Transit safety could be used as leverage to increase Edmonton police budget: CTLA

The topic of transit safety has been top of mind for many Edmontonians recently, but the Criminal Trail Lawyers' Association said, according to ETS data, it may not be so bad.

The topic of transit safety and disorder has been top of mind for many people in Edmonton recently, but the Criminal Trail Lawyers’ Association said, according to Edmonton Transit Service data, it may not be as bad as people think.

“The rate of transit disorder on Edmonton Transit Service has been fairly steady, which sort of tends to contradict the public perception that there’s this escalating crisis on transit,” Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association (CTLA) policing committee member Chris Wiebe said.

This point and many more were outline in a CTLA release. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q1DolVN7q5bhPzE7srSWNwKTIyGkrMem/view

But the Edmonton Police Service said its data paints a much different picture.

“Between Jan 1 and March 31 there’s been a 24 per cent increase of violence and weapons on the LRT and the transit, and between those same dates there’s been 842 calls of service to the LRT and transit,” president of the Edmonton Police Association Michael Elliott said.

The CTLA has been pointing the finger at Elliot, saying he’s been sharing online posts which create transit fear ever since council voted not to increase the police budget by as much as anticipated.

“The Criminal Trail Lawyers’ Association anticipates that transit safety will be a significant point of leverage for the EPS when they negotiate their budget with city council later this month,” Wiebe said.

A statement from Edmonton police did not address CTLA claims that police would leverage safety concerns for more funding, but said: “Police-required occurrences on transit have increased in number and average severity, and supports the concerns raised by transit riders and the community.”