Protests against Israel-Hamas war cost $136K in Winnipeg police overtime so far, board hears

Winnipeg police are asking protesters to stay in one location, to ease the serious strain they say weekly car rallies and marches in protest of the Israel-Hamas conflict are putting on their resources.

Supt. Dave Dalal of the Winnipeg Police Service's special events unit told the city's police board on Friday there were 37 public events between Oct. 9 and Dec. 6 in Winnipeg in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, of which 25 required police supervision or escort.

That has resulted in 2,288 hours of overtime for police officers, excluding the diversion of on-duty resources, said Dalal. The overtime price tag is $136,000 and climbing.

"This has been a pace that is very hard to maintain for us. We've seen almost daily events where we've needed to assign police resources to some large scale events," he said.

"Please refrain from mobile protests. It really is a significant risk and harm to the community, and a danger to our members."

On Oct. 26, police asked protesters from both sides to avoid squaring off in counter-protests, which they said escalated tensions and ate up a lot of their resources. Organizers were also encouraged to limit protests to a specified location.

No counter-protests have been seen in the city since police made that request, Dalal said Friday, but mobile protests are taking place every weekend.

Cadets and downtown community foot patrols are the first to be called when resources are needed to supervise the events, but police have also had to call in officers during their off-time, as well as the service's crowd control unit, drones and Air-1 helicopter, he said.

Police have also had to assess and sometimes staff community events unrelated to the conflict in the Middle East on the chance that protesters might show up, such as last week's holiday open house at the Manitoba Legislature, said Dalal.

"This is a tough time for us."

Kyle Mason, a member of the police board, said he felt uncomfortable with the police service's request.

"While I can appreciate that we don't have unlimited resources, it does not sit well with me when a police service or elected officials ask people not to do something that they're entitled to," he said during the board meeting.

Dalal responded by saying that it takes 14 police units to shut down traffic at Portage and Main.

"We're not looking to police beliefs, we're looking to police behaviour, and the mobile protests add an extra layer of risk and resources to us."

Outgoing Chief Danny Smyth said police are trying to influence protest organizers to "conduct themselves in a safe and lawful way," adding it's arguable that blocking streets and walking on roadways is not legal.

Police are using the same approach that they did with convoy protesters, who blocked part of Memorial Boulevard for nearly three weeks in February 2022, said Smyth.

However, he said police "didn't see a lot of mobilization" from those protesters, since they were able to negotiate with the group to stay within Memorial Park across from the legislature.

"The other difference is, the convoy protest wrapped up in about 2½ weeks. We're into the third month of this particular conflict," said Smyth.

The local protest events carry on alongside the conflict, taking an emotional toll on officers, he said.

"We're dealing largely, in this particular protest, with hate.… Our officers are subject to a lot of offensive commentary, that would still fit within the realm of lawful."

That kind of tense environment changes the dynamic for officers supervising the events, Dalal told reporters after the board meeting.

"They're absolutely more volatile, because these issues are extremely important to the people participating," he said.

Every protest event is unique, since they can require from fewer than 10 officers to more than 100, said Dalal. The mobile protests can also be unpredictable, as some have changed routes midway through the event.

"The mobile ones just add a level of complexity and add another layer of officers."

'Very difficult times,' board chair says

Local demonstrations have been on the rise over the last three years, according to Dalal. Winnipeg police's special events unit, which monitors and assists local events as needed, has been reorganized internally to include full-time officers to address the growing need.

"Those extra hours that we spent on these protests are officer hours not spent responding with community who have called us with issues, or even in a proactive manner — being in hotspots or places where we know crime is more likely to occur — we're just not there," said Dalal.

"It's our responsibility to provide a safe community, and if we can influence people to express themselves in a way that doesn't impact community safety, then I think it's our responsibility to do so."

Coun. Markus Chambers told reporters after the board meeting that international conflicts have trickled down to local communities more intensely in recent years.

"It's very difficult times here. We recognize that everybody wants to exercise their rights to peaceful protest, but again, it is a resource demand on our police."