'This is not new,' Winnipeg police chief says after recent violent incidents at The Forks
Incidents 'alarming,' but number of crimes at The Forks relatively small compared to other areas: Danny Smyth
Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth says recent incidents of violence at The Forks have led to a wider discussion about violent crime in the city, but says they are not a sign of any new trends in crime.
"This is not new," Smyth said at a Friday afternoon news conference called in response to concerns about the incidents.
"It's alarming, and certainly depending on how it gets reported it can really ramp things up," he said, referring to recent media stories about violent incidents at the national historic site, including one that involved the stabbing of a young Ukrainian refugee.
Smyth said the police service plans to release its 2021 crime statistics report next week, which will show a 10 per cent increase in calls for service last year over 2020.
The report also shows violent crime, particularly assaults with a weapon, is also on the rise, up by five per cent.
Smyth acknowledged that The Forks is a special place for Winnipeggers and visitors to the city, but says it's no different than anywhere else.
"We've had stabbings there before, we've had homicides in the vicinity before," he said, adding the number of incidents at The Forks is relatively small compared to other parts of the city.
"We had 1,199 knife related incidents last year, so to have five in that area, it kind of puts it into perspective."
The police chief maintained he takes all incidents of violence seriously, regardless of where they happen in the city.
Recent violence
The historic site has experienced several violent incidents recently.
On July 1, two men who recently fled the war in Ukraine were victims of a violent attack that left one of them stabbed in the neck and the other pepper-sprayed, according to witnesses.
On June 29, police were called to The Forks Market shortly after midnight, when two people were stabbed and critically injured. A third person was also hurt.
Two 15-year-old girls and an 18-year-old man have been charged in connection with that incident. Police say all three were among a group of six suspects who were originally arrested.
Two days before that, police said a group of teens attacked a man and his daughter in an attempted robbery in a parking lot at The Forks around 8 p.m. The man was taken to hospital in stable condition.
Two girls were arrested in the June 27 incident, and police were looking for a third suspect at the time.
In May, a man died after he was stabbed in the parkade at The Forks.
In spite of those incidents, Winnipeg Police Board chair Markus Chambers maintains Winnipeg is a safe place to be overall. However, he acknowledged not everyone feels the same.
"I have to validate those concerns and do a better job in terms of working with our board and working with our service so that they can feel safe in the community as well," the city councillor for St. Norbert-Seine River said at Friday's news conference.
He wants to see a summit on downtown safety where various groups can discuss how to combat crime and work toward removing Winnipeg's stigma as a crime-ridden city.
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg executive director Kate Kehler isn't so sure a summit is the best option, but she agrees with Smyth's comments that crime is nothing new.
Kehler wonders what the goals of a possible summit would be, but she said the downtown safety strategy is starting to move away from over-policing that part of the city.
"We don't want to flip back to 180-degree turn and go back to the way things were," she said. "Let the investment be in community and the community-based organizations."
Police to beef up presence at The Forks
Smyth said police have met with officials at The Forks to address some of their concerns, and police will beef up their presence there in the short-term.
More foot-patrol officers will be assigned to the site, especially on weekends, he said. He also stressed that people need to look out for each other and be aware of their surroundings.
Kehler disagrees with more foot-patrol officers because she believes that police are "triggering" for some individuals, and that the general public has to be accepting of the fact that society has allowed the situation to become as bad as it has.
"There isn't any way, unless we're going to have five helicopters flying around, monitoring everything we do, that we are winning," Kehler said. "The police are only going to be able to get to so many places."
While the recent incidents have led to several teens being arrested, Smyth said the report coming next week will show that youth-related crime is actually trending downward.
The police chief said he can only speculate as to why violent crimes may be on the rise, but suspects the pandemic has emotions running high.
"We see a lot of pent-up frustration and cumulative stress that's going on there, and I can't help but think this is contributing to some of the angst and some of the violence that we are encountering in the community right now."
