Safety officers another step closer to riding Winnipeg Transit buses

Long-awaited safety officers for Winnipeg Transit are set to begin training next week and are expected to begin riding city buses and patrolling bus stops next month.

The City of Winnipeg confirmed 21 community safety officers and two supervisors will begin their training on Monday.

"We've got an incredibly diverse, culturally, age, and experience diverse group assembled," said Robert Chrismas, the Winnipeg Community Safety Team Lead. "It's a unique team. I think they are going to bring a lot of compassion and empathy to the work."

Since early last year, Mayor Scott Gillingham has been promising to put peace officers on city buses to address safety. He said city data shows more than 40 per cent of the assaults and serious assaults take place on the same five routes.

The program was created in the 2023 budget to address concerns on buses in Winnipeg.

“The Community Safety Team will help ensure Winnipeg Transit buses and shelters are safe spaces for both drivers and riders,” Gillingham said in a news release. “This is a significant step to enhance public safety and build confidence in the transit system as we look to completely redesign the route network in 2025.”

A recent report to the city's Executive Policy Committee says those who successfully complete the training will graduate on Feb. 16.

"It's a big city. The transit system itself is large, you know at rush hour there could be 500 buses on the road," said Chrismas, a former member of the Winnipeg Police Service for 35 years.

"We'll be looking for problem areas and ways that we can make the most impact with a fairly small resource."

He said the majority of the team has experience working with disenfranchised people in the city and social agencies in Winnipeg along with various levels of security and law enforcement background.

Their training includes mediation and conflict resolution, non-violent crisis intervention, and community engagement. The city said these officers will learn self-defence, security, and de-escalation techniques.

Chrismas said in addition, the team will be sworn peace officers meaning they will have the authority to detain people and enforce laws.

However, he said their work goes beyond enforcement – exploring ways to best deal with the mental health and addiction crisis in the community.

"We want to really try and be a hub, be a point of contact for the community, bringing in a wide range of resources around the community," he said.

"I know we're going to come across people in meth psychosis, various states of mental crises. So the training is going to focus a lot on honing those skills of how to intervene in a trauma-informed way."

Christine Welsh, who recently finished a 25-year career with the Winnipeg Police Service, is one of two supervisors of the new team.

"It's definitely a huge responsibility, not one that I take lightly," she said. "Everybody knows this needs to work, and it's very much needed as long overdue. So it is overwhelming, but in a good way."

Before the program can begin, it requires approval of an operating agreement with Manitoba Justice, which is in the final stages.

The agreement needs to address the management, financing, and supervision of the program, as well as the relationship between police and community safety officers. It must also give information on the process of dealing with complaints about the conduct of the officers.

The report will be discussed at the executive policy committee meeting on Jan. 16.