Councillor pushes for south Winnipeg police station

A city councillor is trying to generate a discussion at city hall about eventually opening a police station in south Winnipeg.

Coun. Brian Mayes, who represents St. Vital, presented a motion at Friday’s Riel community committee meeting that proposed the city lease the former Dakota Family Foods store, at 1099 St. Mary’s Rd., and repurpose it as a police station.

“It’s a cry into the void to try to get some attention to say there should be a police office in the south end,” Mayes told the Free Press. “I think somebody has to start this dialogue, which I’m happy to do.”

He said a Winnipeg Police Service station in the St. Vital ward closed in 2013.

His motion, which passed, asked city staff to investigate the opportunity to lease the former grocery store. The site is vacant, has a large parking lot and is at a prominent intersection, Mayes said.

He said the city doesn’t have the money for a new police station and he doesn’t expect anything to happen in the short-term.

But he believes a station will eventually open in a south Winnipeg neighbourhood, whether it’s in the St. Vital ward or a neighbouring one.

Mayes said he presented the motion as an area councillor, not in his capacity as a member of the Winnipeg Police Board.

The city has four district stations: downtown (245 Smith St.), west (2321 Grant Ave.), north (100 Sinclair St.) and east (1750 Dugald Rd.).

Police Chief Gene Bowers, who was sworn in in March 2025, said last year he believes a police station in south Winnipeg will be needed due to rapid population growth.

The Winnipeg Police Service doesn’t have a south district. Areas east of the Red River are in the east district and areas west of the Red are in the west district.

Bowers has set a goal of reopening the west, north and east district stations to the public. Doing so would allow people to file police reports in person.

The stations have not offered face-to-face service to the public since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.

The police service’s downtown headquarters is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day for crime reporting and, by appointment, police record checks and non-criminal fingerprints.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca