Job for leader of new transit security unit posted online

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/06/2023 (832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is seeking a leader for its new transit security unit, the first step toward putting peace officers on buses.

The position was posted online Wednesday.

The successful applicant will be required to build the transit team from the ground up, including recruit staff and develop training for them. According to the posting, the model created for the transit unit could be put to use in other city departments.

Mayor Scott Gillingham promised during his election campaign last year to hire peace officers to patrol buses and bus stops. The preliminary 2023 city budget included $5 million to implement the program and hire 24 officers, who will staff routes and stops with a high number of violent incidents.

Gillingham said the team leader will be tasked with creating a unit that is trained to act not just as police, but also as support workers for the city’s most vulnerable bus riders.

“They’ll be trained not only to work with police where there’s criminal or security incidents happening, but they’ll also be trained to provide individuals who are struggling (to connect) to resources that may be for health, mental health, shelter, housing,” he said Wednesday.

Gillingham hopes officers will be on buses by the end of the year.

He called the pace of setting up the program “quite aggressive”, noting planning has included a change to provincial legislation to establish community safety officers.

Chris Scott, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, said he’d like to see officers trained before the snow falls.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Jen Zoratti | Next

Wednesdays

What's next in arts, life and pop culture.

Sign up for Jen Zoratti | Next

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Winnipeg Transit reported a record 130 attacks on staff in 2022.

“Every assault that occurs, the community safety officer implementation isn’t soon enough,” Scott said. “Ideally, we would have liked to have seen it 10 years ago. The sooner it comes in… hopefully, the better it will be for the safety of the service.”

Scott said the union will meet with a local law enforcement academy to discuss best practices for working as a peace officer on a bus, then relay that information to the team leader, once hired.

“We want to make sure that the people have the right mindset to deal with persons with either addictions issues, mental health issues, housing issues, that are riding the bus to stay warm or stay cool,” he said. “We want to ensure that, first and foremost, that these people are being directed toward the resources that they need, to get the help they need.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.