Winnipeg's police department 2nd-most 'inefficient' in country

Winnipeg has one of the most inefficient police departments in the country, according to a report released on Monday by the Fraser Institute.

Police and Crime Rates in Canada by Livio Di Matteo, a Fraser Institute senior fellow and economics professor atLakehead University,found that Winnipeg has 189 police officers per 100,000 people more than almost all other Canadian cities.

The study says between 2001 and 2012, Winnipeg topped the country with a 43 per cent decline in the crime rate.

However,the number of police officers grew eight per cent during the same period.

The study said Winnipeg should have at least 40 fewer officers per 100,000 people.

'Boils down to politics,' says expert

The report's findings don't surprise Ottawa-based criminologist Michael Kempa, who says ballooning policing costs across the country generally have little to do with crime.

Kempa said what surprises him about the Fraser Institute report is that police costs vary greatly from city to city.

"What they find is there's no real rhyme nor reason to it, which means that it boils down to politics in the end," he told CBC News.

"It's a politically toxic thing for people to try to pick up because it turns into a bun fight with people trying to score partisan points against each other for being harder and harder and harder on crime," he added.

"What we're saying is you've got to have a rational discussion about where you put the money."

Kempa said police forces should focus on investigative work and crowd control, and leave community crime prevention to other groups.

Read the report

Read the full reportPolice and Crime Rates in Canada byLivioDiMatteobelow.

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