Safe Winnipeg initiative begins rolling out in West End

Winnipeg’s mayor helped kick off a new initiative for safety in the city’s West End.

Winnipeg’s mayor took to the streets to help kick off a safety initiative in the community.

Scott Gillingham, along with Deputy Mayor Markus Chambers (St Norbert-Seine River) and Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) toured the West End, meeting with business owners to help start the Safe Winnipeg initiative.

The initiative, announced during the State of the City Address, sees community members and emergency services work together to tackle crime in neighbourhoods.

“The residents, the business owners, they deserve a safe community,” Gillingham said.

Gillingham said some businesses in the area are struggling due to rampant theft and occasional violence.

He said the Safe Winnipeg initiative will allow community organizations, such as the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, to work with police and firefighters to help identify crime trends and avoid overlap in services.

“It’s about better coordinating public safety so that there’s a blanket of safety in the downtown and the west end and beyond,” Gillingham said.

The initiative will focus on downtown, the West End and the North End neighbourhoods, as Gillingham said that is where most of the calls for service happen. He said he is open to expanding it to other areas of the city, should the need arise.