WINNIPEG - As a response to ongoing violence, the City of Winnipeg is outfitting transit inspectors with slash-resistant protective vests.
"There has been assaults on our inspectors and some of those assaults involve weapons," said Matt Allard, public works chair for the city.
The inspectors are called whenever there's an incident on a transit bus and are tasked with de-escalating the situation.
“The majority of knife attacks, from my understanding, are slash related,” said Randy Tonnellier, operations manager of Winnipeg Transit. "So it's slash-resistant. I believe it exceeds the specifications of the National Institute of Justice, which has specifications of body armour like this."
Tonnellier said the vests should provide all the protection needed, as police are called if the situation becomes too violent.
Transit has fifty inspectors but would not say how many are on shift at any given time.
The city said the vest costs $65,000 and are part of its transit safety investment in this year’s budget.
