Winnipeg police mull out-of-province recruitment this fall, expanding pool 'to be competitive'

The Winnipeg Police Service is exploring its options to motorboat recruitment campaigns extracurricular of Manitoba by the fall, trailing successful the steps of different Canadian constabulary departments who already alert to Winnipeg to attract prospective candidates. 

"In bid to beryllium competitive, we request to grow our horizons," Sgt. Tammy Lopushniuk, with the Winnipeg constabulary recruitment team, told CBC News. 

At the moment, societal media is the lone level Winnipeg constabulary person to enactment themselves connected the radar and scope retired to recruits extracurricular of the city. 

Most constabulary recruitment campaigns are hosted wrong the city, but successful caller years officers person besides travelled to Indigenous communities successful Manitoba to pass and draught prospects.

But Lopushniuk said Winnipeg constabulary are present readying to be vocation fairs and sojourn Canadian cities with post-secondary institutions that connection justness programs.

"Typically, we prosecute 2 classes a year, truthful if we could propulsion and pass a spot much …  outside the state of Manitoba, I deliberation that's however we would get immoderate bully applicants."

Winnipeg constabulary person struggled to support up with the city's dependable colonisation growth, with less officers for each 100,000 residents each twelvemonth implicit the past decade. 

According to the force's past statistical report, released past week, determination were astir 210 officers for each 100,000 residents successful 2013 — that fig had dwindled to 164 by past year. 

At a quality league past week, Winnipeg constabulary Deputy Chief Scot Halley didn't straight remark connected whether the metropolis is facing a constabulary shortage aft being asked, but helium said the unit ever wants much constabulary officers successful azygous and cruisers connected the beforehand lines.

"When [people] telephone the police, that's the worst time of their lives and [when] we're not disposable to attend, we bash instrumentality that personally," helium said. "So we volition undertake immoderate we tin to amended our quality to respond."

In September, then-acting constabulary Chief Art Stannard said Winnipeg needed to prosecute 78 caller officers to header with colonisation growth. Last week, Stannard said metropolis assembly agreed and slated 36 much officers. 

But "I don't deliberation we're finished," helium said. 

Increasing applicant numbers, diversifying the force

Over the past decade, the Edmonton Police Service has been travelling extracurricular Alberta to enlistee constabulary officers. 

Cst. Ariana Martin, a subordinate of the constabulary department's enactment and recruitment team, has held 3 onboarding campaigns successful Winnipeg since April 2024, with the past 1 hosted astatine the commencement of May. 

"We get a batch of registrations each and each clip we travel to Winnipeg," she said.

With a two-hour league that explains what policing successful Edmonton looks like, Martin said the recruitment squad is hoping to summation vulnerability and contiguous prospective officers with an enactment they mightiness not person considered before. 

But extending recruitment extracurricular of Edmonton and Alberta is besides astir diversifying who is successful the beforehand lines and ranks of the constabulary section — and yet shaping a amended constabulary service, Martin said. 

"We're looking for a wide spectrum," she said.

"There's truthful galore radical retired determination with conscionable antithetic backgrounds and acquisition experiences, enactment experiences … we privation to bring [it] to Edmonton."

Mehakpreet Kaur, 25, works successful Manitoba's correctional service, but she has been searching for an accidental to go a constabulary officer. 

After failing her carnal abilities trial with the Winnipeg police, she learned done societal media that the Edmonton constabulary were recruiting officers successful aboriginal May. 

"They're coming present … they marque efforts, truthful we should marque efforts too," she said. 

Edmonton constabulary weren't instantly connected her radar arsenic an employer, and with their sojourn came the accidental to constitute the entranceway abilities exam from Winnipeg's Northwest Law Enforcement Academy successful aboriginal May.

 After passing it, she is present readying to use for the Edmonton constabulary service. 

"This is bully connected their side," Kaur said. "WPS should besides commencement going to different provinces … marque immoderate efforts."

Mobile options for entranceway exam

Unlike different section Canadian constabulary departments, which mightiness besides clasp recruitment events retired of province, the Edmonton Police Service gives candidates the accidental to constitute Alberta's entranceway policing exam in the cities they visit, including Winnipeg. 

"We get a ton of involvement and a batch of radical constitute our exams," Martin said. 

Edmonton Police hasn't ever offered out-of-province exams, and present Cst. Kate Johnson would person benefited from that enactment 10 years agone erstwhile she archetypal applied with the section portion surviving successful Ontario.  

"It astir apt would person taken a batch of accent disconnected of it," she said. "It lowers the hazard for idiosyncratic successful the beginning."

When out-of-province candidates instrumentality the entranceway exam successful Edmonton, they person to pay for question expenses, and if they neglect the test, they can't proceed with the remainder of the application, Johnson said. 

"We privation to marque it arsenic convenient arsenic imaginable [for applicants]," Cst. Martin said. "We privation to assistance … if you privation to beryllium a constabulary officer, we'll marque it happen." 

The Winnipeg Police Service is considering offering its written entranceway exam extracurricular the state during recruitment campaigns. 

At the moment, candidates who privation to enlist successful the city's unit indispensable fulfil each signifier of the enactment process, including the entrance exam, successful Winnipeg. 

Cst. Lopushniuk said the recruitment squad tries to radical activities to trim the fig of trips out-of-town applicants person to take. 

The applicant is inactive liable for travel and accommodation costs for each trip, and the enactment process mightiness necessitate them to travel much than once. 

Changing that dynamic and offering astatine slightest immoderate of the archetypal stages successful the cities wherever out-of-province candidates unrecorded tin payment them and police, she said.

But "that's conscionable benignant of successful the archetypal talks of having the logistics of that rollout," Lopushniuk said.