‘A drain on WPS resources’: Officers spend thousands of on-duty hours at hospitals

Winnipeg police are spending thousands of hours annually at city hospitals, but only a small fraction is spent responding to emergencies.

WPS leadership say the long hours can cause challenges for front-line officers and police resources.

“Our officers are always wanting to get back out onto the streets and handle the calls for service,” said WPS Deputy Chief of Operations Scot Halley.

“Our officers are used to spending times in the hospital. It’s a necessary part of their duties. But our officers are human beings too and nobody likes to wait.”

WPS officers have spent the equivalent of more than 1,900 days in on-duty hours at city hospitals between 2012 and 2021.

Halley says duties range from monitoring an in-custody patient to assisting with sexual assault investigation protocol.

The Manitoba Nurses Union says high tension and frustration from patients and their families is creating unsafe environments for nurses and front-line staff, forcing them to call police for help.

“I know how our frontline members are feeling about it, and anything I can do, our service can do, our partners can do, to work together to help reduce the amount of time our officers are in the waiting rooms, in the ERs … I’d appreciate it, but I know our frontline members would as well,” said Halley.

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Institutional safety officers?

The Government of Manitoba committed to introducing institutional safety officers (ISO) at hospitals in 2019, but since then, no such officers have been trained.

Shared Health has pointed to COVID-19 for the delay.

“We think the ISOs may be a great solution for us in the hospitals, to help reduce the amount of time our officers remain with patients at the hospital. We understand that the program was delayed as a result of the pandemic, but we’re starting to gain traction again, as we’re seeing post-pandemic progress on that initiative,” said Cory Wiles, the president of the Winnipeg Police Association.

‘High demand for police services’

Wiles agreed the time spent at hospitals “is a drain on WPS resources” but their officers will serve where needed.

“We are currently at a time of high demand for police services, in addition to a higher volume of violent calls, so any drain on resources is concerning,” Wiles said. “That said, our members are in ERs because of their job function. The time that they spend in ERs is important and they will continue to carry out their responsibilities there and anywhere else they are called to.”

Halley says the relationship between police and Shared Health is important to keep hospitals safe and functioning properly.

“We need to work together to find solutions,” said Halley. “We can’t work in vacuums. We need to work together collaboratively, to find solutions, to help all of us really cope with the increased demand for services.”