Police service blasted for beefing up downtown patrols at cost to inner-city areas – CBC

Oct 12, 2023

‘Stripping it from the highest crime areas … is totally unacceptable,’ Sel Burrows says

An inner-city activist is livid about a decision by the Winnipeg Police Service to pull some officers from community districts and reassign them to beef up patrols downtown.

“It’s totally unacceptable. If we need more policing downtown, let’s get more policing downtown. But stripping it from the highest-crime areas and the most vulnerable people is totally unacceptable,” said Sel Burrows, who founded and co-ordinates the Point Powerline, a community-based tip line in Point Douglas.

“Why would they be taking the community support units from both the North End and the West End, which is the two highest crime areas in Winnipeg?”

More police and surveillance cameras, additional lighting and new all-purpose vehicles for police are part of a $10-million crime prevention package coming to the downtown. The provincial government announced the initiative in the summer.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/police-community-support-downtown-patrols-winnipeg-1.6993563