Just how many warrants are in Manitoba police computers gathering dust?
It’s something I continually have asked myself for the last few years until today, when I was given something of an answer.
It’s 20,000, give or take a few.
That was Det. Sgt. John O’Donovan’s reply to my question at the official unveiling of an RCMP-Winnipeg police warrant (read: ‘Fugitive’) squad today.
His official reply was “more or less.”
You can read all about it here. The unit is already claiming some success in catching crafty crooks who evade the law — sometimes for years,
Now, while that number seems quite large, it’s important to remember that a single offender can be the subject of several warrants at a time.
That person’s arrest can lead to the execution of several warrants.
But realistically, the quoted number of 20,000 really means nothing has changed on the outstanding warrants front since late 2006.
From Mike McIntyre (@mikeoncrime) and the Winnipeg Free Press (@winnipegnews), Nov. 6, 2006 (Can’t provide a link, sorry):
Unexecuted warrants gather dust in system
… Winnipeg police have long complained they don’t have the adequate resources to execute the majority of arrest warrants, which end up simply gathering dust in their system.
Police told the Free Press last month there are more than 20,000 outstanding warrants currently in the system for a number of alleged offences, including federal parole violations.
Sgt. Kelly Dennison said many offenders have more than one warrant against them, sometimes as many as 10.
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