Budget cuts shut out cops from conference

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This article was published 05/05/2017 (3046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The entire unit of Winnipeg police officers who investigate missing and exploited children cases will not be able to attend an upcoming conference in Winnipeg due to city budget cuts, the head of the Winnipeg Police Association said Friday.

Maurice Sabourin, the Winnipeg Police Association president, said an internal email forwarded to the WPA revealed that only about 15 officers from the 45-member WPS Specialized Investigation Division will be able to attend the 17th Annual Missing and Exploited Children Conference in Winnipeg later this month.

“It was an email that one of our members shared with us and it’s in the area of the Special Investigations Unit which deals with exploited children, exploited women, child abuse, sex crimes. Typically the whole unit would have been able to attend in the past but as a result of, and it’s listed right in there (the email), as ‘budget cuts to our training’ that only a third of the unit is only able to attend,” Sabourin said in an interview.

Sabourin said the union believes all officers in the unit should be able to attend a conference in Winnipeg so they may receive direct access to information and benefit from the unique insights offered by conference guests in a very difficult and challenging area of law enforcement.

“Members in our Specialized Investigation Division work on some of the most challenging and heart-breaking crimes which can affect our community, and cases involving missing and exploited children are some of the toughest any community can face,” Sabourin stated.

“These conferences provide unique opportunities to learn from other experts working in this field, and our members benefit tremendously from the training opportunities conferences like this represent.”

However, police Chief Danny Smyth denied there’s been any cutback in funding for conferences.

“That’s not a totally accurate depiction of what’s going on,” Smyth told reporters following the conclusion of the monthly Friday morning police board meeting.

Smyth said there’s been no cut to the conference budget, adding the division commander opted to split conference attendance this year, sending some members to the local event and other members to a conference in Ottawa, which is examining exploitation of children through the internet.

“He had the same budget as he did last year, he just opted to use it in a way that spreads some training around and brings some expertise back from some other training programs,” Smyth said.

Meanwhile, Sabourin said the issue is an example of how budget cuts by Mayor Brian Bowman and council “ultimately impact the services we provide Winnipeg families.”

“It’s a bigger issue. This is just one example of how the mayor’s budget is now affecting the citizens of Winnipeg,” he said.

“Not only do wait times increase on calls for service, but training opportunities like this one, on a very important topic, at a conference right here in Winnipeg, need to be restricted.”

Sabourin said uniformed officers on shifts have been decreased by five to six members per shift gradually over the past few years so Winnipeggers may notice slower response times this summer to calls for service.

“In January, we saw a 10 per cent increase (in calls for service) from the year before so in the summer, when the hot summer nights hit, it’s going to be crazy,” Sabourin said. 

Smyth said there’s been no reduction in the number of officers on patrol, adding there’s a mandatory number spelled out in the collective agreement which the service has adhered to for several years.

Smyth told the police board that there has been an 19 per cent increase in the number of non-emergency calls police have been unable to respond to but said police are dealing with all emergency calls.

Sabourin told reporters that the spending cap on police budget increases that were imposed by council in 2016 and 2017 are having an impact on the WPS being able to respond to calls in a timely fashion.

“Now we’re starting to see the affect of the 2016 and 2017 (police budgets),” Sabourin said. “The police board does a wonderful job but they realize (Mayor Brian Bowman and his executive policy committee) are not going to listen to what the police board wants.”

New police board chairman David Asper said he agrees with the board’s plan to limit police spending increases to inflation but added there’s always going to be tension between service demands on police and budget limitations.

“It’s our job to collaborate with the police service and council and try to find some way to make it work with whatever resources are available,” Asper said. “That’s just the reality of what we have to do.”

 

With files from Aldo Santin

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca