Winkler's 18 police officers face rising crime rate as city grows

As the population of a small Manitoba city continues to rise, so does its crime rate.

The industrial sector is growing in "leaps and bounds," creating lots of employment opportunities in Winkler, local police Chief Rick Hiebert said Thursday.

"As the community grows, you don't just have the additional work generated from the increase in population, but the number of visitors increases, too, so it all adds together to unfortunately bring higher [crime] numbers to the area," Hiebert said.

Winkler police seized a record amount of drugs last year and saw an increase in violent crime in the city, which had just over 12,000 people in 2011, a 17.6 per cent increase from 2006, Statistics Canada states.

The small city, located about 100 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, recorded its third homicide ever in 2016 after a Saskatoon man was assaulted with a pool cue at a local bowling alley and later died.

• 'Senseless' pool cue attack in Manitoba bowling alley leaves Saskatoon man on life support, police say
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Winkler had 12 reported cases of assault causing bodily harm in 2014 and 11 in 2015, Hiebert said. That figure also jumped last year.

"Our numbers aren't final for 2016, but in the first three-quarters of the year, we're at 16," Hiebert said, adding he isn't shocked to see crime rates rise as the population increases.

People are satisfied with the policing and that kind of thing, but you want to stay ahead of the game. You want to be proactive and not reactive- Rick Hiebert, Winkler police chief

Seizures of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine also skyrocketed in 2016.

Hiebert said there are signs fentanyl may now be in Winkler, too.

"We haven't seen the illicit form yet, but it's only a matter of time," he said.

A significant chunk of the crimes are being committed by non-residents. In 2015, 180 people were charged and fingerprinted in Winkler, and 94 of them (just over half) were from outside Winkler.

Hiebert said the rise in crime has added pressure to his modest police service of just 18 officers.

"Some elements of our service have had to suffer to some degree," Hiebert said. 

"Our traffic enforcement hasn't quite been at where we'd like it to be. There's been an increase in investigation; that takes a lot of time. Doing these drug search warrants, and the research that goes into that is immense.… There's a concern there for sure."

Hiebert said he'd love to hire more officers, although that is dependent on what the city can afford. Following a police board meeting, city council will meet later in January to decide whether the money is available.

In the meantime, Winkler is "eagerly waiting" for the final details to be released by Manitoba Justice regarding the implementation of a community safety officer program. Hiebert said he would also like to add a bylaw officer to the force, but he recognizes the rising cost of policing is a concern for all municipalities in Manitoba.

Overall, Winkler residents still feel like they live in a safe community, Hiebert said.

"People are satisfied with the policing and that kind of thing, but you want to stay ahead of the game. You want to be proactive and not reactive."