The hiring process for the next Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) chief has hit a huge but secretive roadblock. In early December, media reported that deputy chief Gene Bowers had received the police board’s recommendation to become the next police chief.
But only a few days later, Bowers’ candidacy was mysteriously thrown into question when “a number of allegations surrounding the veteran officer were emailed to the members of the police board.” Subsequent media reports of the process removed any mention of Bowers from reporting on the hiring process, while police board chair Markus Chambers flip-flopped and dodged providing straight-forward answers on whether a chief would be in place by the end of 2024.
Last week, a Winnipeg Sun writer with obvious sympathies for the police union wrote that “the rumours of a controversial personal-related matter involving at least one subordinate seems to have escaped the hiring committee despite months of interviews and deliberations.” It seems unlikely at that this point that Bowers will be the next police chief, although much remains unknown.
However, the fact that Bowers was even considered for such a position remains extremely telling given that he has been the one of the top proponents of anti-sex work policing in Winnipeg. This article examines some of Bowers’ activities in this area and includes comments from Emma Jones, a full-time sex worker in Winnipeg and member of Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition (SWWAC).
“Bowers’ views on sex work are not unique, which is exactly the problem,” Jones told us.
Timeline of Bowers' "contributions" to anti-sex work policing
Bowers joined the WPS in 1989 and graduated from his recruit class the following year. His public-facing involvement in anti-sex work policing started in the early 2000s and lasted until 2015, when he was promoted to the rank of inspector and assigned to the records and reports management division; in 2013, he received an award from the Salvation Army (who are involved in running highly lucrative “John schools” such as the Prostitution Offender Program in Manitoba) for “his work with sexually exploited persons.” During this decade-long stretch, Bowers worked in the specialized investigations division and oversaw the creation of the “counter-exploitation unit” that focused specifically on sex work. Here is a timeline of Bowers' major “contributions” to the WPS' legacy of reactionary anti-sex work policing.
2006: Bowers—then a member of the “Morals Unit”—collaborated with the Salvation Army on a public awareness campaign called a “A Sex Trade Reality Check,” which was described as working to show that “everyone who is involved is harmed.” Sex workers and clients were given a copy of a booklet to read when they were arrested, with arrest numbers totalling 30 clients and 100 sex workers in just a few months.
Along with distributing a booklet to schools, ads were also placed in buses that mostly ran in the suburbs, which Bowers said is “where the majority of sex trade customers live.” About the campaign, Jones says “the insinuations in it are so gross” and that “it’s clear he views sex work as a blight to neighborhoods and communities in Winnipeg.”
2008: Bowers spoke extensively in media about an alleged human trafficking case. One article reported that “Bowers said though some victims are sent out onto the street, many are forced to work in massage parlors, strip clubs or private brothels, and advertisements for girls can be found all over the Internet.” The usage of language like “sent out'” and “forced” is telling; police conflate all sex work with trafficking, and frame is as universally coercive and exploitative. In turn, following the standard sex-work abolitionist framing, he described police efforts as “rescue,” stating that “with more awareness, more people can be rescued.” However, Bowers did admit that the WPS had not encountered any cases of international trafficking in Manitoba, but that “with education, it's just a matter of time until we find one.”
Jones explains: “The conflation between sex work and exploitation is a problem we will continue to face under Bowers, or any police chief for that matter. Regrettably, this is also mirrored by Canada’s implementation of PCEPA (Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act). Most people hear about the “Nordic Model”, which is what it is based on. It is built on the incorrect idea that all sex work is exploitative, and any third parties (receptionists, drivers, managers) as well as all clients are exploitative. By coming at sex work with asymmetrical criminalization, it leads many to believe that sex workers are not criminalized. It’s worth noting that many sex workers as well as groups such as Canadian Public Health Association and Amnesty International disagree with the Nordic Model and would prefer full decriminalization. The effects of removing sex worker agency and telling us we are victims, unable to see the ways we are exploited by clients is so harmful and creates dangers shared by both outdoor and indoor sex workers.”
2009: Bowers contended that “John schools” can “make a difference,” and argued that “the johns exploiting them sometimes don't understand that they are the problem. They think they are helping them.”
Jones says: “The John stings are also completely useless. The arrested client from police set ups is nearly always offered a deferment option instead of facing charges. Obviously I don’t think they should be facing any charges. The outcome is generally that they will attend John School. No wonder Bowers was recognized by Salvation Army for his work; every “exploiter” arrested brings Salvation Army $800, the cost the client pays for the deferment program. Again, all this results in are clients reluctant to use their names, cell phone numbers, or follow through with screening. It feels like the police would rather have a catchy headline every six months than allow sex workers the limited autonomy we have to conduct safe business.”
