Police redeploy support units

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This article was published 23/08/2017 (2985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In an attempt to clear up their queue of calls amid a relatively busy summer for officers, the Winnipeg Police Service has temporarily redeployed community support units to front-line duty.

Police spokesman Const. Rob Carver said this type of reshuffling is “normal business” and community support units — which provide specialized, targeted responses to issues in all of the city’s four police districts — are subject to being dispatched when required.

While Carver repeatedly acknowledged the value community support officers provide throughout the city, he said the nature of police work sometimes requires reallocation of resources when crimes and calls to police prove overwhelming for general patrols.

“If there’s something that causes a need for one area, you’re not going to leave resources where they aren’t utilized appropriately,” Carver told reporters Wednesday.

The temporary change quickly drew criticism from residents of the city’s Point Douglas neighbourhood, where activist Sel Burrows says community support workers have provided essential services since being introduced several years ago by former police chief Keith McCaskill.

“If issues come up, we let them know. These people respond wonderfully,” Burrows told the Free Press.

When residents have had serious concerns not pressing enough for a response from general units, the community support officers have provided swift, effective policing that has bolstered the neighbourhood’s trust of city police, Burrows said.

On several occasions, Burrows said he has called the support units to check on suspected drug houses or problem residences. The officers go knock on the door, have a chat, and “90 per cent of the time,” the suspicious activity stops.

“It’s mind-boggling. These are highly skilled, incredibly smart officers. The impact of that kind of policing saves police massive amounts of time,” Burrows said.

But with the units temporarily reassigned to front-line duty, Burrows is worried the community could suffer.

“We have such a positive relationship that we expect crime to be dealt with quickly, and now, it might get much, much worse,” he said.

Tara Zajac, the executive director of the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre, echoed Burrows’ concerns.

“Community support, to me, is very, very front line,” said Zajac, who previously was the centre’s safety co-ordinator. She called the support units vital to the residents and to the women who rely on the centre for safety.

Carver didn’t give an exact time frame for the end of the redeployment; however, if call volumes remain high, it could be maintained to assure police don’t fall behind, he said.

“Will we continue that redeployment? I think it will always depend on the demands for the resources. The thing we never want to do is be reactive,” he said.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Winnipeg Police Association president Maurice Sabourin called the redirection of the community support units “a particular concern.”

The units are important for long-term crime reduction, Sabourin said.

“Instead, our members now are almost totally reactive,” he said.

“Our members are dedicated to protecting the community and they are working hard to address the current crime issues facing Winnipeg, but this kind of deployment will have a negative effect on our members over time, leading to fatigue and burnout, and we are concerned about that,” he added, before encouraging the city to address such issues in the 2018 budget.

As for the idea such reallocations are “normal business,” police association vice-president George Van Mackelbergh told the Free Press, “it’s not commonplace.”

“At the end of the day, the chief of police has latitude in deploying his resources,” Van Mackelbergh said. “I don’t recall him having to (move community support officers) very often.”

Despite the responses, Carver said the changes were not permanent and are common practice. With the shifted resources, police can increase speed of emergency response and chip away at backlogged calls, he said. Violent crimes tend to go up in the summer and can be a significant draw on police resources, he added.

While he understands police have had a busy summer, Burrows hopes the officers return to their community support roles soon.

“This is very poorly timed,” he said. “Taking one of the most effective units off is not a wise response.”

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca