Shootings spur call for dedicated officer
Returning a community police officer to work solely inWinnipeg's North End could help improve trust andrelationships as well ascalm fears in the wake of recent extreme violence in the area, community leaders say.
Monday, police issued descriptions of suspects for each of the three shootings on three different streets.
Stella Walk: An aboriginal male in his late teens or early 20s who is about six feet tall with a skinny build. He was wearing dark clothing and riding a dark-coloured mountain bike.
Dufferin Avenue: A person of unknown gender who was wearing dark clothing.
Boyd Avenue: An aboriginal man about five feet eight inches tall who was wearing dark clothing. Police said he might have been accompanied by a female.
Investigators ask anyone with information to call police at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 1-204-786-TIPS (8477).
Jimmy Lee, head of the Indian and Mtis Friendship Centre, says politicians and police have already been approached to see if such an idea is possible.
On Monday, police set up a mobile command unit for the area in the wake of three separate shootings two of them fatal within a 35-minute span Saturday night.
The surviving victimwas a 13-year-old girl.
No arrests have been made and police continue to search forthe person or persons whopulled the trigger at each incident. They repeated Monday a request to the public for information leading investigators to make an arrest.
Lee said his agency has asked for a police officer to be based out of the Robinson Street centre or at a Manitoba Housing unit nearby. It could help comfort people and bolster trust between the aboriginal community and the police force, he suggested.
It wasn't too long ago that the police service assigned a dedicated officer to the area.
"They used to have one in there quite a while back a native officer, First Nations officer," Lee said. "And his presence he was always walking around talking to people, talking to the kids," he said.
Lee said he has yet to hear back from officials about the proposal.
"They did say they would look at it and see how practical it would be to get a community police station or office here," he said.
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