Police federation demands action on repeat offenders

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This article was published 06/06/2024 (801 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The events surrounding Wednesday’s fatal police shooting in southern Manitoba have highlighted concerns about repeat offenders and attacks on officers.

Winnipeg police fatally shot a 30-year-old man — identified by relatives as Tristan Mariash — in Otterburne, when the driver of a stolen pickup truck allegedly rammed into a police SUV, after an hour-long pursuit from the city.

David Burling, 29, is accused of leaving Mariash and the truck in a Niverville parking lot, taking a second vehicle and fleeing to the Yorkton, Sask., area, were he was arrested about 11 hours later.

Burling and Mariash were well-known to law enforcement. Each man had convictions related to auto theft, police chases or other crimes. Mariash’s Facebook posts state both got out of jail or prison in March.

Bobby Baker, Prairie region director of the National Police Federation, the union that represents about 20,000 RCMP officers, said further efforts are needed to tackle violent crime and repeat offending.

“Repeat offenders are a huge issue. Attacks on police are a huge issue,” said Baker, a longtime RCMP officer.

He noted a May 24 incident near La Broquerie, in which RCMP fatally shot a 51-year-old man. RCMP allege the man was assaulting a female driver while holding an “edged weapon.” He approached officers and refused to drop the weapon, despite orders to do so.

Manitoba Progressive Conservative justice critic Wayne Balcaen said sentencing and bail reform is needed at a federal level.

He said he would reach out to federal and provincial justice ministers and call for stronger protections for police in Canada, if he held the portfolio in Manitoba.

Balcaen said violence should not be viewed as part of the job for police officers.

“It’s almost become acceptable for people to use harm (against) them,” the former Brandon police chief said.

He said his heart goes out to the police officers involved in Wednesday’s incident and to the family of the man who was fatally shot.

In an emailed statement, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said his thoughts go out to the Niverville community. He thanked first responders who responded to the incident.

“As this situation is still in the investigative stage, we are not able to provide further comment,” he said.

Last year, the federation published seven recommendations, while calling on federal and provincial governments to commit to bail reform in a bid to help address repeat offending. The recommendations included data driven and informed bail decision-making, and stronger post-release monitoring.

Baker said the Manitoba government is implementing recommendations, following its February announcement.

Balcaen said Manitoba’s efforts amount to bail monitoring, rather than bail reform.

Some federal bail reforms targeting repeat violent offenders came into effect in January.

Neither Burling nor Mariash was on bail as of Wednesday.

Baker said the federation has also asked the RCMP to implement changes to support officers on the front line.

“They need to be safe in order to provide safe service for communities,” he said.

That means adequate, timely back-up for officers, said Baker.

Officers work a lot of overtime and are burnt out, he added.

The federation wants the RCMP to modernize its policing model in Manitoba to include larger-scale detachments to be able to pool resources and help provide a multi-officer response to incidents, said Baker.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca