Calgary police chief gets nod of approval

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson accepted a five-year job contract extension on Monday.

Hanson has spent more than 30 years with the Calgary Police Service, including the last three as chief.

The Calgary Police Commission said Hanson has done an exceptional job and voted unanimously in favour of giving him an extension through September 2015.

The chief was given a four-per cent salary increase, bumping his pay from $251,856 to $261,930, officials said.

His initial salary in 2007 was $220,000.

"It's a great honour to be the chief in this city," Hanson said at a news conference.

"We want Calgary to be the safest city in Canada. Not just safe from the perspective that people can walk down the streets and feel safe, but also a city that's devoted to early education, early intervention and dealing with people at risk in a way that ensure the issue is dealt with before we have to arrest [them] and put them in jail."

Criminologist Doug King, a professor at Mount Royal University, said the contract is justified.

"Chief Hanson's been fortunate. He's had a couple of very opportune times presented to him. So for example, he was able to secure some additional funding for the police service," King said.

The longest-serving police chief in Calgary was David Ritchie, who held the position from 1919 to 1941.