Officials representing downtown businesses are applauding the appearance of more police foot patrols along Portage Avenue in the city's centre.

It's now common to see two to eight foot-patrol officers walking Portage Avenue between the University of Winnipeg and Main Street during peak business hours, said Stefano Grande, head of the Downtown Business Improvement Zone (BIZ).

The officers are "engaging the public, engaging those that are loitering, those that are in contravention of the panhandling bylaw," Grande said.

"We are working with them in terms of dealing with any issues on the street, trying to make it a very safe and comfortable environment for anyone that comes downtown."

The request for a more visible police presence downtown came after months of complaints and meetings with business owners about an increase in loitering, panhandling, vandalism and theft, Grande said.

It's too soon to say if the increase in officers will result in a decrease in crime, he acknowledged.

"But I can tell you we have been bombarded with e-mails from the public and our BIZ members who are really, really happy to see the police out in our downtown," he said. "It's something that we appreciate very, very much."

Community groups and business organizations in several areas of the city, including Osborne Village, Exchange District and Corydon, have made pleas for the return of beat cops, which were reduced or eliminated earlier this year.

Police officials have said that staffing shortages — mainly due to retirements and higher-than-average call volumes — are responsible for the reduction in beat cops as officers are pulled off their beats and put on general patrols.

Dedicated beat patrols currently exist formally only in the police's District 1, which includes downtown, the Exchange District, and the Centennial and West Broadway areas.

The rest of the city uses "planned response" officers to patrol in cruisers and take reports of non-urgent crimes, as well as conduct foot patrols "as time and workloads permit," according to a city report.