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This article was published 22/09/2020 (979 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DESPITE low ridership on City of Winnipeg buses, the Winnipeg Police Service spent nearly four times as many hours stationed on public transit this quarter compared to last.

The WPS quarterly business plan report, released ahead of Thursday’s Winnipeg Police Board meeting, indicated officers have spent 781 hours on Transit or in transit corridors between April and June — up nearly 400 per cent from 183 hours in the first three months of the year.

While Transit patrol hours have crept upward since 2017, no quarter had previously logged more than 200 hours on city buses.

Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River), chairman of the police board, said the increase in patrol time was a result of public safety concerns.

“Transit is something that we want to promote and have good ridership, so where we can make people feel safe by use of public transit, that’s something that we want to dedicate our efforts towards,” he said in an interview Monday.

The WPS increase has been focused around the downtown core, Chambers said, but officers will also ride from the suburbs as a visible reminder to riders.

Chambers said it’s unclear whether the increased presence has resulted in increased enforcement or lower crime rates on public transit. Though crime rates on Transit are down, Chambers acknowledged it could be the result of lower ridership amid the novel coronavirus pandemic — still only 50 per cent of normal ridership volumes — and increased physical distancing on buses.

The presence of police on public transit will be under ongoing review to ensure it meets the community’s needs.

“(Frequency will be) based on what the community’s saying and how we can best respond to that, recognizing that there would be other priorities that the service would have to respond to that may require resources to be directed elsewhere,” he said.

Chambers said he is aware the increased presence on public transit could draw concerns around over-policing, and noted he would like to see police defer some Transit patrol efforts to community safety partners such as Bear Clan Patrol and the Downtown Safety Partnership.

“Hopefully, this is an opportunity now to reallocate those resources to other areas, recognizing that it is about community partnerships and community stakeholders,” he said. “It’s not just the police response all the time.”

The WPS did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers