Public Safety committee  Yes. There is regular training that is done with the general patrol members in particular, as well as our guns and gangs unit. The unfortunate thing is that the training is fairly limited. It might be on a professional development day that our general patrol shifts would attend on a regular basis, but COVID has prevented us from doing those large gatherings.

Public Safety committee  My colleague advises me that it's mainly by land. As mentioned before, 8,800 kilometres of—

Public Safety committee  I don't have the answer to that specifically, but I could probably turn it over to my colleague, Detective Neyron.

Public Safety committee  Yes, sir. Absolutely there's a need to expand that unit, the number of individuals who are involved in the particular gang unit. We have school resources that deal in a very limited aspect with the gang members. Any gang members who approach our school resources would be referred to our gang intervention individual.

Public Safety committee  Again, I'm unaware of that statistic, but I could turn the microphone over to my colleague, Detective Phil Neyron, who would have a better idea if that is something that is occurring here in Winnipeg.

Public Safety committee  Sir, unfortunately I don't have any statistics on that. I do know that we have a diversion program that was headed by the guns and gangs unit. That gang intervention individual was also tasked with the diversion. That also included consultation with the provincial agency. Unfortunately, I don't have any statistics on the success of that program at this point.

Public Safety committee  I would completely agree with that. We do not have the resources. You're right. Our complement in the last six years has decreased by over 100 police officers, and we have become a completely reactive service. There is no patrolling of back lanes anymore to curb gang or gun violence.

Public Safety committee  Yes, sir. I don't have specific statistical information in relation to that. Unfortunately, I think a lot more work could be done in addressing the young age of gang members. Like I said, we have one dedicated person who is working with youth to try to get them out of the gang life.

Public Safety committee  Yes, absolutely. What I have found, in my experience, is that when offenders are kept off the streets, that's when we see crime rates starting to diminish. I did mention that we're experiencing the lowest rate of incarceration in nearly 20 years, but we also see issues with the bail system here in Manitoba.

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the rest of the committee for the invite to speak at this committee level. My name is Maurice Sabourin. I am the president of the Winnipeg Police Association. I have been so for the past eight years. I have been a proud police officer with the Winnipeg Police Service for the last 32 years, with experience in our property crimes division as a detective, our major crimes unit, stolen auto unit and our homicide unit.