Permanent protection for police HQ remains 2 years away

Winnipeg's new police headquarters may be stuck with temporary protection against drive-up vehicle attacks for another two years, according to a plan to replace concrete slabs with a more permanent and more esthetically pleasing alternative.

A city plan to improve downtown streetscaping calls for permanentbollardsto replace temporary Jersey barriers upright concrete slabs around the police headquarters by 2019.

That will befour years after the city disclosed the police headquarters has no protection against drive-up vehicle attacks and requires the installation of bollards upright barriers made of concrete and steel at a cost of up to $1.9 million.

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In 2015, the city installed Jersey barriers around the police headquarters as a temporary measure until money for bollards could be secured.

Consulting firm search

Earlier this year,Supt. Scot Halley saidthe police service hopes to work with the city's public works department as well as planning, property and developmentto see whether the security measures could be combined with other downtown projects.

A city search for a consulting firm capable of designing downtown streetscaping improvements and bike corridors suggests the city plans on doing just that, by incorporating bollards into a protected bike lane on Garry Street and new pavement around the headquarters.

"The headquarters was not designed or built to withstand large-scale attacks," reads a request for proposals from consulting firms.

"The increased level of global terrorism against government institutions, including emergency services, dictate basic and affordable security measures be considered to ensure essential services are maintained."

The proposal says those bollards must be able to withstand the impact of a 6,800-kilogram truck travelling 80 kilometres an hour. It also calls for the protection of the 911 emergency call centre.

"The headquarters must include appropriate measures to ensure unauthorized access to the building or disruption of emergency services be minimized or eliminated. The exterior glass does not offer the necessary resistance to safeguard the building from vehicles," the proposal reads.

Not in 2017 budget

The 2017 budget makes no explicit mention of funding for the bollards.

The police headquarters opened in June, seven years after council approved a $135-million purchase and renovation project. It wound up costing $214 million, including the as yet unbudgeted bollards.

The project has been the subject of two external audits as well as an RCMP investigation into fraud and forgery allegations pertaining to its construction. That investigation is now two years old.