Winnipeg Police Cause Harm

Manitoba to allow intoxicated people to be detained for longer periods, premier says WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government is planning to extend the amount of time highly intoxicated people can be detained beyond the current 24 hours. Premier Wab Kinew says the NDP government will...

This will kill people www.winnipegfreepress.com/uncategorize...

lmao. see, people hate on "defund the police" because both political parties dragged it, but they still support what it actually means

Remember when Matt Wiebe promised "These new (officers) will reduce demands on police resources and will significantly improve (the) ability to stop dangerous people from hurting Manitobans"?

Spending on criminalization only leads to more spending on criminalization.

Our response to this copaganda should always be the same: how will locking someone in a cell, subjecting them to increased violence and isolation, and further undermining their access to employment and housing when they're released help to prevent harm from reoccurring?

Mayor plans to issue 'repeat offender bulletins' to pressure Ottawa to amend bail legislation | CBC News Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham plans to publish a weekly "repeat offender bulletin" in order to pressure the federal government to make changes to Canadian legislation governing bail.

It's the same as his new data-free pet project around making bail even harder to get. The entire issue of "repeat offenders" is clear evidence that criminalization doesn't address the fundamental issues contributing to harms. Instead, it often makes them even worse.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Winnipeg police to patrol bus routes, shelters and stations, amid violent crime concerns | CBC News Winnipeg Transit users will see more police officers along bus routes and in transit facilities starting this week, a measure the city says will help passengers and drivers feel safer amid rising numb...

Remember when Gillingham assured us all that his new security team was going to somehow fix issues of transit safety?

Once again, its the WPS and its already gigantic budget ($353M in 2025, $370M in 2026) that benefits from the catastrophic failures of criminalization.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

New transit security displaces and detains “sleepers” and “substance abusers” The numbers and broader media reporting also suggests that the work of the security force is not to actually ensure everyone’s safety — which includes the person who is being responded to — but to rat...

Here's our blog post from June 2024 about the actual activities of the "Community Safety Team"

winnipegpolicecauseharm.org/blog/transit...

City expands bus fare enforcement Winnipeg’s mayor said Friday that fare enforcement has been stepped up, primarily to increase safety. “While recovering lost revenue matters, the top priority is building a culture of safety and respe...

Of COURSE Gillingham's "Community Safety Team" is being weaponized for fare enforcement. This was never about community safety - and steals money that could be used to actually improve it (including through improving transit service).

www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews...

"the knives were found in a location that fit with WO1’s evidence that she moved them away when the AP was on the ground. While this evidence does not directly confirm her evidence on this point, it is some evidence tending to support that the AP ran at them, as WO1 said."

Really convincing....

The report also mentions that after shooting Afolabi three times, they handcuffed him and "began to check him for injuries."

They handcuffed him. After shooting him.

The scene presented in the ASIRT report doesn't line up. The first shot (marker 1) was fired when Afolabi was at least 15 ft away (marker 5). The knives were found on the other side of the unit (marker 7). The partner claims she "moved the knives away."

open.alberta.ca/dataset/a5fe...

'No reasonable grounds' to charge Winnipeg officer who shot and killed international student: Alberta watchdog | CBC News Nearly two years after a 19-year-old Nigerian international student was shot and killed by a Winnipeg police officer during a mental health crisis, Alberta's police watchdog says there are "no reasona...

Another killer cop exonerated, entirely based on the account of his partner.

The killer didn't speak to investigators or provide notes/reports, which ASIRT described as his "right of silence." Afolabi was afford no rights at all. He was executed within seconds.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Part of why we are where we are is that few people on any point of the political spectrum actually take racism seriously.

A good reminder that Community Connections was killed by Scott Gillingham and Evan Duncan not for failing, but for succeeding at something they didn’t want — making Millennium Library more welcoming to, and a better service for, poor and marginalized Winnipeggers. They *want* to push people away.

More Security guards wouldn't have helped ANY of these situations. Any actual obvious preventative measures have been ignored, as has the Library union and community groups desperately calling for the Community Connections space in the lobby to be reopened (closed due to being... too successful?)

