Winnipeg police union files grievance over transit safety officers

Winnipeg's police union has filed a grievance over the city's new transit security force, saying the security personnel aren't police officers and shouldn't be allowed to detain people.

The city's new community safety team, announced last year, was created in response to safety concerns in Winnipeg Transit buses. Its officers began training earlier this month.

The team's officers will use de-escalation techniques and won't have guns, the city has previously said.

However, they will have the authority to detain people — a violation of the city's collective agreement with the union, Winnipeg Police Association president Cory Wiles said in a statement Friday.

The scope of the safety officers is "clearly work that falls within the WPA bargaining unit, and having employees who aren't police officers arresting, detaining and dealing with violent criminals is a precedent we cannot allow to stand," the statement said.

Wiles claimed the city is putting the safety officers, and members of the public, "in an unsafe position, as they will lack the full set of tools and training required to do what everyone with common sense can recognize is police work."

The City of Winnipeg told CBC News in a statement it's received the grievance and is reviewing it, but said it doesn't expect it will affect the rollout of the community safety program.

The team "is being launched to fill systemic gaps and bring trauma-informed support to individuals in need while improving public safety on our transit system," the city said.

"There has never been an intent to overlap or engage in policing activities." 

City ignored calls for discussions, union says

Last year, the Progressive Conservative government passed legislation giving community safety officers power to "provide an initial response to situations that pose a safety threat … until members of the local policing authority are able to respond," including detaining a person who poses a threat.

The first cohort of 21 transit safety officers in Winnipeg started a six-week training program on Monday. 

The team has two supervisors and is led by Robert Chrismas, who served with the Winnipeg Police Service for more than 35 years.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents Winnipeg Transit drivers, has previously said it has tracked an increasing number of safety incidents on city buses. 

Last September, the union said it had recorded 201 safety incidents in 2023, including verbal threats with weapons, attempted assaults and physical assaults — up from 130 in 2022 and 88 incidents in 2021.

Wiles said in his statement the police union takes "no issue" with any initiative that makes buses and communities at large safer. There would be no problem if the safety officers weren't doing the work of police, he said.

He also said the union has repeatedly tried to discuss its concerns with the city over the past several months, but that the city has ignored their offers.

The police association "would prefer to resolve these issues through negotiation," he said but "will not hesitate to take the necessary legal steps to protect the rights of our members."

The city said it expects to have more discussions with the association to "learn about the source of their concerns and hopefully further explain the intent and scope" of the safety officer program.

It said it would collaborate with the union to avoid any overlap in policing activities as it continues to develop the program.