Rise in violent crime unsurprising to Winnipeg police

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This article was published 25/07/2017 (2994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The union representing members of the Winnipeg Police Service said reports Monday of a rise in the frequency and severity of violent crime in Winnipeg aren’t a surprise.

“We have been warning Mayor (Brian) Bowman and city councillors that criminals do not plan their activity based on the rate of inflation — these recent statistics reinforce the point,” Moe Sabourin, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said in a news release.

Statistics Canada reported Monday that in the Winnipeg census metropolitan area — which includes communities as far away as the Interlake — the violent-crime severity index went up 20 per cent in 2016. The Winnipeg Police Service 2016 Annual Statistical Report, which measures the volume of crime coming to the attention of the justice system inside city limits, found violent crime rose by eight per cent last year in Winnipeg.

“Calls for service to Winnipeg Police Service members have been increasing significantly, and Mayor Bowman’s budgeting for police services has not reflected this demand,” Sabourin said in the release. “Criminals know when the police are under strain. As our members are swamped with calls, this leads to less time for general patrol and the Winnipeg Police Service is forced to be reactive. Sadly, the trend is criminal elements taking the initiative in Winnipeg right now.”

Sabourin and the police union urged the mayor and city councillors to consider these crime trends as the planning efforts for the 2018 operating budget are already under way.

“Right now, behind closed doors at City Hall, we know important decisions will be made before the 2018 budget is presented in the fall, and councillors should be working to ensure this rise in crime severity and the continuing increase in calls for service are taken into account,” Sabourin said.

“Now that we have a collective agreement in place, one the mayor and his finance chair have both described as ‘sustainable,’ let’s put the resources in place so our members can protect Winnipeg families. This violent crime trend won’t go away overnight, but with the right decisions, we can start to move forward once again.”

The office of the mayor responded to the police association, saying funding for police has increased every year for the last 10 years.

“Mayor Bowman has consistently supported the Winnipeg Police Service Strategic Plan which calls for funding increases that are tied to inflation, and every budget passed by the City since the mayor was elected has provided increased funding to the Winnipeg Police Service,” Bowman’s press secretary Jeremy Davis said.

“From 2006 to 2016, the Winnipeg Police Service budget increased over 80 per cent and in 2016 represented over 26 per cent of the city’s overall budget,” Davis said in an email.

“Every other city department is wrestling with managing expenditures and it is expected that the police board (will) work with the police service in a similar way to manage spending levels.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca