Frustration mounts as drug raids sweep problems out of downtown, into West End

West End business owners say their neighbourhood has been under siege for months, and some believe downtown police drug sweeps have made things worse by pushing more street disorder in their direction — and pushing customers away.

“The West End has been annihilated,” said Michael Paille, owner of Cobra Collectibles at 555 Sargent Ave.

On Friday, Paille sat on a barstool at neighbouring X-Cues’ Cafe & Lounge, a bowl of hot soup and a glass of water in front of him. Over his clothes, he wore a tactical vest outfitted with a body camera, naloxone kits, a Leatherman multitool and an assortment of other gear — some meant to help people in crisis, the rest to keep himself safe.

At his side was an empty Gatorade bottle. Instead of the sports drink, it held what Paille said he had collected during a few hours walking the surrounding streets that day: roughly a dozen bubble pipes and nearly as many discarded needles.

The imposing business owner has no shortage of stories from the streets outside his shop. He has broken up fights and stepped in to help vulnerable people. He has also been attacked and threatened with knives and machetes, and witnessed open prostitution and rampant drug use.

Those experiences have turned Paille into something of an unofficial neighbourhood patrol. He even wears a badge saying as much.

He walks the area, sometimes for hours each day, handing out bottled water, intervening when he can and picking up discarded drug paraphernalia.

His patrols once stretched “between the lights” — from Balmoral Street to Sherbrook Street. Now, he said, he barely makes it past Young or Furby streets before running out of water or being forced to double back to deal with another situation.

“And about 10 days ago or so, people just started showing up, faces I didn’t recognize, over a 100 of them or more,” he said. “And now they’re fighting with people that are locals. They’ve come from Main Street.”

Earlier this week, Paille penned an open letter to law enforcement and all levels of government detailing what he says is happening in the neighbourhood.

He isn’t asking for money. Instead, he wants politicians and other officials to walk the streets with him — in casual clothes — to see for themselves what West End businesses and residents are dealing with.

“The West End has been annihilated.”

“Yet not a single official has come out to walk the streets with me or see what the West End goes through,” he wrote.

Paille said the systems meant to protect the neighbourhood are failing, including emergency response.

He recalled recently being surrounded by 10 people who threatened to slit his throat. Paille said he called police at 3:15 p.m. and didn’t hear back for nearly three hours, when someone called to ask whether he still needed assistance.

“I could have been dead by then,” he said.

City spokesperson Colin Fast said Mayor Scott Gillingham has met with West End business owners and community members several times and raised their concerns with the Winnipeg Police Service.

“City staff have also been working with the neighbourhood through the Safe Winnipeg Initiative to identify issues and potential solutions,” Fast said in an email. “Decisions about police deployment and operations are made by the Winnipeg Police Service.”

The WPS didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday.

What Paille wants is a sustained police presence, not occasional enforcement that scatters people for a few hours before they return.

“Yet not a single official has come out to walk the streets with me or see what the West End goes through.”

He said officers were in the area Thursday, after his letter landed in the inboxes of police and government officials, but the relief was short-lived.

“They just come back,” he said. “Pushing the problem away doesn’t solve homelessness or violence, it just shifts the burden elsewhere.”

Other business owners say they are carrying that burden, too.

Sal Infantino, who co-owns X-Cues’, said his business has taken a staggering hit in recent months.

“I’ve lost half my business in the last four months or so,” he said. “The worst thing is my customers drive by, they see everybody standing at my door and they just keep on going.”

Infantino said groups of as many as 20 people sometimes congregate outside his business. Attempts to get them to move along are often met with resistance.

“They just tell me to f—k off,” he said.

Across the street at Y&G Mart, owner Hager said her store is robbed, on average, six times a day, leaving her feeling powerless to stop it.

She said drug dealing in a nearby building has only made matters worse, with both drugs and the people using them spilling into her parking lot.

Still, she keeps opening the doors each day because she has no other option.

“What choice do I have?” said Hager, who didn’t want her last name used. “I can’t just quit my job because of them. I have to live. I have to eat.”

Like Paille and Infantino, she wants a more consistent police presence.

“If there were more cops, I’d be able to work more comfortably,” she said. “They’re not going to stay around here if cops are around.”

“Pushing the problem away doesn’t solve homelessness or violence, it just shifts the burden elsewhere.”

Linto Kuruvilla, owner of Will’s Sargent Food Mart at Sargent Avenue and Furby Street, tells a similar story.

He said groups regularly congregate in the small parking lot behind his building. Calling police, when officers are able to respond, offers only temporary relief.

“We call the cops, and sometimes they come, and so the people leave, and then 10 minutes later, another group has come,” he said.

Kuruvilla said this summer has been the worst he can remember, with unfamiliar faces appearing in the neighbourhood and theft becoming commonplace.

“One time, one guy came in, opened the door and three others followed, taking a lot of stuff,” he said.

Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said he has met with Paille and heard his concerns and those of others in the area.

Wiebe said Paille’s advocacy has helped spur provincial action, including $300,000 for the West End BIZ to bolster foot patrols, lighting and other safety improvements. The province is also funding 24 foot-patrol officers who spend time in the West End and other neighbourhoods, including downtown and the Exchange District.

He pointed to the latest WPS statistics, which show overall crime in the West End has fallen 2.4 per cent.

“We know there’s a lot more work to do,” he said.

Paille says those numbers bear little resemblance to what he and other business owners see outside their doors.

Many, he said, have simply stopped reporting crime. When police are called, he said, officers often don’t arrive until hours later — long after the threats and the people making themhave disappeared.

Wiebe said his message to Paille and the broader West End community is that they have a partner in the provincial government.

Paille, however, said his faith in those elected to address the problems has “severely wavered.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca