New e-bike patrols will make officers more visible, get them to some places quicker, WPS says

Winnipeg Police Service officers will now patrol the city on electrically assisted bicycles in a new program meant to get police out of their cruiser cars and onto the street.

The service has trained 25 officers to use 16 newly acquired e-bikes to patrol neighbourhoods, pathways, parks, riverbanks and outdoor events each year from May through October.

Foot patrol and community support officers will use the bikes at their discretion, including on regular calls for service.

“Having somebody on a bike, it allows the community to approach them, have conversations with them… in a way that’s different than having somebody in the car,” said Insp. Jennifer McKinnon, who recently took over as commander of the service’s downtown division, while standing near Waterfront Drive in the Exchange District on Thursday.

“We’re looking for a better way to engage with our community, get the officers out of the cars and get to know people in the neighbourhood.”

The new bicycles are meant to allow officers to more easily access certain locations — such as bike paths or encampments on riverbanks — than if they were in a patrol car, while also making the officers more visible while out and about. Each city police district will get four of the new cycles.

“They’re more nimble, so if we’re having an issue, there’s an emergency and we require police in an encampment because there’s a public safety issue, then these guys will be able to get there quicker,” said McKinnon.

Since taking over the downtown district three months ago, McKinnon said she’s spent much of her time connecting with business owners and residents in the area.

“The underlying message that is coming from everyone I speak to is they want to see the officers,” she said. “Perception of safety — seeing the officers in your community, being able to feel safe — so we need to be out there, we need to be visible, we need to be connected, we need to provide that service.”

The bikes will allow officers on foot patrol or in the community support unit to patrol through larger areas more easily, she said.

Police sent out officers on the e-bikes to patrol at the Manitoba Marathon last Sunday, when thousands of runners and volunteers were out on the street and many roads were closed to traffic, said McKinnon.

“The feedback we were getting was fantastic, they were a big hit,” she said.

The service already had mountain bikes in its fleet, which will continue to be used. Supt. Brian Miln, who commands uniform operations, said the bicycles police had were outdated.

A conversation last summer between Miln, a deputy chief and a downtown business leader who asked why Winnipeg didn’t have officers patrolling on bikes like he had seen on a trip to Calgary, sparked the idea to modernize the service’s old bike patrol program.

“It got us thinking… that’s how the whole thing was born, a suggestion from one of the folks in the community,” said Miln.

The e-bikes will allow police to get around faster in certain emergency situations, because they won’t get stuck in traffic, he said.

“We actually just had an officer attend to an emergency call (on an e-bike) and they were the first there, just ahead of the cruiser cars, because of the ability to navigate, move around,” said Miln, calling the new equipment “another tool in their tool box.”

Const. Emily Meronyk, who until recently was a foot patrol officer, said she thinks the e-bikes will allow police to be more proactive.

Meronyk said there are frequently calls for service from riverbanks and in the city’s parks.

“If we can get there quicker using e-bikes rather just riding our (old mountain) bikes, then we can get to that person faster,” said Meronyk.

“If it’s a life-or-death situation, then we can give them a better chance of living, or the help they need, quicker.”

Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone CEO Kate Fenske welcomed the new program.

“We hear from businesses and just the community, in general, that they really appreciate the foot patrol out and about,” she said.

“If e-bikes can get our police officers around the neighbourhood and around downtown more efficiently, and as long as they’re providing that visible presence and connecting with folks in the community, I think it’s a great thing.”

The bikes, in total, cost police about $48,000.

— With files from Chris Kitching

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca