West End, Osborne Village business owners welcome word of more police foot patrols
With more beat cops ready to hit the street Friday, crime-weary West End business owners are hoping the result is a safer neighbourhood for them and their customers.
The 12 new recruits are the second instalment of the provincially funded cohort, doubling the dozen officers first announced when the Manitoba government made its retail anti-crime program permanent in November.
Regular foot patrols checking in on businesses has made a difference, said West End BIZ Executive Director Joe Kornelsen.
MATTHEW FRANK / FREE PRESS
Mayor Scott Gillingham meets with West End business owner Michael Paille, owner of Cobra Collectibles, to discuss safety concerns.
'Our members really appreciated that relationship-building aspect,' he said earlier this week, while touring the neighbourhood and meeting business owners with Mayor Scott Gillingham.
'I think the neighbourhood, overall, likes to see the human faces of law enforcement.'
A West End BIZ survey of 54 businesses on Sargent and Ellice avenues last July found 67 per cent of the owners felt safer with regular police foot patrols.
The West End, Exchange District and Osborne Village were the focus of the Winnipeg Police Service retail theft crackdown last year.
Kornelsen said the dedicated patrols in the West End began a year ago and continued through the winter months.
Michael Paille, owner of vintage video game and comic book shop Cobra Collectibles on Sargent Avenue near Furby Street, has had to deal with graffiti, shoplifting and assaults in the decade he has been in business.
Although he has 60 cameras inside and outside the building, Paille said he doesn't feel safe staying open past 6 p.m.
'There's a lot we deal with, whether it's thefts or individuals trying to sell illegal stuff outside,' he said. 'It's harder to stay open with the way the streets are. But the main thing is to just fight it day by day.'
Paille said he feels safer when he notices patrols in the area, and he'd like to see more police boots on the ground.
Osborne Village BIZ executive director Zohreh Gervais said foot-patrol officers returned to the neighbourhood Tuesday and business owners were pleased to have a regular police presence again.
WPS didn't respond to Free Press questions about where the graduating officers will be patrolling and how regular the patrols will be scheduled.
On the neighbourhood walk, Gillingham touted the new Safer Winnipeg Initiative, which he announced during his March State of the City address.
The plan will put police and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service under one umbrella, along with other groups, including the Downtown Community Safety Partnership. Gillingham said the strategy will boost resources, data collection and communication to improve emergency responses.
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'Rather than having the overlaps and the gaps, let's do a better job of co-ordinating so our downtown is safer and businesses get the help they need,' the mayor told reporters.
There's no timeline for the plan's launch, but Gillingham said two city staff members have begun co-ordinating among various groups.
The initiative is intended to be implemented citywide, but there will be an initial focus on central neighbourhoods, because that's where community safety groups — such as Bear Clan Patrol — operate, said Colin Fast, the mayor's spokesperson.
He said consultations for hiring a public-safety adviser, also announced in March, are still underway.
matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca
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