Calgary police, fire make pitches to city council during mid-cycle budget talks [Video]

The Calgary Police Commission is proposing to use money earmarked for community crisis and mental-health groups to fund a new firearms range, unless the city offers up more in its budget.

The police service says its training range is two decades old and needs replacing because it’s unsafe and is impacting its recruitment and hiring of new officers.

“We’re not building the Taj Mahal here. It’s a training facility with some classrooms and then 16 bays for the range,” said Chief Mark Neufeld.

“Right now, we’re set up for about 80 recruits a year, and we’re hiring at 135 (recruits). So as the city continues to grow and as the service continues to grow with it, you can see the math problem that we have.”

The cost for a new firearms range has increased from $10 million to $23 million due to inflation and supply chain issues.

The need for …