Province’s funding freeze kills two city police-RCMP task forces

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This article was published 06/06/2017 (3357 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Police Service is reducing its staffing complement by 15 officers as it grapples with a funding-level freeze imposed by the Pallister government.

Police Chief Danny Smyth said Tuesday the cuts will include elimination of two specialized units operated jointly with the RCMP — the Manitoba Integrated Organized Crime Task Force and the Manitoba Warrant Task Force.

Services provided by the two task forces will be covered off by other officers, Smyth told a news conference.

“I don’t think there will be a tremendous impact on public safety,” he said.

The provincial government has changed the way it funds municipalities and police agencies, employing a lump sum “basket funding” approach rather than earmarking funds for specific projects. This year, the WPS is receiving $19 million from the province, the same amount as last year.

That has forced the police service to adapt its budget to the “new realities,” Smyth said. With costs going up, it means finding $1.2 million in savings for the coming year. The police service opted to reduce the number of provincially funded positions by 15 to balance its books.

The warrant task force, which chased down people charged with offences who don’t show up for court, had three city police officers devoted to it. There were six city officers on the organized crime task force. Six more positions in the police central prisoner intake and processing area will be eliminated.

Smyth said despite folding the organized crime task force, both city police and the RCMP retain capacity to investigate organized crime and will continue to co-operate where necessary. He added that the city’s street gang unit is unaffected by the cuts.

No city officers will lose their jobs as a result of the cuts, as there are vacancies within the police service.

Currently, provincial funding pays for 166 city police officers, 12 civilian positions and 75 cadets. With the reduction in positions, WPS will have a total of 1,403 officers.

The integrated organized crime task force had some spectacular successes, including the 2009 arrests of 34 gang members and associates.

RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel said the eight Mounties who were members of the organized crime task force will join existing Winnipeg-based RCMP serious and organized crime units.

“Organized crime remains a national and divisional (Manitoba) priority for us,” she said.

As is the case with city police, Seel said no RCMP officers will lose their jobs due to the suspension of the two joint units.

There were three RCMP officers on the warrant task force.

NDP justice critic Andrew Swan decried the need for the cuts.

“It’s a shocking development that the provincial government has frozen funding for police services in Manitoba,” he said. “They (police) have made what I know must have been a very, very difficult choice to suspend these two very successful units.”

Swan, a former Manitoba justice minister, said he once went on a ride-along with warrant enforcement officers and appreciates the work they do.

During the ride-along, officers went to a house across the street from a school where someone had been charged with sexual offences against children and had failed to show up for court.

“That warrant enforcement unit was able to put in the resources and bring that person in. Police are busy. We know that they’re working very hard. We know with the crime rate going up in the past year they’re working even harder,” he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca