CALGARY—It was September 2018. Calgary police were chasing a suspect who was driving a stolen truck in the city’s northeast.

The driver of the stolen truck crashed into a police vehicle, a civilian’s car, two houses and was shot at by police. Finally, the chase ended when the driver ran from the truck and was bitten by a police dog.

It was one of 75 incidents last year where a police dog was deployed to catch a suspect — significantly higher than the 2013 to 2017 five-year average of 44 dog chases. It was also one of nine incidents in 2018 during which an officer fired a gun — about four times higher than 2017, which had just two officer-involved shootings and more than double the five year average of four officer-involved shootings.

A Star Calgary analysis of police data obtained through an access to information request shows an increase in reports of use of force by city police officers. In 2018, the number of reports hit 966 — nearly double the five-year average.

The reported use of force methods that increased last year compared to the five year average included the use of Tasers — which rose by nearly 50 per cent, and strip searches, which went up by 118 per cent. The number of times police used pepper spray was also up by 75 per cent — in 2018, it was used 14 times, and in eight times over the five year average. Other reported use of force techniques that saw little change over the years were punches, kicks, take downs and leg restraints.

The province’s police watchdog agency, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), investigates any incidents where officers cause serious injury of death. In the last five years, the number of times ASIRT investigated officers for a use of force incident has fluctuated, but the five year average is 16 investigations. In 2018, there were 19 ASIRT investigations into Calgary police.

Numbers from the first six months of 2019, the newest available data, show a nearly 36 per cent increase in reports of use of force compared to the five year average.

Police chief Mark Neufeld said the city’s economic downturn, which began in 2014, is partially to blame for an uptick in crime. Since then, he said crime has been steadily increasing.

Specifically, he pointed to an increase in drug-related crime. Methamphetamine, which can cause people to act especially erratic and aggressive, is among the biggest concerns. Police handled 490 incidents involving the drug in the first three quarters of 2019 — a 155 per cent increase over the five-year average.

When it comes to police dog incidents in the 2018 report, Neufeld said he wasn’t surprised, since Calgary is leading the country in stolen vehicles. That’s meant more police pursuits ending with suspects running from vehicles and eventually being tracked down by police service dogs, he said.

He said police might also be “stretched thin” with people increasingly turning to police for social issues. In 2018, there were 4,092 mental health calls compared to the five year average, where there were 3,430 such calls.

Kathy Christiansen is the director of Alpha House, an organization that provides shelter, detox, outreach and housing programs in the city. She said there’s a positive relationship between police and the facility, but she thinks a broader community response is needed to deal with mental health and addiction, instead of relying on law enforcement.

“You have a better outcome when you send in a more appropriate response,” she said. “You want to bring a social response to social issue.”

Christopher Schneider, an associate professor with the department of sociology at Brandon University in Manitoba, has done research on police use of force and how it’s perceived by the public, especially through media.

He said officers should, ideally, be paired with social workers, though he notes it’s likely not feasible in many cities due to the potential extra costs that would add to budgets.

“They’re not social workers, and they’re not mental health workers,” Schneider said of police officers. “We need to come up with innovative solutions to move forward.”

Use of force was flagged in 2017, when then police chief Roger Chaffin ordered a review after a spike in police shootings the previous year. The nearly 400 page report was completed by retired Court of Queen’s Bench chief justice Neil Wittmann and published in May 2018.

It recommended the need for more de-escalation training, among the 65 recommendations that touched on police training, oversight and education.

A Calgary police spokesperson said all the recommendations were “approved on principal” and all but two recommendations are being actively worked on.

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Staff Sgt. Cory Dayley, with the Field Training Unit, said the service is also working on a new mandatory professional development training program for all police officers that is set to roll out some time in the new year. It will be a mixture of use of force tactics, investigative training and will also cover any administrative policy or legislative training.

Dayley said he doesn’t think officers will use more force than they need to, but it is a possibility.

“Can I say it’s never happened? We all know that it has, officers are complained about. There’s been officers charged not just here in Calgary, but across Canada and North America for excessive force.”

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