DowntownBiz Patrol

Much to do over the continued existence of the DowntownBiz Patrol.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/joseph_quesnel/2011/03/11/17582916.html
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2011/03/11/17589341.html

Here is what the Police Association have to say: http://blogs.canoe.ca/raisinghell/general/police-union-blasts-downtown-biz/

And now the DowntownBiz response: http://blogs.canoe.ca/raisinghell/general/downtown-biz-fights-back/

All links courtesy of the Winnipeg Sun.

Seems the DowntownBiz has received funding for four years now to provide a group to patrol the downtown area. I resume its' genesis was due to the limited police presence downtown and the resultant proliferation of drunks, pan-handlers and gangs'.

I spend precious little time downtown so I've no idea how effective these peeps are.

Now the police association is suggesting police cadets can do a better job. Maybe. Maybe not. Will the cadets hired as a result of the money once spent on biz-patrol be devoted 100% to downtown Winnipeg? Will downtown get abandoned the minute the police feel their cadets are needed elsewhere? I say yeah. In a heartbeat.

Apples and oranges. Let’s find a way to keep downtown Winnipeg in focus 100% of the time.

Imo, we need real cops on foot patrols and not cadets or private security.

I say " bring back those buffalo coats" and have beat cops once again.

So, where does the Downtown Biz, or any BIZ for that matter, get their funding from? Oh yeah, its an additional levy on the businesses in the area, collected by the City. But that only makes sense, since BIZ's are created by the City, so now they want to go back to the City and get more funding beyond what they already get.

Keep in mind that these people are nothing more than private security guards.

Exactly. Private security serving an area the business people felt was not properly served by the police? If they can do the job, cheaper than the police, where's the down side?

", cheaper than the police,"
thats where it gets "funny"

According to police the Biz patrol people make 1/3 more then a cadet.. so they say the 100K should just go to cadets... the police are conveniently glossing over teh fact that the 100K is only a chunk of the money put into the program, the rest coming from the BIZ taxes.

I live and work downtown and like the BizPatrol because they have fairly high visibility, and I have seen them often assisting people in need etc. I always had the impression they were volunteers. I have seen very few cadets, but found them more intimidating and less approachable, also less motivated for some reason. It would take some time to change the perception of cadets and have tem accepted downtown.

one other item of note

The biz people know all the regulars. That is quite significant.

The downtown patrols kept GOM and myself out of the area. Not nice to "senior" and almost "senior" citizems! lol

Deank wrote:one other item of note

The biz people know all the regulars. That is quite significant.

If we had real cops doing real police work, the beat cops would also know all the regulars.

grumpy old man wrote:Exactly. Private security serving an area the business people felt was not properly served by the police? If they can do the job, cheaper than the police, where's the down side?

The issue is why should they get more money from the City beyond what they already get through the BIZ levy. Can all of us go to the City and get funding for private security?

Why not allow the Guardian Angels into town? They're free.

Freeman wrote:

grumpy old man wrote:Exactly. Private security serving an area the business people felt was not properly served by the police? If they can do the job, cheaper than the police, where's the down side?

The issue is why should they get more money from the City beyond what they already get through the BIZ levy. Can all of us go to the City and get funding for private security?

In my view the issue was the police were not covering the downtown adequately. I assume that was the genesis of the patrol. So for a fraction of the cost of having 10 full time cops patrol the area a solution was found.

It seems like a small price to pay.

JTF wrote:

Deank wrote:one other item of note

The biz people know all the regulars. That is quite significant.

If we had real cops doing real police work, the beat cops would also know all the regulars.

No doubt about it. The way police work used to be!

Hell we can't even get the police to respond in a timely manner to a freaking home invasion. Why should we expect them to handle a few measly drunks and panhandlers?

It was mentioned earlier the cadets seem intimidating. Who here does not believe these cadets have "cop attitude"? Right. A less intimidating, less costly and successful solution exists.

It isn't a solution at all. That is the point.

Has the downtown become safer with these wannabees? I don't think so.

All this is about letting the police off. They are the ones that should be enforcing the laws, and not some wanna be kid.

Why is this not a solution? What are they doing wrong? How can the downtown not be safer?

Why the denigrating "wanna be" comment?

The patrol helps get the drunks off the streets. They move the panhandlers along. They provide a safe walk service. They have first aid training. This is win-win.

I am truly perplexed by the angst shown towards this group. Maybe there is something missing from the story?

GOM. The police have been in a deteriorating mode for many years....since Lunney left, I believe. These 'wannabee cops', or whatever you wish to call them, are but a distraction from the real issues here...which, imo, is deployment of personel. Cops fail miserably at that. The other issue is where to allow a slum area in Winnipeg.

We 'cleaned up' Main Street...the mess went to Portage Avenue....and we've been cleaning up Portage Avenue for many years now...so where do we push these people now?

How successful has the Biz patrol being?

I guess there are many issues then.

The downtownbiz patrol was not established to cure the social ills besetting downtown Winnipeg. But absent the people that should be doing the job, the police, they perform a valuable service. I would not call the patrol or their service a distraction though. Nor would I insult them by calling them wannabes. Not sure why anyone needs to insult this organization nor its' members.

I do agree on the slum issue. We have succeeded in spreading that problem from Main Street to Portage Avenue. We could not have made that problem more prominent.

I don't have the answer to where they need to go. Does anyone? But we keep building and improving upon the downtown facilities that serve the people caught up in this mess. It is now more a magnet than ever before.

Freeman wrote:How successful has the Biz patrol being?

The Downtown Biz presents their case here: http://blogs.canoe.ca/raisinghell/general/downtown-biz-fights-back/