A man with injuries to his face was wheeled away on a stretcher into an ambulance Tuesday morning, just outside Portage Place Mall.
Winnipeg police say the man was the victim of an assault during a robbery.
Waiting for a bus near the shelter where the assault occurred, Pauline Stiles isn't surprised.
"Because you see the people fighting and arguing on the street Downtown all the time,” said Stiles.
Minutes after the assault outside, an announcement was made inside Portage Place Mall, on improving Downtown safety.
The City of Winnipeg is giving three area biz organizations $30,000 each, to beef up foot patrols.
“These are established programs, established staffing, who are on the ground when it's plus 30 or minus 30," said Mayor Brian Bowman.
The Downtown BIZ says it will be increasing its patrols after hours.
"Even Portage Avenue and Graham Avenue are busy places in the evening but it's dark," said Downtown BIZ’s Stefano Grande.
Take Pride Winnipeg is getting $90,000 to remove graffiti, clean up litter and ensure the Snow Angels program continues.
The Bear Clan patrol, which focuses on the North End, is expanding its foot print to West Broadway. It's also starting patrols in the West End.
To help with that move, the city is providing $13,000 dollars for cell phones, radios and a defibrillator.
The Bear Clan’s James Favel says communication in the field is critical.
"We need to be able to communicate with one another, if we don't have that communication, people’s safety is at risk," said Favel.
The Winnipeg Police Association says the plan falls short. The union says the mayor needs to increase the police budget, so officers can tackle calls for service, instead of using tax dollars for projects like reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians.
"When things go bad you need a police response and unfortunately our members are going from call to call to call and nobody is available," said WPA president Moe Sabourin.
As for that budget, the city is spending $292 million on policing, a 1.2% increase from last year.
"In the history of the City of Winnipeg we have never spent as much as we're spending right now on direct funding for the Winnipeg Police Service," said Bowman.
Pauline Stiles says she's willing to cough up more taxes for more cops to curb crime.
"Put more police on the street so that they can do more to stop it,” said Stiles.
Tuesday’s announcement is a tee up for a larger strategy set to be unveiled in the spring, using millions of dollars in hotel tax revenue to pay for the initiative.
