Winnipeg’s new transit safety team already responded to 100 disturbances, saved lives

The former police officer tasked with overseeing the city’s new fleet of Winnipeg Transit safety officers says the program has rolled out even smoother than expected.

In the nearly four weeks since the officers boarded transit buses across the city, they’ve dealt with roughly 100 disturbances of different types and even saved lives, says Bob Chrismas, who was hired by the city to oversee the new program.

“I really feel like we’re making an impact out there on the street,” he said at a news conference Monday.

“We're interfacing with the community, drawing in partner agencies, wrapping around support for people that we’re coming across who are unsheltered in Winnipeg streets, so I couldn't be more pleased.”

As an example of the program’s early success, Chrismas pointed to an incident where community safety officers came across a person face down in the snow near Portage Place.

The person had no life signs, he said. The officers performed CPR and administered Naloxone.

“They brought that person back to life,” he said, noting police and paramedics arrived on the scene soon after.

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

The city says 23 community safety officers and two supervisors were trained, and officially went on the job last month.

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

The rollout hasn’t been without its snags. Last week, two members of the team were assaulted after encountering a man behaving erratically on a bus around Graham Avenue and Main Street.

Safety officers got him off the bus, police say, but he wandered into traffic and the officers followed him. One officer was elbowed in the face, another was kicked, and there was also an attempt to bite another.

Still, Chrismas says the safety officers are trained to respond to difficult, sometimes dangerous situations.

He says the need for the program is already evident in its early days.

“In the first few weeks, I feel like we've already proven the concept, so I absolutely could use another 100 officers tomorrow if they were given to this,” he said.

“We’re making the best with what we have, and I feel like we’re making a dent right now.”

- With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele and Danton Unger