-on-one with Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld on recent violence One-on-one with Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld on recent violence

2020 Calgary homicides, as confirmed by police:

Wednesday, Jan. 1 – Altercation at Alpha House just before 7 p.m. on Dec. 31. Staff believed the victim to be alright. The next morning he was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

Saturday, Jan. 4 – Gurinder Pal Singh was killed and another man was injured in a shooting in the 200 block of Saddlecrest Blvd. Northeast at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 5 – Karson Goodeagle, 33, was stabbed to death in the area of 11 Avenue and 1 Street Southeast just before 5 a.m.

Sunday, Jan. 12 – Fatal shooting in the 500 block of Penworth Way S.E. at around 12:30 p.m.