Councillor concerned library security plan will fall short without police

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/09/2023 (712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Several months after the city posted two uniformed police officers at Millennium Library following a stabbing death at the facility, the practice is about to end.

Winnipeg Police Service special duty police officers have been posted at the downtown library during operating hours since it fully reopened to patrons on Jan. 23.

The facility shut down for more than a month after Tyree Cayer, 28, was stabbed to death on its main floor Dec. 11.

Five new community safety hosts are now scheduled to provide an alternate security presence beginning Friday; the police officers’ last shifts will take place on Sunday. There will also be 10 security guards helping to monitor the library.

Coun. Evan Duncan, chairman of community services, said he expects the community safety hosts will be an important resource.

“(They will be) able to relate to… people who are potentially in crisis and provide a different approach than the traditional security guard. I would anticipate that the methods they are going to be using are going to be effective in (redirecting) the people who would otherwise be potentially causing an incident there to resources that they need,” said Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood).

The city revealed the change was coming in its long-term security plan for libraries in July. The community safety hosts are trained in security, trauma-related crisis work and connecting vulnerable people with resources.

Duncan said he is concerned the overall security plan could fall short.

“I’m worried that there will still be safety concerns there that will deter the public from going there. And then we will be left with a library that is not being used as a library,” he said.

While civic officials have also asked WPS to conduct hourly walk-throughs of the library following the change, police have not yet confirmed if that’s feasible, city spokesman Adam Campbell wrote in an emailed statement.

The city also appears set to reopen the library’s community connections space soon, which is designed to help people secure food, shelter and mental-health and addictions services. That area has been closed since the Dec. 11 homicide but Campbell said it now has a “tentative” reopening date of Oct. 30.

“While police make some people feel safer, they make other people feel less safe.”–Kate Kehler

“If there are staffing-recruitment delays, a gradual reopening with partial hours may be required,” he wrote.

Kate Kehler, executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, welcomed the switch from a police presence to community safety hosts and the resumption of the community connections space.

“People who are in crisis walk through a door and they’re looking for help…. If we can put those services there, there’s no need for that to escalate into anything more,” said Kehler.

She said the hosts could offer a less “confrontational” security presence than police.

“While police make some people feel safer, they make other people feel less safe,” she said.

By contrast, the head of the union that represents Millennium Library staff said most workers wanted the police to stay.

“They want to feel safe at work,” said Gord Delbridge, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500.

“We do have legal on standby. If they do remove the police and there’s nothing else in place, the city will be facing a… challenge from CUPE.”–Gord Delbridge

Delbridge said a previous grievance CUPE filed against the city, which alleged the employer failed to provide a safe workplace at Millennium, was held in abeyance after the interim security measures came in. The union leader said he’ll closely monitor the outcome of the latest security changes and the grievance will resume if the measures are deemed inadequate.

“We do have legal on standby. If they do remove the police and there’s nothing else in place, the city will be facing a… challenge from CUPE,” he said.

Visitors to the library Tuesday shared mixed views on the shift from police to community safety hosts. Elly Janzen said she believes the community safety hosts will be equipped to calm potentially risky situations.

“I think we need the police (doing) other tasks,” said Janzen.

Another patron said he would feel most secure if police remained.

“I feel like a police presence is better,” said Chris Anthony.

Joanne Taylor said she’s pleased with how police officers patrolled the library but would be comfortable with either security presence.

“I would feel safe with the (hosts) or the police officers. It’s just knowing someone is here in case anything should happen,” said Taylor.

Coun. Markus Chambers, chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board, said he expects the addition of 24 new police officers to patrol downtown will help improve safety at the library and beyond.

The province announced funding for the added officers in July, with permanent positions expected to be in place next year. In the meantime, some community support officers are being assigned to downtown foot patrols as part of their duties.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga