WATCH ABOVE: Former Calgary police chief Rick Hanson joins Global Calgary to discuss an ASIRT investigation into his decision to move 22 police officers to a northeast district before he ran in the riding of Calgary-Cross.

CALGARY – Former Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson said his decision to allocate 22 officers to a district in the city’s northeast was “nothing untoward.”

The move was one of four staffing decisions approved right before Hanson resigned and announced he was running for office in the northeast riding of Calgary-Cross.

“Any suggestion that these decisions were made out of self-interest is just not accurate at all, because the paper trail shows that this was purely an operational decision made in the best interests of Calgary Police Services, and the citizens it serves,” he said.

“I had my police chief hat on and that’s all there is to it.” Tweet This

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The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) confirmed it is investigating circumstances around the deployment of those officers to District 5 on Friday. An Alberta Justice spokesperson said in a statement the investigation is “to determine whether those circumstances provide reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been committed.” She called the allegation “sensitive and serious.”

Hanson referred to a District Staffing Recommendations Report he says was put together by a working group consisting of district inspectors and planning analysts that was released on March 4, which recommended the allocation of officers to District 5 as the best plan to deal with resource issues across the city.

The report reviewed three options and said “re-aligning the districts and staffing up District 5 to own and manage the resources would be the prudent option as it meets the call load needs of the District, allows for the geographic re-alignment and would allow the district to manage its resources to meet those needs.”

Hanson said on March 10, the report was accepted at an executive committee meeting. On March 13, Hanson sent out an email confirming the allocation.

“There’s nothing secret about this. It’s so clear.” “An all-personnel memo went out –and it went to everyone,” he said.

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Hanson said nine days later, Acting Chief Paul Cook put the matter on his report to the chairman of the police commission. He said if anyone thought there was impropriety, it should have come up then because that commission serves as an oversight body.

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Hanson stepped down from his post on March 13 and was appointed as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Calgary-Cross the next day by then-Premier Jim Prentice. He lost to NDP candidate Ricardo Miranda during the May 5 provincial election.

Hanson said he never mentioned the new group of officers in his campaigning or in conversations related to his running in Calgary-Cross.

“The cynical among us might say, ‘Oh, there’s a conflict of interest,’ but remember this – I was employed as the chief of police representing the best interests of the citizens…and that decision was a rock solid decision, based on solid research and recommendations.”

“To have made any other decision or defer it or send it back for further work is patently ridiculous…I’d make that same decision if I had to do it all over again.”

The police commission has told ASIRT it supports the actions of CPS and will cooperate with the investigation as necessary.

“On March 24, Chief Cook reported to the Commission on district boundary realignment plans, including changes in District 5,” said Calgary Police Commission Chair Rod Fong in a Thursday statement.

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“The Commission raised no concerns at the time and is confident that there was no impropriety on the part of CPS or anyone involved in this decision.” Tweet This

Hanson said ASIRT has not contacted him, and that he’d be “surprised if they viewed this as a priority” though hopeful that investigators will soon review the case.

“The facts haven’t come out and this is me putting the facts forward.”

Alberta Justice said Thursday ASIRT can’t comment on an ongoing investigation.

A previous release from Calgary police said the district boundaries were realigned based on call load, complexity of calls and time spent on calls. It came into effect on June 21.

A Friday statement from current Chief of Police Paul Cook said the decision to deploy resources and change district boundaries was based on “solid operational requirements supported by business analysis as well as officer and community input.”

“The CPS remains steadfast that the decision to allocate resources was proper and based on sound operational needs. The referral to ASIRT was made to ensure that the public trust and confidence in the service is maintained.”