Winnipeg Police Board supports service's handling of weeks-long protest near legislature
CBC
Winnipeg's police board is backing the way the police service handled a weeks-long protest near the Manitoba Legislature Grounds last month.
"The board has confidence that the chief has knowledge, resources and specially trained members to manage this demonstration and future events going forward," Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River), who chairs the board, said at a Friday meeting.
"The board will ask the service to review and evaluate all the information collected during this protest to ensure policies are reflective of the current evolution of protest and demonstrations."
The board is meant to guide and hold the city's police service accountable for how it polices, with regards to community values and needs.
The board doesn't, however, direct the police service on how to enforce the law or on day-to-day operations.
On Friday, police Chief Danny Smyth and Supt. Dave Dalal briefed the board on some aspects of how the service handled the anti-COVID mandate protests in February.
Dalal gave the board a high-level summary of negotiations between police and protesters.
Police were in contact with protesters before they even got to the legislative grounds to discuss where they would go, he said, and were in contact with the protesters almost every day following that.
Police also negotiated several times on when protesters could honk their horns and for how long.
Dalal said before the majority of protesters cleared out on Feb. 23 — after police told them they needed to be gone by the end of that day or face the possibility of arrest and criminal charges — officers negotiated with them to move away from the south side of Broadway, and to open up main routes during rush hour.
During Friday's meeting, the board heard that police received 168 calls for complaints, with at least a dozen repeat callers.
There were 239 different members who worked the protest, which amounted to 2,828 hours of police work. The chief said there were 156 hours of overtime, which cost the service about $106,000.
Smyth said he's open to hearing more direction from the board, but that must involve an understanding about how police work may be affected.
"If the board and community expects us to mange this in a different way, I'm open to that. But let's be clear when we talk about alternatives," he said during the meeting.
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