New police unit identifies hundreds breaching bail conditions

A new Winnipeg police unit has arrested or submitted warrants for 336 offenders out on bail in just two months of operation.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe and the Winnipeg Police Service provided an update Tuesday on the city’s new bail compliance unit, which was first announced two years ago.

Twelve officers are on duty apprehending people who breach their bail conditions. Officers prioritize high-risk offenders, including those known to be violent, and people charged with intimate partner violence, Wiebe said.

The unit began work Dec. 15. Over two months, officers conducted 922 bail compliance and wanted-person checks, leading to the arrest of 109 people and warrant submissions for 227 others.

“Those numbers are accelerating,” said Cam Mackid, deputy chief of the WPS criminal investigation bureau. “They’re doing between 50 to 100 checks per day.

“Our bail compliance unit has quickly become a very high-performing, proactive unit.”

The provincial government first tabbed $3 million for the unit in 2024. At the time, then-police chief Danny Smyth estimated the crew would be operational by that fall.

Wiebe pointed to “behind the scenes” work, including the creation of a new analytical tool, as the reason for delay.

The tool allows unit officers to get details of Manitobans out on bail, including their home address, charges, curfew and last police contact. The data, which was developed in-house at the police service, is sent to officers’ cruisers.

“This ensures the (unit’s) work is not random or reactive,” said David Bowman, director of the WPS organizational development and support division. “It’s targeted, evidence-based and focused on managing risk before escalation occurs.”

The unit doesn’t chase low-level offences, Mackid said: “(They’re) targeting people who, if they’re breaching their conditions, we should be able to make a strong case that they should be detained in custody.”

Mackid acknowledged the arrests could create a strain on other parts of the justice system.

Wiebe said the government is committed to adding capacity in the correctional system.

Ben Wickstrom, vice-president of the Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys, said he will search the spring budget for more funding for prosecutors.

“Any new resources dedicated to bail are helpful,” Wickstrom said. “When we have these arrests… where’s the other side of it happening?

“We’re overworked and overwhelmed right now, and having more police officers making more arrests doesn’t do anything to address that.”

Police are one half of the puzzle; prosecution is the other half, Wickstrom stated.

Christopher Gamby, a spokesman for the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba, echoed that other areas of the justice system, including the courts, need added capacity.

“We don’t want people sitting in remand awaiting their day in court forever,” he said.

People are innocent until found guilty, he said, adding it’s important the police unit target people on bail who are dangerous to the public.

Tory justice critic Wayne Balcaen said the new bail unit is “necessary only because of the NDP’s revolving justice system.”

“They keep releasing violent offenders,” he said.

The group operates in addition to Manitoba’s integrated violent offender apprehension unit. The province’s commitment to the unit is ongoing, Wiebe said.

“We want to see this work continue to be refined and continue to make the biggest impact,” he said.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, who attended the news conference Tuesday, expressed his support for the unit.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com