EDMONTON -- Remember when an Edmonton pub server took a glass to the face by a customer who refused to wear a mask? That kind of violence around mandatory masking wasn't a one-off, says the city's police chief.

Thirty-nine times enforcement of the rules – which are no longer only mandated by an Edmonton bylaw, but a provincial order, too – have turned violent, Dale McFee revealed Thursday.

All of the incidents happened between Aug. 1 and December 2020.

Of the 39, 24 were ruled assaults. Another five were classified assault causing bodily harm with a weapon.

In total, a weapon or threat of a weapon was present 26 times, McFee told the police commission. Twice, officers were spit on. 

"People are walking away with criminal records because they're trying to impose their belief system on others here," McFee said.

"We totally understand the right to peaceful protest, but when you park this on others and put them at risk… this has to stop, or action will be taken."

Classification of incidents where attempt of enforcement of public mask policy escalated into violence:

Assault

24

Assault causing bodily harm with a weapon

5

Uttered threats

3

Dispute with a weapon

1

General complaints 

1

Robbery, commercial

1

Robbery, personal

1

Assault, other, unspecified 

1

Aggravated assault of a peace officer 

1

Assault of an officer

1

TOTAL

39

In late November, a north Edmonton server needed 14 stitches after a confrontation with a customer. According to the server, the woman grew violent when the restaurant insisted she needed to wear a mask when away from her table.

Edmonton's police chief said two of the 39 complaints came from restaurant employees, but more from other sources:

Complainants in incidents where attempt of enforcement of public mask policy escalated into violence:

Store employee

10

Private citizen

10

Security guard

6

Transit peace officer

2

Bus driver

2

Peace officer

2

EMS

2

Restaurant employee

2

Social agency employee

1

Bank employee

1

Peace officer

1

He also said the overwhelming majority of offenders – 75 per cent – have been males between 15 and 61 years old. Twenty-one had a criminal record.

The City of Edmonton's own mandatory face-covering bylaw became effective Aug. 1, and several surrounding communities wrote up similar legislation triggered by certain case counts. On Nov. 24, the Alberta government mandated masks in workplaces in the Edmonton and Calgary health zones, then across the province on Tuesday.

"We're in the middle of a pandemic and a health crisis and most people are obviously frustrated, they're stressed, there's all kinds of emotion going on here, but we've got people making very bad decisions that are making it worse," McFee commented.

"Being stressed doesn't give us the opportunity to do these types of things to others."

24/7 TEAM FILLING 'GAP' TRANSPORTING VULNERABLE COVID-19 PATIENTS

The police commission also heard Wednesday a near doubling of calls to the 24/7 Crisis Diversion Team in November is likely due to COVID-19.

The team handles about 1,200 calls in a month on average. In November, it received 2,325. Only about half ever see a team dispatched in response, but 70 per cent of those that did in November were to help with COVID-19 transports to isolation facilities or hospitals.

As a result, Comissioner Laurie Hawn said, the staff have been stretched to keep two vehicles operating at all times and fill a gap for vulnerable people "where no plan had ever been considered or laid out for this need."

"There's a lot of talk of heroes; I think these folks qualify."

He said the Edmonton Convention Centre has been operating at 115 per cent capacity.