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Clad in bright yellow jackets, Winnipeg’s new community safety officers were a welcome sight while they turned heads on the Graham Avenue Transit Mall Tuesday afternoon.
The team, tasked with patrolling Winnipeg Transit buses and stops, spent part of its first day walking along the downtown corridor that has a reputation for violence and drug use.
“It makes me feel safer, because of all the altercations that have been going on on buses,” said passenger Stacey Bighetty, while officers passed her and her son at a bus stop across from the Millennium Library. “I’m very glad that they’re on board and for what they’re doing.”
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Transit safety officers walk down Graham Avenue on their first day on the job on Tuesday.
Within their first few hours on the job, officers checked on people inside bus shelters and intervened in what appeared to be a domestic dispute involving someone believed to have taken meth, said team leader Bob Chrismas, a former city police officer, and supervisor Sean Berman.
Patrols will initially take place on and around the Transit system during service hours, primarily on routes connected to downtown, the city said.
Safety officers will primarily respond to issues they encounter on patrols. Chrismas said officers will focus on areas where problems typically occur.
“They, the whole team and myself included, are all excited just to get out here and start playing a part in community safety,” he told reporters.
A graduation ceremony was held for 23 officers last Friday, after a five-week training course. The team includes two supervisors.
Their priorities include defusing dangerous situations, providing first aid and linking vulnerable people with community supports. Officers are authorized to arrest and detain people.
They’re equipped with soft body armour, slash-resistant gloves, handcuffs, collapsible batons, first-aid equipment and opioid antidotes.
Berman joined the team after working as a Transit inspector for about a decade. He believes the program will help to fill a need for the people of Winnipeg.
“Be it from the more vulnerable citizens living on the street or just somebody riding the bus to and from work, we’ll be able to make everybody feel a little bit safer,” he said.
The Manitoba government has provided $5 million for the program, which is expected to cost $2.5 million this year.
Chrismas said he hopes the program will expand to become a resource for the entire city.
Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE Local 500, which represents almost 5,000 city employees, would like to see the program extend to cover the Millennium Library and public events, such as Canada Day festivities or Winnipeg Jets playoff street parties.
He believes Winnipeggers will be happy with the program.
“I think it’s going to be very successful,” said Delbridge.
Mayor Scott Gillingham promised to hire crime prevention officers for the Transit system, when he ran for the job in 2022.
Transit security was one of the key issues of the campaign, given longstanding concerns about violence against drivers and passengers.
City officials are hoping the program helps to reduce demands on the Winnipeg Police Service.
Chrismas said safety officers are trained to assess a situation and determine if it is one they can intervene in or if police are required.
One example of the latter category is an armed person or a fight involving people who have weapons.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Transit safety officers are authorized to arrest and detain people.
In those scenarios, officers can help to isolate the situation or help get people off a bus while police respond, said Chrismas.
The Winnipeg Police Association has filed a grievance against the program, claiming it violates police officers’ collective agreement because safety officers will arrest and detain people.
Bus drivers were cautiously optimistic as the program launched, said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505.
“We hope to see a marked improvement in the safety of the Transit service as a whole,” he said.
Once the program finds its legs, the union hopes it will delve into fare enforcement. Fare evasion has led to disturbances and bus drivers being assaulted, said Scott.
He said 164 assaults, including verbal threats, against union members were reported last year.
“We want to see these numbers drop before determining whether this program is successful,” said Scott.
Chrismas said fare evasion is one of multiple issues officers will focus on.
Other riders who spoke to the Free Press along the nine-block Graham Avenue Transit Mall welcomed the program.
“It’s needed,” said passenger Justin Abraham, who recounted seeing riders become aggressive with drivers. “Safety is all that matters.”
After chatting with officers, Richard Phillips said he believes the team will help to make the Transit system safer. He has frequently seen passengers become agitated or aggressive.
“For a few months, it was once or twice a week,” he said.
On Feb. 13, police were called to the Osborne transit station after a man in his 20s was stabbed on a bus. Ten days earlier, a bus driver was assaulted by a passenger near Grassie and Lagimodiere boulevards.
In December, a Probe Research poll for the Free Press found almost two-thirds of respondents would be more or slightly more likely to take a bus if they felt safer.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
As a general assignment reporter, Chris covers a little bit of everything for the Free Press.
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