North End communities hope new Winnipeg Police chief stays the course

WINNIPEG — Winnipeg’s next police chief won’t be named until November at the earliest but there are already concerns they’ll abandon the path set out by former chief Devon Clunis.

The former police chief, Devon Clunis, was known for building bridges between the police service and communities in the inner city.

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If someone is brought in from outside the city or province, some worry that policing strategy could change.

“It should come from within because then they will have the relationship with the day to day officers who actually do all the work. The chief sets the tone, the values, so if we can get someone from inside but they have to have those kind of values,” said Point Douglas activist Sel Burrows.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It should come from within because then they will have the relationship with the day to day officers who actually do all the work. The chief sets the tone, the values, so if we can get someone from inside but they have to have those kind of values," said Point Douglas activist Sel Burrows.

However, an outside candidate could bring some much-needed fresh ideas to the police budget, which at $280.7 million, eats up more than a quarter of city spending.

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“It’s a little bit easier to look at current operations and say, we don’t need to do things that way … it’s just not a priority because we only have so much money,” said Michael Weinrath, professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg.

There’s also the difficulty with replacing Clunis, who grew up in the North End and, as a visible minority, connected with the Indigenous community.

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“With the Aboriginal population, there’s a correlation right there and I know when Chief Clunis first became the chief of our city, the Aboriginal community, there was a little bit of relief there,” said Rick Lavallee, executive director at the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre.

Lavallee doesn’t think the new chief has to be Indigenous but said it’s critical they continue to reach out to communities within the inner city in order to improve relationships with police.

The police board is expecting to wrap up the interview process by mid September and plans to appoint a new chief in November.