No carbines for city police?

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This article was published 01/04/2016 (3448 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A proposal to equip Winnipeg police officers with high-powered, short-barrelled rifles could be on the chopping block, the police union says.

The Winnipeg Police Association says the police service planned to purchase carbine rifles for each cruiser in light of national recommendations made following the fatal shootings that killed three Moncton, N.B., RCMP officers in June 2014 and four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta., in 2005.

Since then, the RCMP have acquired more than 4,000 patrol carbines and ramped up training on their use, said a report the Mounties issued in February. The Winnipeg Police Service had budgeted to purchase the patrol carbines, but that may not happen as a result of a $2.45-million police-budget shortfall that requires the police service and the police board to find ways to cut costs.

“It comes down to a safety issue. Currently, we have shotguns that can be used. But, ultimately, if there’s a threat at a longer range, carbines are what every other service across Canada has gone to,” said Maurice Sabourin, president of the Winnipeg Police Association.

“There are so many hunting rifles and different firearms out there that bad guys have access to, and all we have is a shotgun and a service pistol.”

If the carbines are cut from the budget, the police association may lobby the provincial government’s Workplace Safety and Health Department to have the military-style guns brought in for officers’ safety, Sabourin said.

“If the workplace safety and health division says that this is a recommendation out of Moncton (and) the service needs to follow suit with that, I think they would have to find the money in other areas,” he said.

It’s unknown how much the carbines and associated training would cost, although Sabourin noted training patrol officers to use the carbines would be a major expense.

Police board chairman Scott Gillingham confirmed the carbines were part of the police service’s equipment budget, but he didn’t have an exact cost. A representative from the police service was not available for comment before deadline.

No final decision on the carbines has been made, Gillingham said, but he added some equipment purchases may have to be delayed as the police service tries to find another $1.45 million in the budget after already deciding to scrap a $1-million body camera pilot project that had been slated to begin next year.

“The equipment account has been identified as one of the accounts from which the expenditure-management target of $1.45 million can be met. So deferring some equipment purchases will assist in meeting that expenditure-management target. But the chief will work with the board to identify and prioritize equipment acquisitions to determine what could be/should be purchased (and) what could be/ should be deferred,” Gillingham said.

But does Winnipeg’s municipal police force need military-style weapons in each cruiser?

University of Manitoba criminologist Frank Cormier says no.

“There’s no apparent need to have every cruiser of every officer equipped with a semi-automatic weapon,” he said.

With violent crime rates on the decline and police budgets tightening across Canada, Cormier said the carbine purchase may not be feasible, especially since the city police service already has a tactical unit.

Municipal police in Saskatchewan, Calgary and Toronto, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, have already moved forward with carbine-equipped front-line officers. But Cormier cautioned increasing militarization of police and the visibility of military-style weapons on city streets may cause a divide between officers and the public.

katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemay