Province, police cement partnership to respond more rapidly to domestic violence calls

A pilot project launched two years ago to provide quicker support to victims of domestic violence is being called a success and will now become a permanent partnership between Winnipeg police and Manitoba Justice.

Staff from Manitoba Justice's victim services are stationed at the police headquarters downtown so they can get involved sooner in calls about intimate partner violence.

They are involved in cases where no charges are laid but the people reaching out needed support, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said.

"The goal of the team is to connect families calling for support and to determine the most appropriate outreach … as a means to not only provide support but hopefully prevent future incidents from happening," he said.

Before the pilot project started in 2021, the response to those calls was typically to send out a police unit, and callers might not have been referred to victim services for several days, Goertzen said.

"Those are several days where not only can disturbing things happen, but support is not provided in an immediate way."

As a result of the pilot project and co-ordinated response, support from victims services is generally available within a few hours, Goertzen said.

It's difficult to measure success without the availability of raw data, particularly for programs aimed at proactive intervention, he said.

"You can't measure what you've prevented."

But the anecdotal returns suggest the program is helping a great deal, Goertzen said.

There are about 12,000 non-criminal domestic incidents reported to the Winnipeg Police Service annually, a news release about the program said.

"This partnership has allowed us to build strong relationships to ensure individuals who call police for lower-risk intimate partner incidents receive a compassionate response in a timely manner," police Insp. Eric Luke said.

"Often, people are at a loss. They don't want the relationship to end, they just want the abuse to stop, and our duty as a responsible government and police service is to provide those necessary supports where we can."

As part of the pilot, one of the victim services workers is also connected to the Family Resolution Service in downtown Winnipeg, which employs an out-of-court, multidisciplinary approach to assist, support and provide information to families navigating family law.

The multidisciplinary approach proved effective in providing enhanced services to partners dealing with intimate partner violence, the news release said.

"This project allowed individuals involved in these complex domestic-related situations to get advice, guidance and direction on the services required to support them and their families through these complicated situations," Luke said.

"We screened calls that were queued for dispatch and we attempted to divert the calls out of the queue where people only needed advice and direction."

Officers are still dispatched to addresses where victim safety is a concern or risk.

But those simply seeking advice are given the opportunity to speak with a police officer and victim services workers during the same call and given quick access to supports, rather than being given referrals, Luke said.

That approach gives people what they need, when they need it most, reducing the likelihood of escalation of violence, he said.

Making it permanent ensures those significant benefits to the community remain in place, Luke said.