New Calgary holding cells to improve security and privacy
Posted May 25, 2020 2:40 pm.
Last Updated May 26, 2020 6:17 am.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Calgary police have replaced their 60-year-old holding cells in the city’s core with a new one at Spyhill in the northwest.
With twice as many total cells as the old jail, it allows for better social distancing.
They will be moving into the new Spyhill Services Centre tomorrow.
“Our officers and staff have done an amazing job of making the ageing facility work to meet the standards of care Calgarians expect of us,” said Chief Constable Mark Neufeld in a release.
“But there is only so much you can do in a place designed six decades ago for a city five times smaller (than) we are now.”
He says the original Downtown facility was built back in 1961, when Calgary had only 241,000 residents.
The new Spyhill Services Centre also has a separate area just for youth, an enclosed bay to help make sure arrestees are safer and more protected, more modern cells, better CCTV systems, and more.
“We are grateful to our community for once again equipping us to be a forward-thinking and leading police agency,” added Chief Neufeld.
“This building will allow us to continue processing people in our custody with compassion, dignity and respect for decades to come.”
The old facility downtown will be returned to the city.