In an email Monday, Gillingham said he would focus on "continuing to work with (CUPE) to improve safety at all city facilities." "Without knowing (the man's) circumstances, it wouldn't be right to speculate about what might have made a difference.... As we plan for future redesigns of the library, we'll look for ways to make it safer while still ensuring it works for the staff and customers who use it every day," he said.

Gillingham, for his part, remains unapologetic. Just incredible the way he can jump to policing as a solution after one death in the library, but we have to withhold judgement and blame with this one.

Winnipeg library workers’ union demands safety improvements following man's death The union representing Millennium Library workers says it’s considering taking legal action against the city to more quickly implement safety changes after a man died by suicide at the downtown librar...

TW: Self Harm

Read this article on Millennium Library. It’s important.

You want to prevent situations like what these commenters are claiming? Stop pretending that ever-more violence and punishment will change anything - and provide people the things they need to survive.

Policing and jailing only worsens safety for everyone. It further destroys people's access to housing, employment and social supports necessary to survive. It's a never-ending cycle of violence that exclusively benefits cops and their budgets/salaries.

Three comments on Instagram. The first: "He was seen licking meat & food in the store and was spitting in peoples faces. Snapped out on meth. Normally I’d side with you as WPS is corrupted & awful. But a good buddy witnessed the whole thing and said it took every one of those officers to subdue him because he refused to cooperate. Funny thing is he told me the public narrative would be exactly what you’re pushing, which is only part of it to show your side/agenda." The second: "they are showing what is on video. Where's your buddies video?" The third: "he is referring to me. if you want to see what he was doing I am pretty sure the superstore has all the footage , I didn't record what he was doing but I witnessed everything.. there's always two side to the story, he was openly banging things next to me and walking at people including me which I have to avoid him. On a normal day I would accuse the police as many would do but after seeing everything from both sides And how he resisted arrest and telling people to video and show the world, I see how the system gets abused and puts all the blame on the police."

Assuming this is true, how would it in any way justify the level of violence used during this arrest? How will inflicting more trauma on someone help prevent this from happening again? How will further criminalization promote healing and well-being? How else might this have been avoided or resolved?

This cannot be reformed.

If we had put money into social services that would support the less fortunate, food theft would reduce.

It’s only been proven to work nearly every place they try, but what do I know.

This is what the WPS does with a $350 million a year budget: viciously attack poor Indigenous people trying to survive. The number of cops who responded to this were alone worth more than $1 million a year in salary. That's money directly stolen from our communities.

Defund and abolish the WPS.

This was all for what looked to be no more than $50 worth of allegedly stolen food.

You can see in the video that he was complying with cop orders and not resisting arrest. He also repeatedly requested that the arrest be videoed.

YouTube video by Winnipeg Police Cause Harm Superstore arrest - August 6, 2025

WARNING: Police violence

We've received footage of a violent arrest at the St. James Superstore on Wednesday evening. During the arrest, the man was subjected to a knee on his neck, had a spit hood and "Ripp Hobble" restraint applied to him, and at least 10 cops responded.

youtu.be/xwaecvX4Zqk

Bike theft a problem of 'epidemic proportions,' Winnipeg councillor says | CBC News Some Winnipeg residents say there needs to be more places where they can safely stow their bikes, as a local councillor is calling for the city to explore ways to curb theft.

Incredibly rich coming from the councillor who's been shovelling millions of dollars more at the police every single year without any apparent concern about things like "evidence" or "research."

Imagine what that money could do for income supports + poverty alleviation.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Manitoba justice minister won’t say whether police disciplinary reports should be public Manitoba’s justice minister supports implementing a uniform code of conduct for Winnipeg police but stopped short of committing to the public release of disciplinary reports involving officers.

Continued cowardice from Matt Wiebe and the Manitoba NDP www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews...

A pic of the story in the newspaper, headline reads New charges tarnish badge: police chief.

It's not a few bad apples, it's rotten to the core.

The police budget has an insatiable appetite and we need to recognize money spent directly on community programs and services has far higher ROI if we want to get out of this mess.

#wpgpoli #winnipeg #mbpoli

I can hear it now: “Please be respectful and do not politicize this tragedy that might have been avoided if not for political decisions made by the mayor and city council.”

And this guy was awarded a medal! If he's the best of the Winnipeg Police Service what are the rest of them getting up to?