CTrain passengers who say they rarely see security staff handing out tickets or enforcing the no-smoking rules are right—staffing has been cut.
And it’s not just about COVID. Since the province eliminated warrants and potential jail time for certain minor offenses in 2017, transit security teams have cut back on issuing tickets they know likely won’t be paid.
Instead, they’re aiming for education, but that’s “a work in progress,” says Will Fossen, chief of public safety and enforcement for Calgary Transit.
“We are more about education. We will use coercion when necessary,” he said
When CBC Calgary launched this transit safety series, hundreds of Calgarians joined our text messaging app to share their experiences.
In terms of implementation, there are two points of view.
Some riders are worried about the health and safety of people in serious condition using drugs at the station. They worry about the criminalization of drug use and homelessness.
Another large group of riders worry that respectful transit rules aren’t being enforced, much less having enough security presence to prevent an assault or more serious crime.
They complained about peace officers who ticket people for trespassing but not for drug use and rarely appear on many station platforms, private security guards who stare at their phones while on shift, and police or peace officers turning a blind eye to tax evasion. Some riders even sent in pictures.
Superintendent Will Fossen says TransitWatch received more than 13,000 reports in 2021. (Mike Symington/CBC)
Many people struggled with both concerns.
“What you see a lot are peace officers sitting in vans at train stations. You never see them ticketing or releasing people from shelters,” said Johan McQuaig, a transit rider and former local nightclub security officer, who followed his text message with an interview.
People who use drugs know this, he said.
“It’s perfectly acceptable to use drugs in front of them … and there’s no arrest.”
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When we brought these concerns to Calgary Transit, Fossen described how his team’s role has changed in response to the opioid crisis.
He says his staff now spend much of their time offering a front-line response to the crisis.
Between February 2018 and February 2022, peace officers administered 1,440 doses of Narcan to people in transit properties.
“That’s an average of about 30 a month over that time period. That’s something we’ve never done before,” he said.
“Narcan was originally introduced to protect officers from accidental exposure to fentanyl and has now become a life-saving tool.”
They are also more likely to check on people who may be in trouble. This is clear in the number of “use of force” reports they file – every time an officer puts their hand on someone to shake them, they have to record it.
“Whether it’s ‘Sir, are you all right?’, waking someone up, or handcuffing someone when they’re under arrest [it’s classified as use of force]. This increased during the pandemic because we had to relocate people who had nowhere else to go.”
Calgary Transit says 20 security guards are stationed at LRT stations across the city each day to provide a more “visual presence” for people who would rather talk to a person than use a help button. (Lucy Edwardson/CBC)
As for the hired security guards that some riders are not impressed with, Fossen says they are not part of his team.
They were introduced as part of a special initiative to provide a more “visual presence” for people who prefer to speak to a human rather than use a help button.
Each day there are 20 security guards employed at various Calgary CTrain stations.
Their role is to report incidents to the transit operations control center before they become a problem. Dispatchers then dispatch peace officers, police or other emergency services.
Ultimately, Fossen would like these guards to have more training and responsibilities and be more integrated into the security team.
“It’s something I’ve been pushing for a number of years,” he said.
Calls for increased law enforcement presence
Transit riders who wrote to CBC Calgary want change, which for many includes addressing the root causes of addiction and homelessness, in addition to crime and disorder enforcement.
Many said they wanted security to be more visible and proactive – even when riding trains – although some worried they might be too rude or aggressive with people who are already struggling.
CTrain rider and information technology worker John Marini said he’d like to see dedicated transit peace officers at troubled stations during rush hour — not security guards with no authority to enforce the rules.
Calgary transit rider Johan McQuaig says it’s not just drug use that makes people feel uncomfortable, but so does crime, including threats, theft and assault. (Submitted by Johann McCuaig)
“If there is increased security, where? I’ve seen security guards in Marlborough in the afternoon, but they’re walking around chatting, hands in their pockets and looking down at their feet.’
McCuaig said he wants increased security because it’s not just people who feel uncomfortable around people using drugs.
“There are a lot of great people who are addicted to drugs and they are wonderful people who unfortunately live on the streets. They deserve help. But there is [also] a huge group of people who are predatory criminals who ride up and down the train line through neighborhoods and steal people’s property to fund their addiction.”
“We don’t have the tools to deal with it”
Some transportation officials also want to see change. One female bus driver, who CBC News agreed not to name because she’s worried she’ll face retribution on the job, said operators feel just as uncomfortable and insecure.
Recently, a passenger on her bus said a man with a knife was threatening drivers in the back of the bus.
They expected her to do something about it, but all she’s trained to do is call dispatch.
“The customers on the bus were a little bit annoyed and worried and they should be … We’re not trained to deal with that and we don’t have the tools to deal with that on the job,” she said.
“I’m at the whim of the controllers telling me what to do. When they’re not there to see the situation, it’s hard for them to understand the seriousness of it.”
As for the union representing transit peace officers, he says if Calgary Transit wants to get serious about law enforcement, it needs to address chronic staffing issues first. Calgary Transit says they have 113 peace officers.
“[But] we haven’t seen them in full force for a long time. And that’s been one of the complaints, certainly from my members … there’s a lot of cases where they’re on understaffed shifts,” said D’Arcy Lanovaz, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 38.
“You might only have about three or maybe four officers for the whole city on some of those shifts, so they’re overworked there.”
He says the union is advocating for the city to hire transit peace officers until their ranks reach more than 140.
“That’s the number we need if we’re going to adequately staff public safety.”
Transit safety
This is a community-driven project investigating safety issues in Calgary Transit.
We wonder what will happen to the City of Calgary’s net zero and transportation plans if the drug use, unpredictability and disorder continue. Has it changed the way you or your children get around town?
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