Winnipeg police transit initiative makes dent in overall crime: data

A project putting Winnipeg police on buses and around transit stops has led to a drop in crime. Jon Hendricks explains.

Winnipeg police say transit-related crimes dropped during the service’s focused approach to transit safety in the back half of last year but noted more work is needed.

Police shared the data from their Winnipeg Transit Violent Crime Intervention Strategy that ran from Sept. 17 to Dec. 31 last year.

Compared to the same time in 2024, police said total crimes dropped by more than 15 per cent, violent crimes dropped more than 18 per cent and property crimes decreased by 15 per cent.

During the timeframe, police said officers spent 143 hours on buses, another 101 hours at bus stops and other transit locations and 36 hours in marked cars.

Police made 12 arrests and enforced 98 fare evasions.

“The WPS is very pleased with the results of the program. I don’t think it comes as a surprise that if we put additional resources and direct them to a specific problem or a specific area, that we’re going to achieve results,” said WPS Supt. Brian Miln.

“However, I am pleased with the numbers. They’re, quite frankly, higher than I was anticipating. We have a lot of routes in Winnipeg, so there’s a lot of area to cover, but we were Johnny-on-the-spot for a number of incidents.”

Police also noted there were 1,044 calls from transit requiring police service, which was down from the same time in 2024, with 1,259 calls.

Miln said police are still trying to figure out if this program will be permanent. They are currently working with transit, as well as the union, the city and the Community Safety Team on next steps.

“Transit safety, most certainly, is a priority for citizens of Winnipeg, the people who work on buses, who work in the transit system and then, of course, the riders who rely on it for transportation, day in and day out. So we are assessing the success of this program, but I don’t have an answer yet as to what our next steps may or may not be.”

He added figuring out how to distribute resources is a constant balancing act with a program like this.

“We have to allocate resources as the demand presents. But of course, we have to do that in a very calculated way. We can’t simply place resources in one and ignore other issues.”

Coun. Evan Duncan, who sits on the police board, said the data shows this is something that is needed.

But when it comes to what’s next, that still needs to be figured out.

“We do have our community safety officers doing great work on transit as well, in collaboration with the Winnipeg Police Service. Is there a blend of the two that would work best? I think we need to dig in and find that out,” said Duncan.

While there are positive signs with this program, Duncan said the fact that officers are needed so transit riders feel safe is a concern.

“We need to, as a city, address that and make sure that transit riders and Winnipeggers in general feel safe. So whatever we have to do, we need to address it and make sure that we make it a priority.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable that somebody is taking a bus and feeling unsafe.”