Situation near school sparks safety concerns

Less than 100 metres away from an Elmwood elementary school’s front door, several bike wheels and frames lie around a front yard with garbage piled high in a shopping cart near the home’s fence.

Parents and staff at River Elm School are concerned for student safety due to suspicious activity at the home.

One school staffer, who the Free Press is not naming, has witnessed trucks full with scrap metal, eavestroughs and bikes idle outside the home. He also saw what he believed to be drug deals on and near the property.

“It’s become this twisted joke among staff that all of this is happening and no one is doing anything about it,” he said. “It’s a huge blight on the neighbourhood.”

Some parents of students at the K-6 school declined to speak publicly, but said activity at the address has been of concern since last year.

The city has received eight complaints about the property since January 2024. Winnipeg School Division Supt. Matt Henderson says the school first alerted police about the property on Sept. 11, after staff reported several vehicle break-ins.

He said police are aware of the situation, but Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Dani McKinnon declined to say if officers have been sent to the property about any suspicious activity.

The staff member said he’s concerned a situation at the home could escalate and pose a threat to students.

“You don’t know what kind of people are going to that house, you don’t know which people are staying there … if there’s drug dealing happening at that house, what if it goes wrong? There’s kids in the front of the school,” he said.

Henderson said the division plans to follow up with police about the home and said any suspicious activity around a school should be a cause for concern.

“We want to make sure everybody is safe,” he said. “The community members and the school did the right thing in alerting the authorities.”

The city hall office for the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward said it has not received any complaints about the property to date.

Coun. Ross Eadie has dealt with similar homes in his Mynarski ward and said addictions and poverty are behind property-related concerns like the one in Elmwood.

He said if activity amounting to a “chop shop” — where bikes are broken down and rebuilt so they can be sold with little detection — is suspected, it must be reported, but sometimes police don’t have enough evidence to get a search warrant.

“They have to do their due diligence,” he said.

Reports of suspicious activity made to police would be followed up by general patrol officers or a community support unit, McKinnon said in an email. Additional units, like the organized crime or drug enforcement units, could also be involved in investigations.

In August, Winnipeg police executed a search warrant at a homeless encampment near Fort Douglas Park along Waterfront Drive. They turned up multiple stolen items, including 50 bicycle frames, 77 bike tires, 53 bike tire rims, a gas generator, lawnmower, pressure washer and wheelchair. Three people were arrested.

Eadie said incidents involving problem properties are increasing.

“It’s in the news every week,” he said.

The school staffer wants to see an easier way to report suspicious activity.

“If a parent observed this outside the school, there should be avenues for concerned families to be able to safely and anonymously report these things. It just doesn’t seem like much is being done by the city to address safety and around schools.”

City spokesperson Kalen Qually wouldn’t say whether the city has taken any action on the property. He wrote in an email that complaints about stolen bicycles would be referred to police. Complaints about litter or garbage are referred to licensing & bylaw enforcement for investigation.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca