The City of Winnipeg is entering 2025 not knowing when it will have a new police chief.
Coun. Markus Chambers, who serves as chair of the Winnipeg Police Board, told the Free Press last week that the recruitment committee is “taking the time necessary thoroughly evaluate all the information and materials received.”
“The Board looks forward to making an official announcement when the recruitment process is complete,” Chambers said in an email.
Winnipeg Police Service operating expenditures are projected to rise to $352 million in 2025. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
On Dec. 6 Chambers said two rounds of interviews for the job leading the Winnipeg Police Service had wrapped up, a decision had been made and the announcement would be made within the “next week or so.”
Chambers said if the process hadn’t been completed in time for council’s Dec. 12 meeting, the last scheduled in 2024, he would ask for a special session prior to the holiday break.
That didn’t happen.
The position has been open since former WPS chief Danny Smyth retired in early September. Art Stannard has been serving as interim chief since. Smyth officially announced his retirement date in December 2023.
On Dec. 17 the Free Press reported the formal announcement was on hold because of questions arising about deputy chief Gene Bowers who, according to sources, was the police board’s recommended candidate for the top job.
But in the leadup to the announcement of Bowers as the successor to Smyth, concerns about the veteran officer were emailed to the members of the police board, a source said.
Bowers joined the service in 1989 and has worked in several sectors, including specialized investigations, where he implemented the counter-exploitation unit, the WPS says in an online biography.
Chambers declined to comment on whether Bowers is still being considered for the position, the number of candidates the committee is evaluating or when a final decision will be made.
Mayor Scott Gillingham echoed Chambers’ comments about the recruitment process, per a comment from his spokesperson Colin Fast.
WPS Deputy Chief Gene Bowers (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)
Winnipeg Police Association president Cory Wiles declined to comment on the delay, only that the union is awaiting a decision “just like everyone else is.”
The incoming chief will be handed the reins of a force needing to find $5 million in savings next year, according to the city’s 2025 budget update.
The WPS operating expenditures are projected to rise to $352 million in 2025, which is $20 million higher than 2024, and will get 36 new general patrol officers, if city council approves the 2025 preliminary budget in late January.
The next police chief will be Winnipeg’s 19th.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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