The City of Winnipeg is searching for a new police chief at a time of heightened concern among Winnipeggers about crime rates, theft and public safety as well as lingering tension over how police treat Black, Indigenous and other Racialized residents.
This fall, after a national search, the City is expected to name a replacement for Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth, who is retiring. The search for a new chief has sparked some discussion about what Winnipeggers want the next chief to work on.
A new Probe Research survey for CBC Manitoba finds that in addition to preventing and investigating major crimes, Winnipeggers want their city's next police chief to prioritize downtown safety and combat petty offences.
More than one-quarter of Winnipeggers say improving downtown safety should be the top task of the new police chief. Similarly, about seven in ten Winnipeggers rank downtown safety in their top three major priorities for the new chief. There are almost no differences among demographic subgroups, meaning Winnipeggers across the board say downtown safety should top the next chief’s to-do list.
Almost as important for Winnipeggers, though, is the need to combat property and petty crime. Roughly 60 per cent say this a Top-3 priority for Chief Smyth's successor. Racialized Winnipeggers and older Winnipeggers tend to place a higher priority on this than other Winnipeggers.
Beyond those two key priorities, a modest number of Winnipeggers say the new chief should work to improve relations with BIPOC residents as well as strengthen relationships with community and social service groups. About one in five rank these two tasks as the top priority for the next chief, with younger adults are more likely to prioritize these.
Lower on the list is improving police culture and morale. Only 11 per cent of Winnipeggers rank this as a top priority.
The results of our survey suggest that Winnipeggers most want the next police chief to get serious about improving downtown safety and reducing the kind of petty and property crime that continues to frustrate residents and make headlines.
Methodology
Probe Research surveyed 480 adults residing in Winnipeg from August 1st to 9th, 2024.
Those who responded to the online survey are members of Probe Research’s proprietary panel, as well as members of another national online panel.
Because an online panel is a non-probability sample, no margin of error can be ascribed. For the purposes of comparison, a probabilistic sample of N=480 Winnipeg adults would have a margin of error of ± 4.47 percentage points, 19 times out 20. The margin of error will be higher within each of the survey’s population sub-groups.
Minor statistical weighting has been applied to this sample to ensure that age, gender and regional characteristics properly reflect known attributes of Manitoba’s population. As well, the data has been weighted to reflect voting patterns in the last provincial election. All data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical analysis software.
Disclosure Statement
Probe Research is a member of the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and confirms that this research fully complies with all CRIC Standards including the CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements. Learn more at: https://www.canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca/standards/por/
