Winnipeg police chief suggests Tasers save lives, could replace firearms in future

Winnipeg's police chief said Tasers used by the service's officers have saved lives and could replace the need for firearms in policing altogether in the future.

In a report presented Friday to the Winnipeg Police Board about the use of force, Chief Gene Bowers said the service used conducted energy weapons 524 times in 2024.

That's up from 301 instances where stun guns, such as Tasers, were used in 2023, and well over the five-year average of 262, the chief reported.

Bowers said Friday the increased deployment of Tasers, which the police call "intermediate weapons," has been made possible by technological improvements that allow them to be deployed at greater distances.

"They save lives," Bowers said following a Winnipeg Police Board meeting at city hall. "The technology is just advancing rapidly, where my hope is one day that we never have a shooting where someone loses their life."

Bowers said he cannot get into specifics about the increasing range of conducted energy weapons.

He said their increased use can be seen as a positive development, given a greater number of incidents of use of force overall.

"That's not deadly force, so any time that we're not using deadly force is a good thing. So yeah, I wouldn't look at it as a negative," he said.

Police shot six people in 2024, four fatally, up from three shootings in 2023, all of which were fatal, Bowers's report said. The five-year average number of police shootings was four, he reported.

Overall instances of use of force — which also include use of pepper spray and batons, as well as canine bites — rose from 863 incidents in 2023 to 968 in 2024, he wrote. The five-year average was 788, according to the report.

"The increase has largely been attributed to encounters with individuals exhibiting the effects of methamphetamine," Bowers wrote. "Individuals under the influence of methamphetamine often have a high tolerance to pain and are far less responsive to de-escalation techniques, including verbal and physical."

Winnipeg Police Board chair Markus Chambers, the city councillor for St. Norbert-Seine River, said he is not concerned about the increased use of force by police.

Chambers said 968 instances where force was used out of 240,000 calls for service is not a concerning ratio.

"Looking at the numbers, I focus on the fact that 99.6 per cent of interactions with police don't involve use of force," Chambers said.

He and Bowers said they continue to support the creation of a 24-hour sobering centre for people suffering from methamphetamine psychosis and alcohol intoxication.

Such a centre would be secure, have medical personnel on site and require substantial government funding, said Bowers, who has advocated for a sobering centre since he was sworn in in March.

At a downtown safety announcement in 2024, Premier Wab Kinew said it's unacceptable to see people suffering from meth psychosis shadow-boxing in downtown Winnipeg, for their safety and the safety of others.

At a similar announcement on Friday, Kinew said police and downtown safety workers are working with people suffering from psychosis, but made no mention of a sobering centre.

Winnipeg police chief suggests stun guns save lives, could replace firearms in future

18 hours ago

Duration 3:07

On Friday, Winnipeg Police Chief Gene Bowers was asked about an increasing use of force by police, most notably the use of conducted energy weapons, better known as Tasers or stun guns. Police used these weapons 524 times in 2024, which is double the five-year average. Bowers says that's not necessarily a bad thing.