2011: Bowers authored an “expert” report on Winnipeg’s sex work industry that was filed in a high-profile sentencing hearing, with media reporting that he had “spent the past decade investigating crimes linked to the sex trade, including five other brothels previously shut down by police.” In the report, he demonized brothels, massage parlours, and escort agencies, claiming they use “various forms of psychological manipulation in order to persuade, compel or entice persons into prostitution.” He insisted that the sex workers (who he referred to as “inmates”) are supposedly “unable to recognize they are being sexually exploited” because of the alleged usage of so-called “grooming techniques.”
Bowers wrote: “The fact they all liked (the accused) and felt they were in a business relationship is not surprising. It's a common tactic to befriend the person and have them enter into what they believe is a fair business relationship. The relationship is actually exploitative, but appears to be reciprocal on the surface.” Further, after spending “several weeks analyzing the business records connected to the woman's brothel,” Bowers concluded that “the commodity that this business is selling is sex, and this commodity can be sold over and over again.” He also claimed that the “profit margin is very high for a business like this,” with the owner supposedly taking a $60 cut from every $180/hour session. As is often the case with anti-sex work types, Bowers invokes borderline Marxist concerns to describe these dynamics, but only for sex work.
In response to initial news coverage of the trial, a sex worker who was arrested during the raid and refused to testify against the owner was interviewed. Journalist Melissa Martin wrote: “She's not angry about the arrest. It was a known risk, she shrugs. And she doesn't regret sex work. But she does resent the spin. She resents the cops and lawyers and headlines that, she says, shaped the story into something dark and predatory.”
2013: Undeterred by such criticism, Bowers authored another report titled “Winnipeg’s Visible Sex Trade,” this time seemingly for internal WPS usage. The report also featured a wide array of reactionary claims by Bowers. Continuing the apparent concern with only one type of labour, he claimed that “very few people enter the sex trade willingly, most enter to just survive,” as if doing a job just to survive is a circumstance exclusive to sex work, and not a common reality in all types of work. Bowers reported that between 2000 and 2012, 1,400 sex workers and 785 clients (who he called “exploiters”) had been arrested under Section 213 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes “communicating to provide sexual services for consideration” in public places.
He then made a case for specifically targeting sex work clients, arguing: “It is exploiters (John’s) money that fuels the gang/drug/sex trade and violence. It is for these reasons that greater attention is required in the identification and apprehension of the exploiters.” Specifically, he suggested: “The Police service should ensure that the Exploiters traveling to these communities for the purposes of exploitation are identified and arrested whenever possible. The message to the Exploiters needs to be loud and clear that it [sic] they attend to these communities for the purposes of exploitation they are going to be identified for who they are and subject to arrest.”
One of his main recommendations in this report was to create a dedicated “anti-exploitation team,” which would “be responsible for proactive initiatives where they will have daily interaction at the street level with sex trade workers.” Further, he recommended changing the name of the broader vice unit to the “counter-exploitation unit,” as “the vice unit name has moral and judgmental connotations attached to its history.”
This revamped unit was formally created later that year, assigning two cops to “try to foster relationships with sex trade workers and try to get them on a better path.” During four months of that year, the WPS arrested 53 clients for “communicating for the purpose of prostitution,” including the seizure of 34 cars, which was “more than are typically arrested in an entire year by the force.” Further, another 140 “potential johns” were identified and interviewed.
Police 'are actively putting us in danger'
Jones says that such targeted crackdowns on clients actively make conditions more dangerous for sex workers: “Criminalizing clients and using terms like ‘exploiter’ forces both parties to use coded language to avoid police detection, resulting in miscommunications: ranging from moderate to severe. Outdoor sex workers have no time to discuss services, safer sex measures, or vet the safety of the client, because the client is rushing the interaction due to fear of law enforcement.”
She continues: “Stings set up by WPS also have negative consequences for workers. The fallout after stings, especially in smaller cities like Brandon, are especially hard for local workers. This is the exact result that the police are intending, but having a sudden drop in business means, like everyone else that relies on their labour for a paycheck, the options are limited. This can result in pressure for workers to see clients they may not have in the past, or reduce screening requirements. By using coercive techniques like this to make us uncomfortable, they are actively putting us in danger.”
Even without arrests, police still terrorize sex workers in countless ways: “I have heard story after story from workers in the city ranging from street-level harassment from the police, shouts as they drive by, or tailing them on the street as they try and work, ruining any chance they get a client. Having their earnings confiscated during busts, being asked humiliating and inappropriate questions during wellness checks, to absolutely zero public notice when there are active violent predators targeting sex workers.”
Jones concludes: “Whether or not Bowers becomes police chief when his mystery scandal dies down, or they select some other easily digestible pawn for the role, not a single thing will become better for sex workers in Winnipeg. We keep us safe.”