Winnipeg police chief gets ‘failing grade’: union leader

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This article was published 02/06/2022 (938 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg police union leader threw barbs at the city’s top cop Friday over violent crime.

Speaking to reporters outside of a Winnipeg Police Board meeting, Moe Sabourin said: “People are either grossly misinformed or intentionally trying to mislead the citizens of Winnipeg to say that we are in a safe city.”

The Winnipeg Police Association president added: “I wish the service would report accurately on all of the incidents that are occurring.”

The words came after Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth told the media Friday the city is a relatively safe place amid a recent uptick in violent crime, including 23 homicides so far this year.

“We go through trends, if you pay attention to our stats, you’ll know we’re above the national average all the time, but we do have trends that occur and I think we’re living and experiencing one right now,” Smyth said.

“I live in the city and have children in the city… it’s still a relatively safe place but people need to be aware.”

Sabourin, however, disagreed with the assertion, saying he wouldn’t let his kids go downtown.

“Violent crime is through the roof, stabbings, we had another shooting last night. The homicides are through the roof and it’s not just an uptick or a trend, it’s been getting worse… for the eight years that the chief has been in charge.”

Sabourin stopped short of saying directly he wants Smyth out, noting the police board is in charge of monitoring the chief’s performance. He said Smyth’s getting a “failing grade” in his view.

“If I was the GM of a successful sports team and the team wasn’t doing well, you would probably change the coach.”

Sabourin said his members are only able to police reactively.

“Proactive policing is being able to get out into the community, even talking with people on the street, but when you have a cruiser car zooming by, because they’re going from one call to another (due to a high volume), there is no proactive policing,” the union president said.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera