Comparing the Major Candidates' Public Safety Promises against Practical Constraints

We compared the major candidates’ public-safety promises against practical constraints (budget, who actually controls what, staffing & timeline realities) and ranked which types of promises are most likely to deliver noticeable results quickly (months → 1 year) vs medium/long-term (1–4 years). We used recent campaign platforms, City of Calgary budget/documents, and reporting on police staffing to ground the assessment.

Quick summary (one-line)

• Quick to deliver: targeted visible patrols/transit officers, panic buttons & operator safety measures, improved lighting and street-level design, non-emergency lines, re-deploying existing resources.  

• Harder / slower to deliver: mass hiring of hundreds of new officers, building new fire halls or major capital projects, major changes to supervised-consumption policy that require provincial action, large new housing stock or wide-scale “housing first” rollouts.  

Why some proposals can move fast

1. Operational changes & redeployment — City/CPS can change patrol patterns, assign transit officers, or create downtown safety teams using existing budget or modest reallocation; these actions can be visible within weeks–months. The City’s 2025 budget already includes ongoing operating support and funding lines for police additions and emergency response improvements.  

2. Low-capital tech & safety fixes — Installing panic buttons, improved lighting, CCTV in hotspots, enhanced transit operator cabins, and a non-emergency crisis line are relatively low capital/cost and can be implemented quickly if prioritized. Several candidates explicitly promise these kinds of measures.  

3. Bylaw changes & enforcement focus — The municipality can pass or tighten bylaws (e.g., addressing open drug use in public spaces) and direct bylaw/peace officer enforcement. This can be done faster than building housing or recruiting large numbers of new officers — but may require careful coordination with outreach services to avoid displacement without supports.  

Why other promises are slow / uncertain

1. Hiring hundreds of officers — Proposals like hiring large numbers (e.g., 500) face recruitment, training, certification, and budget realities. Recruitment + academy/training typically takes many months to >1 year per class; salaries and benefits are long-term operating commitments. Calgary’s police staffing and budget documents show hiring is ongoing but constrained by salaries (most of the police budget) and readiness/leave issues.  
   

2. Major capital (fire halls, new stations) — Building infrastructure (new fire halls, full downtown stations) needs capital budgets, land, procurement and construction — usually years. Even if a candidate prioritizes it, it takes time to move from pledge → shovel. The City’s capital planning documents show multi-year timelines.  
   

3. Supervised consumption / health interventions — Decisions and funding for addiction treatment, supervised consumption sites or major housing programs often require provincial or provincial/federal cooperation and sometimes legislative changes. Mayoral action can advocate and coordinate but cannot unilaterally change provincial health policy.  

Candidate-by-candidate practical likelihood (quick implementation vs long term)

Jyoti Gondek (incumbent)

Quick wins likely: expand visible patrols, non-emergency crisis line, targeted safety investments (lighting, crosswalks). She emphasizes both operational fixes and building capital over time — mixes short & long timelines. Feasible in months to a year for operational items; longer for new fire halls.  

Jeromy Farkas

Quick wins likely: targeted mental-health/outreach partnerships, transit safety staffing, some redeployment of resources; he emphasizes prevention and quicker policy briefs. Implementation speed depends on partnerships with health agencies, but transit and redeployment moves are realistic in months.  

Jeff Davison

Quick wins likely: reopening/activating downtown policing presence (if CPS supports), rapid enforcement focus, transit safety measures. Reopening a station could be faster than hiring many officers (if space and short-term staffing exist) but still requires CPS agreement and budget.  

Sonya Sharp / Communities First Party

Quick wins likely: strong enforcement posture, redeployment of officers to downtown/transit; however the headline promise of 500 new officers is hard to deliver quickly (long recruitment/training & budget implications).

Brian Thiessen/ The Calgary First Party

Quick wins likely: combined enforcement + outreach teams; targeted enforcement and “housing-focused outreach” can be stood up relatively quickly if funding and interagency cooperation is arranged — though real housing outcomes are medium/long term.  

Practical ranking (how quickly an average voter would feel the change)

1. Fast (weeks → 6 months): more visible patrols, transit officers on vulnerable routes, panic buttons/operator safety, better lighting, targeted enforcement sweeps, non-emergency crisis lines. (Most platforms promise these.)  

2. Medium (6–18 months): reopening downtown station (if CPS resources allow), modest hiring (dozens) of officers / peace officers, formalized outreach + co-response teams between police/mental-health workers.  

3. Slow (1–4+ years): hiring hundreds of officers, building multiple fire halls or major capital projects, large-scale housing developments / broad “housing first” rollout, policy changes requiring provincial buy-in.  

What to watch for after the election (to judge feasibility)

• Budget allocations: Does the incoming mayor propose re-allocations in the municipal budget or new spending lines? City budget documents show some room but also long-term commitments.  

• CPS cooperation & staffing: Are Calgary Police leadership on board? Headlines about officers on leave and staffing gaps matter for delivery.  

• Provincial response: For supervised consumption sites, major addiction programming, or housing funding, watch if the province backs the plan — municipal promises often require provincial support.