Encouraging Winnipeg taxi drivers to become tipsters could help curb crime: advocate

To make the city safer and prevent crimes, Winnipeg needs to stop relying solely on policing and start mobilizing members of the public to be the city's eyes and ears on the street, says a long-time Point Douglas community advocate.

"We can't hire enough police or foot patrols to be all over the place, all the time," said Sel Burrows.

In December, Burrows released the first part of a three-part report he has written on approaches to downtown safety.

The second part of Burrows's report,releasedon Monday,highlights ways he believes the city can tackle problems with crime and safety quickly by using existing community resourceswithout significant extra costs.

The report emphasizes the importance of "utilizing existing groups downtown and mobilizing them to identify potential crime, potential unfriendly situations" so that authorities can"intervene quickly before [the situations] result in criminal behaviour."

In addition to encouraging people like nightclub owners and landlords to report criminal or potentially criminal behaviour, his report proposessetting up a tip line for taxi drivers to report suspicious behaviour, because they are among those most likely to be exposed to various situations at all times of the day.

"Taxis are driving through the downtown area 24/7, they're there at two o'clock in the morning, three o'clock in the morningthey see what goes on," Burrows said.

The tip line, Burrows says, could include Punjabi-speaking volunteers, allowing more drivers to call in tips in their first language and making it easier for them to communicate what they are seeing.

"We must have systems that are very user-friendly," Burrows said.

The tip line would be similar to one he runs in his own neighbourhood, the PointPowerline a community-based tip line in Point Douglas that began 12 years ago as a way to tackle crime in the area.

Burrows said people often don't feel comfortable contacting police or don't know who to call about things they see in their neighbourhoods.

The line acts as a type of triage point where tipsters can call in their concerns and the information is passed on to the appropriate resource, which could be police, city bylaw enforcement, or community-level groups like the Bear Clan, the Downtown BIZ Patrol or the Main Street Project.

"One of the weaknesses of the police is it's very easy to call 911 and report a crime in progress, [but] it's very difficult to phone and say 'I've got a gang member living two doors from me and I know that he might be committing a crime,'" said Burrows.

Cab drivers 'are everywhere in the city'

Taxi drivers who spoke to CBC said they were in favour of a tip line that would make it faster and easier to report criminal activity they see on the job.

Jaswant Deol has been driving a taxi in Winnipeg for 20 years. He says he's seen all kinds of things on the road over the years.

"People fighting, people drinking," he said.

"Taxi drivers are [working]24 hours, day or night. They are everywhere in the cityNorth End, east, west, everywhere," he said.

Deol said cab drivers often try to call police to report suspicious activity, like "somebody breaking into a car, smashing windows" but getting through can be a hassle.

"In my experience, they don't pick up the phone," he said.

"When they pick up they assign somebody else, then you hold again. Nobody has that kind of time to sit there and wait for them. We are hard-working people," Deol said.

He estimates about 90 per cent of the taxi drivers in Winnipeg are Punjabi-speaking, so a tip line in their first language would make things easier, and he doesn'tthink encouraging drivers to act as tipsters would hurttheir business.

"Everybody wants a safe environment, a safer city to live."

Culture of reporting keeps communities safe

Burrows said encouraging people to report unwanted behaviour helps sends a message to would-be criminals that their actions won't be tolerated, and makes more neighbourhoods places where criminals don't feel comfortable operating.

"[It says] 'hey, yourbehaviour is not welcome. You are welcome, but your behaviour is not,'and that can have a powerful powerful message," said Burrows.

He said he understands not everyone will be on board with the idea of acting as a tipster, but full participation isn't needed.

"We don't need 100 per cent. If we could get 10 per cent of the people that we're talking aboutreporting stuff, that would be 10 per cent more than we have now," he said.

"One of the problems we have with new ideas is that people can always say 'not everybody will co-operate.' We don't need everybody. We just need a significant number."

So far, Burrows has sent his report to provincial and city officials, police, and downtown watch groups. He says he will pitch his plan to the city'sprotection and community servicescommittee on Wednesday.

The third part of his report, focused on responses to poverty and root causes of crime, is expected to be delivered next month.

Taxi tipsters?

5 years ago

Duration 2:32

To make the city safer and prevent crimes, Winnipeg needs to stop relying solely on policing and start mobilizing members of the public to be the city's eyes and ears on the street, says a long-time Point Douglas community advocate.