The chair of the Winnipeg Police Commission was caught off guard by an apparent snub from the province Thursday afternoon, when it unveiled its new public safety strategy without alerting municipal officials.

“I was a little disappointed, as chairman of the police commission, that I was not invited to this announcement,” the councilman said. Markus Chambers told Free press Friday.

“The city…wasn’t really aware that the province was making this announcement. »

Chambers, who heads the civilian agency that oversees policing in Manitoba’s capital, said he is still reviewing the details of the strategy.

The plan is a compilation of new and old government promises, including tougher legislation, more police on the streets and support for communities battling rising crime.

It will serve as a guiding document for security initiatives across the province in the years to come, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said.

Wiebe released the 28-page document during a press conference at The Forks. He was joined by community stakeholders, fellow politicians and representatives from the Winnipeg Police Service, the RCMP and the Manitoba First Nations Police Service.

No representatives from the City of Winnipeg were present.

Chambers said he heard about the event from reporters and watched it remotely while it was livestreamed to the public.

Among other things, Wiebe promised the province would permanently fund 12 new Winnipeg police officers. The new recruits are expected to continue the retail crime initiative, which aims to end violence and theft affecting some businesses in the city.

The province allocated $1.1 million in July to pay for police overtime to support this initiative.

Wiebe said the strategy was developed in consultation with representatives from 210 community groups, including those gathered for a safety summit in April.

“There has been this consultation, but no discussion has taken place regarding the outcome of this security summit and, so, with the announcement of the 12 officers, there are still some details that we need to delve into to know exactly how we’re going to I’m going to operationalize that,” Chambers said.

“If it’s dedicated to the retail violent crime initiative, that’s great. This is a way to bring stability to an initiative that has been funded overtime and we know it is not sustainable in the long term.

The province also promised a 2 per cent increase in funding for Manitoba’s municipal police services.

Chambers noted the increase will be insufficient in Winnipeg, where spending on policing continues to rise.

“We recognize that a 2 percent increase is a good thing, but when wages and benefits increase at a higher rate, it almost amounts to a reduction in services,” he said.

The cash-strapped city has repeatedly asked the province for a new funding deal as it works on next year’s budget — about a third of which is typically spent on policing.

Chambers said funding agreements will be discussed at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention later this month.

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Tyler Searle
Journalist

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free pressThe city office. A graduate of the creative communications program at Red River College Polytechnic, he has written for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record And Express weekly news before joining the journal in 2022. Learn more about Tyler.

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