Winnipeg police are employing a backseat approach to crowd control in an effort to calm protesters and address a soaring number of demonstrations dominating city streets.
The issue was dragged to the forefront Wednesday when a motorist accelerated through a protest at Portage Avenue and Main Street, striking a cyclist before being mobbed by demonstrators as police monitored the situation from blocks away.
The Winnipeg Police Service said officers were absent from the immediate area at the request of event organizers. Instead, units were stationed “out of sight” as a form of de-escalation.
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
A Winnipeg police officer speaks to a man that drove his vehicle through a protest at Portage and Main on Wednesday, striking a protester and dragging her bike under his car. The number of public demonstrations involving police soared in the first two quarters of 2024 — nearly doubling the number in the same period the previous year.
“They are in a lose-lose situation,” Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, said.
“If they just watch and observe, something is likely to happen and they are going to have to intervene anyway. If they intervene proactively, there will likely be complaints from protesters and others about heavy handed police tactics.”
Data provided to the Free Press Thursday outlined what WPS called “historic highs” of events monitored and attended by officers this year.
The number of protests, rallies, marches and other public demonstrations involving police soared to 352 in the first two quarters of 2024 — nearly doubling the number in the same period the previous year, the data show.
The year’s events account for a collective 9,899 working hours, police said.
“We have yet to publish Q3 figures; however, it will show this rising trend is continuing,” WPS Const. Claude Chauncy said in an email statement.
“As you can see, this continues to be highly taxing on the service.”
Leuprecht, who specializes in security, speculated the number of demonstrations might be responsible, in part, for police’s “wait and see” approach to crowd control.
“The priority for police in those situations is not to enforce the law because they don’t have the resources for that, so all they are going to do is to try and keep things calm,” Leuprecht said.
Demonstrations organized on short notice present additional challenges, leaving police with limited time to prepare and warn the public about potential road closures. Officers can be called in on short notice to respond to such events, causing additional financial strain, the professor added.
“One of the things that protesters underappreciate is that it gets really expensive for taxpayers. So, when you see police asking for budget increases, this is partially what’s driving that budget increase,” Leuprecht said.
“As much as I understand the frustration by protesters, it’s a bit irresponsible of them because they are putting themselves and the people with them at disproportionate risk … I don’t in any way want to defend what happened here with a car driving into protesters, but I’m saying this is all the stuff that proper police preparation is able to prevent.”
Chauncy said public safety remains the highest priority when it comes to the WPS approach to crowd control.
“The service constantly assesses its approach with law enforcement partners nationwide for best practices and most appropriate actions,” he said.
Howard Ramos, a political sociology professor at Western University who specializes in protests, said police agencies are increasingly heeding requests to stay away.
“I think the police adopting de-escalation and working with protest organizers has been a good approach. Where I think that there could be a broader discussion is for the general public in recognizing that protest is a part of democracy,” Ramos said. “Since the pandemic, we do see a shorter fuse, less patience and quicker escalation.”
Ramos, a former Winnipegger, urged motorists to remain calm if they encounter a blockade on the roadway — particularly at a major thoroughfare like Portage and Main.
“This is a prominent intersection, but this is a public space … In a city like Winnipeg, which has a long tradition dating back to the Winnipeg General Strike, it’s a part of the city to have some degree of protest.”
Coun. Markus Chambers, chair of the Winnipeg Police Board, said he is “hoping that the temperatures cool down on a lot of these events.”
“The right to assemble and demonstrate is a democratic right and we don’t want to take that away from anyone, but we want to make sure all segments of the population are safe.”
Chambers said the board — a civilian body to which the WPS is accountable — has been discussing the best way to approach protests since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He described the number of events as “overwhelming” and said they are draining police budgets and morale.
Leuprecht noted “Winnipeg is a tough community to police” due to the historical injustices perpetrated against Indigenous people by the justice system.
Wednesday’s protest came in response to the death of Tammy Bateman, an Indigenous woman in her 30s who was struck by a police vehicle at the Fort Rouge Park riverside homeless encampment Monday night.
Premier Wab Kinew expressed his condolences Thursday for Bateman.
“I feel really sad that a community member like that — very young, as she was — had her life ended,” Kinew said.
“When we talk about what took place at Portage and Main (Wednesday), it’s just awful … As somebody who is leading in the public sphere, that is terrible. We don’t want to see that.”
Other protests in Winnipeg have similarly escalated in recent months, including one in January when a group of people ransacked the basement of the Marlborough Hotel.
Police previously said they were investigating, but have not announced any charges relating to the incident.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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