A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service says officers are feeling the effects of the City's rising crime rate.

Constable Rob Carver says that a rising violent crime rate and Thursday night's officer-involved shooting is weighing on police.

When asked specifically how the shooting has effected officers Carver says, "Unless you are part of it, it is almost impossible to describe."

He says it's affecting the police department as a whole. "The feeling in the building is different. Everyone is concerned. No officer comes to work thinking that they might have to shoot someone."

Carver says that police training includes multiple options to de-escalate a situation so that they don't have to use lethal force. "Every option instantaneously has to be processed," he says.

"The trauma that the officer, or officers, go through really is only understood by other officers who may or may not be in that situation. And it flows to colleagues and it flows to investigators."

Carver says he's run out of ways to describe what's happening in Winnipeg in regards to the rising crime rate. He says morale for members of the WPS is starting to be heavily impacted. "This is not the city I knew five years ago, or 25 years ago," he says. "I think everyone is trying to process what's happened and where we're going. The trend line is that it's getting worse, not better."

Carver also says that while he knows some members of the public believe the police abuse their powers or could handle situations differently, officers come to work to help and protect the public. "We know people don't like us, it's just part of what we do." And, he says, for the most part, the public is appreciative of the WPS and their work.