Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 16, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba LEASING FOR NEW AND USED VEHICLES 1400 LAKEVIEW RD, MOOSE JAW, SK MOOSE JAW AUTO & LEISURE A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM C OMMUNITY activist Mitch Bour- bonniere wasn’t surprised when Winnipeg’s police chief revealed a recent string of attacks carried out by machete-wielding kids. The social worker, who has confis- cated “many” machetes from children, said the incidents reflect what he is en- countering on the streets. “I’m seeing lots of machetes out there,” he told the Free Press Friday. “For a while, it was bear spray. Now, it’s machetes.” The attacks renewed discussions about how to keep children out of crime and how to keep machetes and weapons out of the wrong hands. “Whatever anyone wants to try, please try it,” said Bourbonniere, not- ing at-risk kids need more supervision, support and guidance from responsible adults. Retail sales of machetes — which have legitimate and legal uses, such as brush-clearing — are permitted in Manitoba. Some stores take steps to prevent sales to minors. The blades can be ordered online from major and smaller retailers. Police and activists said kids acquire machetes through a variety of means. Bourbonniere said a black market in- cludes examples of adults selling ma- chetes to “disillusioned” children. “It’s a form of exploitation,” he said. There are also examples of children taking a legitimately-owned machete from their home or stealing one during a break-in. Bourbonniere said some kids follow the lead of others when they arm them- selves. “It’s almost like an arms race, where, ‘I need it for protection,’ or ‘I need it for power’ — ‘if everybody’s getting them, now I need to get one,’” he said. On Thursday, Winnipeg Police Ser- vice Chief Danny Smyth said it’s “pretty easy” to acquire a machete, while discussing the attacks allegedly carried out by kids in foster care in the child-welfare system. “You can get anything off the inter- net, just about,” he said. “They’re not necessarily buying it from a store. They could, probably, but it’s not that hard to get knives and machetes.” One of the incidents involved a ma- chete attack on a woman waiting at a bus stop near St. Mary’s Road and Riel Avenue. “The violence that we’re seeing is re- markable. They’re wielding machetes and using them almost what appears to be indiscriminately,” said Smyth. Last year, the Progressive Conserva- tive government brought in regulatory changes to make it more difficult to obtain bear spray, following a spike in attacks involving the repellent. Retailers have to obtain a customer’s photo ID, validate the buyer’s informa- tion and register serial numbers when more than two cans are sold. Bourbonniere said it’s possible some kids have opted to carry a machete be- cause it’s harder to find a can of bear spray now. The notion of governments placing restrictions on machete sales has been suggested before. “They should move immediately to put pressure on stores to restrict the sales of machetes,” said activist Sel Burrows. “Everything we can do to make it more difficult for kids to get a weapon, including machetes, should be done immediately.” Burrows previously called for ma- chetes to be classified as a prohibited weapon in Canada. Some retailers have set up hurdles for in-store or online sales. At Bianca Amor’s Liquidation Super- centre on St. James Street, machetes priced from $19 were hanging on a wall behind a staffed counter Friday. Signs indicated customers must be 18 or older to buy a machete or sword, and employees could ask for photo identifi- cation before approving a purchase. Some stores keep machetes or cer- tain types of non-kitchen knives locked in a display cabinet. “Things need to be locked up and controlled,” said an employee of a chain store that sells knives and machetes. The man, who asked not to be named, works in a store that verifies buyers’ identities and logs information. Some websites reviewed by the Free Press do not appear to request proof of age or restrict home shipping for online machete purchases. An Amazon spokesperson said auto- mated checks are in place to prevent “unsafe” products from being listed, and Amazon’s conditions of use state minors cannot use an account without a parent or guardian. Machetes listed on Canadian Tire’s website are not eligible for shipping. Christopher Gamby, an attorney and spokesman for the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba, said a machete is “not on its own a weapon,” but becomes one when it meets the Criminal Code’s definition. The Code defines a weapon as “any thing used, designed to be used or in- tended for use” to cause death or injury to a person or for the purpose of threat- ening or intimidating someone. Last year, 1,637 violent crimes re- ported to Winnipeg police were com- mitted with a knife — a 22 per cent in- crease over 2022 and 28 per cent higher than the five-year average, a spokes- woman said. chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca NEWS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2024 VOL 153 NO 107 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2024 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 Interim CEO / DARREN MURPHY Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil.ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. 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This week, Smyth was asked to respond to calls from the Police Ac- countability Coalition — an umbrella group of social service agencies and advocates — to create civilian-led teams to respond to mental-health and addictions crises. At first blush, you might think that Smyth and PAC would be on the same page. Smyth has frequently com- plained — and with good reason — that police spend too much time responding on wellness checks and other calls involving mental-health and addictions issues. But rather than finding common ground, Smyth is clinging to the idea that police must lead crisis interven- tions. He also suggested there was already an acceptable level of civilian involvement and only mental-health clinicians are better trained in crisis intervention than police officers. “This notion that (civilian involve- ment) doesn’t occur in our community is misleading by the way it’s being reported, because there are lots of groups that are attempting to deal with people before they get into crisis,” he told reporters. “It’s not something that we’re lacking. Could we use more of it? Probably.” Why would Smyth not join the call for more investment in civilian-led responses? And why would Smyth suggest that Winnipeg is “not lacking” in non-police interventions? Smyth seems unaware the “groups” he referenced are the ones who want fewer police interventions. Underlying the debate between Smyth and PAC is the structure of the Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis program, which was launched as a pilot in 2021. ARCC teams include a police officer in plain clothes and a mental-health clinician to do well- ness checks, perform assessments and de-escalate non-criminal crisis situations. In 2022, ARCC was involved in 882 police calls involving 530 different people. By some measures, the pro- gram was a success: ARCC resulted in fewer involuntary admissions for treatment, fewer transports to hos- pitals and fewer dispatched calls for service. In total, its teams were able to resolve crises without involvement by other police resources and 91 per cent of clients were able to remain in the community. Largely based on those results, the province agreed to expand funding to ARCC to allow it to operate seven days a week, although the program is still not available 24 hours a day. The Police Accountability Coali- tion, however, believes police — who determine when ARCC teams can be deployed — are still putting too many limitations on their use; the teams are not dispatched to emergent or criminal incidents. Advocates cite two high-profile in- cidents where ARCC was not involved and where tragedy was the result. On New Year’s Eve, Afolabi Stephen Opaso, a 19-year-old international student suffering from an acute men- tal-health crisis, was shot and killed by police. ARCC was not staffed at the time of the incident. In February, a 59-year-old man liv- ing in a home on Magnus Avenue was shot and killed after resisting police attempts to take him for an involun- tary mental-health examination. Police pre-determined that ARCC involve- ment was not appropriate in the case. PAC has consistently pointed to a program in Canada’s biggest city as a better option. Toronto’s Community Crisis Service also involves a team approach, but unlike Winnipeg’s ARCC, there are no plainclothes police involved. During a one-year pilot project from March 2022 to March 2023, the CCS responded to nearly 7,000 calls made to 911, 4,800 of which were resolved without police involvement. The CCS teams were able to per- form 3,000 post-crisis followups and connected 1,160 people to case-man- agement support services. The problem with the Toronto comparison is that both programs face the same limitations. Police decide when they are deployed and they’re not involved in emergent calls. This means the real issue here is not how to limit the use of police, but rather how to expand the use of men- tal-health professionals. The two most recent police shootings in Winnipeg certainly raise questions about why ARCC could not have been used in some capacity to prevent their tragic conclusions. Police have suggested that because Opaso was agitated and armed with a knife, the situation was beyond ARCC’s scope, but have not explained why a mental-health clinician could not have been part of a de-escalation effort. Similar concerns surround the Magnus Avenue shooting, where the victim discharged a fire extinguisher at police. If that individual required apprehen- sion for an involuntary examination, it seems to make sense that men- tal-health clinicians should have been involved in the initial contact. It’s entirely possible that early efforts of clinicians may not have been successful in defusing either situation. But it’s also reasonable to wonder what might have been, had a different per- spective governed both crises. It’s time to for Smyth and others at the WPS to wake up and smell the future of crisis intervention. Police will always be involved in the most serious cases. But that does not mean they have to lead the response. dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com DAN LETT OPINION Machetes are kids’ weapon of choice in city CHRIS KITCHING MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Knives, axes and machetes at Bianca Amor’s on St. James Street Friday. ;