Winnipeggers out shopping for holiday gifts will notice more police officers at stores and shopping centres across the city, police say.
“We do not want the Grinch to steal our holiday shopping season,” Winnipeg police Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said at a news conference at Polo Park mall on Wednesday.
The police force is putting more officers in holiday hot spots like malls and other retail hubs on busy days, which are Thursday to Sunday, she said.
Officers will also be present around mom and pop shops at other times of the week.
The increased police presence is part of the ongoing retail theft initiative that puts officers in crime hot spots around stores. It started in November 2023 and expanded in June 2024 with extra funding from the provincial government.
Retail theft has had a “significant” impact on Winnipeggers and local businesses, McKinnon said.
Officers will be visible during the holiday season, she said, with both uniformed officers and plainclothes officers donning Winnipeg police jackets and badges.
Visible officers make people feel safer when retail hubs are busy, she said
“We want you to come out, we want you to enjoy shopping. You need to get those gifts under your trees and we want our officers to be out. We want them to be present. We want you to see them and we want you to feel safe,” she said.
The initiative has continued to adapt. Last Christmas, it used covert officers, and then during spring break, they tried being more visible and found it was more successful, McKinnon said.
Officers from the major crimes division, community relations and community support units all participate in the retail theft initiative.
The Winnipeg police community relations team will continue talking with retailers and the business community about safety, prevention and reporting, McKinnon said.
Peter Havens, general manager of Polo Park mall, said increased police presence helps create a safe and enjoyable environment where people can focus on the joy of the season.
Havens said the Christmas season is a busy time for both shoppers and criminals, but he believes the added police presence will act as a deterrent.
“The opportunities for theft increase because, you know, staff are busy, but it hasn’t felt any worse than any one year before. But it does increase at this time of year,” he said.
Michelle Cameron, owner of Indigenous Nations Apparel Company, a store at Polo Park, said there is a lot of theft in the community and at the mall. She said mall management have added security measures, but theft is still on the rise.
Cameron has taken things into her own hands. Over the past few years, Cameron added security cameras and hired extra staff.
An anti-theft initiative started on a temporary basis in Winnipeg last month is being extended through the summer with a total of $1.16 million in funding from the provincial government.
“We’ve seen theft previously, but we don’t as much anymore just because we put some measures in place internally so that we can monitor a little bit more.”
Jony Pimentel shops at Polo Park and also has worked there for a few months. The store she works at was robbed while Pimentel was working, so she’s happy to see more police and said she feels safer.
She’s still worried about her safety, especially during the holiday season.
“There’s a lot to see, more people want to see, more foot traffic and a lot of people coming in from different places of the city. We don’t know what would happen,” she said.
