Tories take first step to help city create transit security team by tabling police act amendment

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This article was published 14/03/2023 (932 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba community safety officers could be given new powers to arrest and respond to safety threats under proposed legislation intended to pave the way for a Winnipeg Transit security team.

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen introduced Bill 34 Tuesday to amend the Police Services Act. The proposed legislation would give community safety officers and First Nation safety officers authority to provide an “initial response to situations that pose a safety threat” until police arrive, including detaining someone posing a safety threat.

Goertzen said the legislation also ensures policing services are following uniform standards and training requirements across Manitoba while increasing the capacity of community safety officers to respond to matters that are not necessarily a core function of policing.

The legislation, if passed by June 1, would allow the City of Winnipeg to enter into an agreement with the Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Justice for specialized community safety officers aboard Winnipeg Transit buses.

Mayor Scott Gillingham campaigned on establishing a safety team for Winnipeg Transit with a goal of having officers on buses by the end of the calendar year.

Goertzen said community safety officers have been under-utilized in the past. Currently, community safety officers can enforce certain sections of the Highway Traffic Act, perform traffic stops, detain intoxicated persons and apprehend trespassers, among other powers spelled out in regulations.

The legislative changes are expected to make it easier for municipalities and First Nations to use the officers, the minister said. His office will be responsible for deciding what types of powers officers are given and the weapons and equipment they will be permitted to use.

“It does allow with proper training the ability for the province to designate different levels of authority to different community safety officers depending what the needs of the communities are,” Goertzen said, noting training standards will be transparent, public and enforced.

“It will really be about making sure that there’s proper training in place,” he continued. “There’s flexibility in this.”

The city’s request for community safety officers will be prioritized, he said.

Gillingham said he was pleased to see the legislation introduced.

“I want a safer city. I want Winnipeg to be a safer place,” he said. “We know that right now the calls for service of the Winnipeg Police Service… are high. Our police officers are very, very busy, and many times there’s work that really does not require perhaps a badge-and-a-gun response, but services could be provided, safety could be established through peace officers.”

The mayor said he hopes to see the legislation pass before the house rises for the summer. A general election is scheduled for Oct. 3.

The city has earmarked $5 million for transit-safety officers, who will be deployed on routes with the greatest need. Five routes — 11, 15, 16, 18 and 47 — accounted for 44 per cent of all assault and unruly passenger incidents between 2019 and October 2022.

Gillingham has previously said it is unlikely the officers would carry guns but they should be able to detain and arrest people.

The powers and equipment transit-safety officers will be permitted to use will be determined through discussions between the city and the province.

“There are individuals, both riders and transit operators, who often talk about their concern related to the safety, or their sense of safety, on the bus and around the bus stops,” he said. “This will assist us with providing a safer community.”

Social Planning Council of Winnipeg executive director Kate Kehler said the proposed legislation is reminiscent of when the now-defunct Downtown Winnipeg BIZ Watch was given authority to detain and transport intoxicated people. The safety patrol failed because any relationship-building that had been done was broken once force was applied, she said.

To create a safer community, investments need to be made so people trapped in poverty can be successful, she said.

“Poverty, especially when experienced as a child — and Manitoba has long been the province with the highest child and family poverty rates — damages the developmental process,” Kehler said. “While the impacts can be mitigated through effective interventions, we are not doing that in this province. We only seem to invest in what continues the harm.”

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont called the proposed legislation a positive step towards moving non-criminal matters out of the hands of police.

“But it’s still very reactive,” he said. “There isn’t enough of a focus on actually addressing (poverty, mental health and homelessness) in a meaningful way.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca