Most municipal leaders are concerned about the lack of police presence in their community says a recent survey from the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM).
“Our survey results reaffirm that increased police visibility may help deter crime and make community members feel safer,” said AMM president Kam Blight in an August 2 news release.
“Municipal officials are very frustrated with the practice of applying a catch-and-release approach to repeat offenders who are contributing to rising rates of crime in local communities,” he added. “Police officers should be out on the street and in the community, rather than behind a desk filling out repetitive paperwork or waiting to testify in a courtroom.”
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Seventy-three out of AMM’s 137 member municipalities responded to the survey on policing and public safety, the results of which were released August 2.
Ninety-two per cent said they were very or somewhat concerned about the lack of police presence. Sixty-four per cent said they felt their municipalities did not have enough police officers to make residents feel safe, while 88 per cent of municipalities said “enhanced police visibility” is a priority this year.
Eighty-four per cent said property crime is very or somewhat likely to occur in their municipality.
Ninety-two per cent of respondents said they were very or somewhat concerned about illicit drug use in their communities, and 77 per cent said drug crime is very or somewhat likely to occur.
[FROM THE ‘BETWEEN THE ROWS’ PODCAST] Kam Blight on the state of staffing levels in rural RCMP detachments in Manitoba. To hear the full episode, click here.
AMM asked members if they thought the province should spend cannabis tax revenue on public safety or to fight crime. Ninety-five per cent said they agreed.
Only 20 per cent of municipalities said they felt they had enough authority to enforce bylaws. Forty per cent were “neutral” and 40 per cent said they did not have enough authority.
“Moving forward, the AMM will continue to call on the provincial and federal governments to increase support for policing services in order to properly address local public safety priorities and help local governments manage increasing public safety costs,” Blight said.
AMM said it would call on the province to help municipalities with “rapidly increasing, unsustainable policing costs,” and to support police to address property crime and drug use.
It plans to ask the province to review the mandate of police boards to allow local councils more oversight for municipal police; to develop a “fair cannabis taxation revenue-sharing model;” and to work with AMM and municipalities to address by-law enforcement challenges.
