Results of internal investigations into officers should be made public, Winnipeg police board chair says

The chair of the Winnipeg Police Board says he'd like the city's police service to disclose more information about internal investigations into officers following a rise in allegations about criminal activity and regulatory violations.

In a report published on Monday, Chief Danny Smyth said the Winnipeg Police Service's professional standards unit received 43 complaints about police in 2022, up from 33 the previous year.

For context, the average number of annual complaints against police from 2017 to 2022 was 37.5, according to numbers in the report.

The allegations involved abuse of authority, neglect of duty, theft and uttering threats. In 2022, 24 of the complaints were made by members of the public, while the other 19 came from internal police sources.

But the report does not disclose how many of those investigations into alleged criminal activity or regulatory violations resulted in disciplinary action.

St. Norbert-Seine River Coun. Markus Chambers, who chairs the Winnipeg Police Board, said he would prefer to see police disclose those outcomes.

"Jurisdictions such as Ottawa and Toronto actually report out the disciplinary action that was taken. This increases accountability and transparency and makes sure that people know that at least something was done," Chambers said Monday in an interview.

"What we do here in Winnipeg, if there is discipline that's meted out, the public doesn't have the right to know about it."

Chambers said the police service's collective bargaining agreement precludes this form of disclosure and called the city's police union an obstacle to this form of transparency.

Cory Wiles, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

In the report, Smyth said formal investigations by the professional standards unit take an average of four to six months to conclude and involve "an exhaustive investigation of allegations."

These investigations are separate from those made by the independent Law Enforcement Review Agency, which solely handles external complaints.

Smyth does note in his report the dispositions of three investigations into alleged bias on the part of police officers in 2022. One investigation was abandoned due to a lack of evidence, while the other two found no wrongdoing, Smyth said.

Use of force up: report

A separate report into use of force by police, also published Monday, says Winnipeg officers shot six people and killed three of them in 2022, up from no police shootings in 2021. 

For context, police shot an annual average of 3.67 people from 2017 to 2022 and killed an annual average of 1.8 people in police shootings during this six-year timeframe, according to numbers in the report.

In the same report, Smyth noted a slight rise in the percentage of encounters between police and citizens who engage in violent resistance.

"The increase has largely been attributed to encounters with individuals using methamphetamine," Smyth 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."

The chief also noted police used stun guns 265 times in 2022, up from 231 the year before.

For context, police used stun guns an annual average of 237 times from 2017 to 2022, according to numbers in the report.

In a third report to the police board, the police service reported a drop in the number of pursuits by police vehicles. The service reported 79 car chases in 2022, down from 91 in 2021 and 122 in 2020.

Chambers said he intends to ask the police service whether the drop is due to policy changes, the use of the police helicopter or some other factor.

All three of these reports wind up before the police board on Friday.