City councillor calls for police chief to turn down potential new role, focus on work in Winnipeg

A city councillor is calling on Winnipeg's police chief to turn down a potential new national role to focus on his work at home.

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth has been nominated for president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

The national organization is dedicated to the support and promotion of law enforcement and the protection and security of people in Canada.

However, Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) is calling on the chief to decline the role and focus on his work in Winnipeg.

Rollins said calls for service are high in the city, noting WPS overtime is up 30 per cent.

“It's really important to have all hands on deck in the City of Winnipeg right now,” she said.

“We're being compared to cities like Chicago, but not for the good, 19th turn of the century reasons, but unfortunately, because of the about a dozen in two weeks gunshots that we're seeing in emergency rooms.”

Rollins also said Smyth and the WPS need to focus on recruiting the next police chief. Smyth’s contract was extended last spring for two years, and is set to end in November 2023.

“I think it's really important for the morale of the Winnipeg Police Service, as well as the City of Winnipeg in a competitive labour market, to make sure that the Winnipeg Police Board is really engaging in a search, looking for a new police (chief) to meet that November 2023 deadline,” she said.

In a statement to CTV News Winnipeg, the WPS pointed out that Chief Smyth has been a member of the association for many years and has served on its board of directors since 2018.

It said Smyth's nomination is part of the association's electoral commission process.

The vote takes place at the association's annual general meeting on July 25th.