Osborne Village BIZ putting “more eyes and feet on the street” for public safety

Osborne Village BIZ is launching a community-led outreach team, hoping “more eyes and feet on the street” will bolster public safety as the neighbourhood awaits support from city police.

The local business improvement zone is currently training a team of up to eight community safety ambassadors to provide a safe walk program and outreach along Osborne Street. The move follows the success of the Winnipeg Police Service’s violent crime and retail theft initiative, which saw more officers patrolling the community last year, said BIZ executive director Zohreh Gervais.

“What that really did was show us what a difference it makes in the community to have more eyes and feet on the street and making sure that we are maintaining a sense of real public safety for everybody,” Gervais said.

“We really just need to have people in the community looking out for everyone.”

The BIZ is currently training the ambassadors, who are expected to be on the street in early May, Gervais said.

The ambassadors will operate in pairs and conduct foot patrols from Tuesday to Sunday, between 2 p.m. and 12 a.m. Patrols could expand to seven days a week during the summer, if needed, she said.

Gervais would not disclose the budget for the program, but said it is funded through a combination of grants from the public sector.

“This is really a team that is going to be leading with empathy to help people from all walks of life, all parts of the community.”

Osborne Village was among three neighbourhoods included in the police-led and provincially funded retail theft crackdown that took place last year. Within six months, the initiative led to 969 arrests, 896 engagements with business owners and $120,000 in recovered property, the WPS said.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe pledged to permanently fund 12 new police positions in support of the program last fall. Those new hires are to be part of WPS’ incoming recruits, who are expected to be finished training this spring, Wiebe said at the time.

Gervais said the BIZ is awaiting updates from the police service regarding when, and where, those officers will be deployed.

“We no longer have beat cops in the Village all the time,” she said. “We did see success with that, and I’m hoping that we will be able to continue to work with the police to have some continuation there.”

The BIZ met with representatives from the provincial and municipal governments and police last month during a public safety forum.

“There is a lot to do with the complexities of the crime we are all dealing with throughout Winnipeg,” Gervais said. “It’s not just in Osborne, it’s been absolutely everywhere that there is an increased need, so the police are juggling that and trying to figure out how best to handle it.”

The WPS did not respond Thursday to a request for an update on the incoming violent crime and retail theft officers.

Gervais said crime levels in Osborne Village showed improvement last year.

Data from the WPS indicates the number of violent crime reports in River-Osborne dropped 23 per cent between November 2023 and November 2024, from 253 incidents to 195, respectively. Property crimes fell 29 per cent during the same period, from 736 reports to 519.

Overall, reports of violence and property crimes across Winnipeg saw only a two per cent reduction last November, compared to the previous year, the data shows.

Daniel Hidalgo, co-founder of Sabe Peace Walkers, led an outreach team formerly tapped to conduct patrols in Osborne Village in 2022. It continued that initiative until last fall, when funding for the project dried up, he said.

It was challenging for the group to operate in the neighbourhood because they did not have a home base to store equipment, use the washroom or take people to de-escalate situations. Hidalgo said he hopes those issues will be resolved with the new team.

He said he was pleased to learn patrols would continue via the BIZ ambassador team. Long-term government support for such programs is critical, he added.

“I’ve always said that Winnipeg sets the standards on what grassroots organizations look like and what they do.… And they do it with a minuscule amount of support,” Hidalgo said.

“This is something that is certainly needed throughout more than just the Osborne Village area. We see a lot of negative outcomes from a lack of resources… as a city and as a province, there’s no such thing as perfection, but we have a lot of room for continued improvement.”

Once the ambassador team is operational, the public can reach them by phone via a number the BIZ will post online. There will also be posters advertising the team and its contact information plastered throughout the neighbourhood, Gervais said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca