More shootings, guns and drugs on Calgary streets as police chief warns of 'new normal'

Calgary’s top cop is sounding the alarm over what she describes as a troubling “new normal” for officers on the front lines, as the city grapples with a sharp increase in shootings, more drugs on the city’s streets and growing organized crime activity in 2026.

Speaking to Postmedia Calgary on Wednesday, Calgary police chief Katie McLellan pointed to a 59 per cent increase in shootings so far this year, with 51 firearm-related incidents recorded as of Aug. 13, up from 32 over the same period in 2025.

The increase is just one part of what McLellan describes as a new trend of increasing violence that officers are dealing with on a daily basis.

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“We’re seeing higher risk situations where individuals are using violence towards their officers, and we’re seeing that more and more frequently,” McLellan said.

The Calgary Police Service receives roughly 40 “officer in trouble” calls each month, and there have also been 51 assaults against Calgary police officers so far in 2026, not including assaults against peace officers.

The number of crime-related guns seized by Calgary police has also more than doubled so far in 2026, according to CPS statistics. Officers seized 442 firearms during the first seven months of 2026, compared with 214 during the same period last year.

So far in 2026, officers have seized more than 42,000 grams of cocaine, up from around 17,000 in 2025. Methamphetamine seizures have also increased, reaching more than 31,000 grams so far this year, compared with nearly 28,000 in 2025.

While some categories of crime have declined in 2026, including break-and-enters, vehicle thefts, property crime and minor assaults, it’s the severity of assaults and frequency of serious crimes in Calgary this year that has the chief especially concerned.

McLellan pointed to last week’s shooting of a Calgary police officer and its “chaotic” nature as an example of the increasingly volatile situations officers are encountering. “It transpired so quickly and it was so volatile and so violent,” she said.

Police were conducting a traffic stop on a black truck in the southwest community of Spruce Cliff, near Edworthy Park, on Aug. 10 when an occupant exited the vehicle and opened fire, striking an officer twice.

The suspect fled into Edworthy Park, exchanging gunfire with more officers who had responded to the scene. He also fired rounds at a CPS HAWCS helicopter — something McLellan said she does not recall ever happening before in her decades-long career in policing.

“That is the new normal, and it’s not a good new normal,” she said, adding the increasing violence facing officers weighs heavily on her.