Police increasing presence, operations to battle violence, property crime in Osborne Village By: Erik Pindera Posted: 5:11 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 24, 2025 Last Modified: 7:18 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 24, 2025 Updates

Mridul Vohra hasn’t slept much lately.

Vohra, the owner of a Freshslice pizza franchise at the corner of Osborne Street and River Avenue, sits up waiting at night for his young employees to let him know they’ve arrived home safe, out of fear of violence erupting at the shop or in the neighbourhood.

“I can’t sleep at night, because the girls — my employees — they’re 20, 21-years-old, they all are scared,” said Vohra.

The Osborne Village pizza shop owner recently started walking his employees to their vehicles, after a robbery nearby last month left a woman in her 20s fighting for her life when she was stabbed repeatedly outside her Roslyn Road apartment.

“They say, ‘Every day we come to work, we get scared,’” Vohra said.

But he is optimistic the neighbourhood will see a reduction in violence and social disorder, after the Winnipeg Police Service announced Thursday it’s going to significantly beef up its presence and operations in the area over the next several months.

Area business owners and residents raised concerns as reports of assaults ticked up in the Village, which led police to formulate the new operation, said Insp. Max Waddell.

The goal is to deter and respond to violent crime and disruptive behaviour on the streets and at businesses with a “zero-tolerance approach,” Waddell said.

The operation, which is slated to run until November, when police will reassess the situation, will see both uniformed and plainclothes officers patrolling on foot and in vehicles with increased frequency.

“We’ve had some serious assaults, some serious stabbings, we just recently had a very terrible bear-spray incident where a female ended up bear-spraying seven people in this area,” said Waddell, who commands uniformed operations for the west police district.

“We are just constantly seeing random acts of violence… and we can’t allow that to happen, that’s what our job is, to make sure that everyone stays safe, and we don’t want it to get to the point where someone unfortunately loses their life.”

In 2023, there were 392 violent crimes reported in the neighbourhood, which police say was a 59 per cent increase over the previous year and a historic high.

Violent crime in the area fell by 12 per cent in 2024, but remained higher than the five-year average, WPS stats show.

Preliminary data for this year shows the amount of violent crime is about the same as 2024, but there has been a “notable increase” in reported assaults and a slight decrease in robberies. In the first six months of the year, 88 assaults were reported, compared to 61 in the same period last year, or an increase of 44 per cent.

Police will also conduct checks on people accused of crimes who’ve been released on bail to ensure they’re following court-ordered conditions, search for suspects wanted on warrants and do traffic enforcement, said Waddell. Guns and gangs investigators will also be involved in the operation.

Waddell said police believe illicit drug use is, in part, behind the increase in area violence , with people behaving unpredictably or robbing or stealing to make money.

“It’s people who are out and about, they’re transient, and unfortunately are occupying their time by committing crimes,” he said.

Vohra, who spoke at the Thursday police news conference, said he has personally been assaulted or threatened with violence about 20 times since he opened his doors last summer.

“Business is good, but the problem is the crime,” he said, adding the violence may force him to close his doors.

He also said he’s frustrated with people who cause problems at his shop — assaulting or threatening staff — who get arrested only to return a short time later after they’ve been released on conditions to await trial.

Waddell said police have discussed the plan with prosecutors.

“I am working with the Crown’s office to impose conditions on individuals that they may not (be in the area), depending on the level of the offence they’ve (allegedly) committed,” said Waddell. “It will be up to the justice system to hold those people accountable.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca