Kinder, gentler drug crackdown finds support, tempered expectations in Main Street area By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:11 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 7, 2026

Drawing a lighter from his pocket, a shirtless man perched on a concrete wall outside United Way Winnipeg’s Main Street headquarters heats a substance in a glass pipe and moves the tube toward his mouth.

He exhales puffs of smoke and remains seated for a little while before gently rising to his feet and walking off while the city’s downtown hums around him during Friday’s lunch hour.

A similar scene unfolds nearby minutes later while more than a dozen people sit in the shade of trees at Main and Logan Avenue, an area police will focus on during the renewed drug enforcement blitz that will target open drug use and trafficking until at least November.

“They don’t choose addiction. Usually, it’s to numb a pain they can’t fix,” said Daxx Kennedy, a care team member with N’Dinawemak, an Indigenous-led community organization, while multiple outreach groups were visible in an area that has some of the greatest needs amid years-long drug and homelessness crises.

Kennedy said outreach teams are trying to spark hope for people who are vulnerable.

“To let them know it’s never too late,” she said. “We’re here to support them.”

Kennedy was one of several residents, workers or visitors who were interviewed while a Free Press reporter and photographer spent about two hours in the area Friday, following the relaunch of the Winnipeg Police Service drug sweep.

Police pledged to take an outreach-first approach by partnering with some community organizations.

The initial 10-day blitz was launched June 24 in response to complaints about drug activity, increasing reports of crime and ongoing concerns about safety. Police were criticized at the time because outreach organizations were not included.

Outreach teams will now work alongside police at times to try to connect people with resources and services, Chief Gene Bowers said Thursday. They will be in areas such as downtown, Point Douglas, Osborne Village, West Broadway and the West End.

While the partnership between police and a coalition of 11 organizations is new, periodic drug sweeps and outreach work have been going on for years.

The renewed blitz received mixed reactions along Main, where people told the Free Press they want to see progress on efforts to combat drug addiction and chronic homelessness.

“I don’t mind at all that they’re out here. That’s a good thing.”

A downtown resident spoke in favour of the sweep while people gathered in front of the United Way office. Behind him, the shirtless man openly smoked from the bubble pipe while cars and pedestrians passed by. A second man nearby appeared to be asleep on the pavement.

“I don’t mind at all that they’re out here. That’s a good thing,” the downtown resident said of the partnership between police and outreach workers. He declined to give his name.

The man said he hopes the blitz will reduce violence, but he doesn’t think it will do much to curb drug use long-term.

“There’s always going to be drugs. That’s what makes this city go round,” he said.

Some community organizations are concerned the sweep could push drug use into less visible places, putting users at greater risk of overdoses or other harm. Kennedy said she shares those concerns.

Several groups have said the number of people in need is outpacing the availability of existing services, including detox spaces and treatment clinics.

Brennan, a drop-in centre worker who declined to give last name, said the drugs people are using on the street are increasingly toxic. He said everything became “extreme” after the COVID-19 pandemic.

He administers naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, from time to time, and he’s seen a lot of people in drug-induced psychosis since he started working on Main.

The drug crisis isn’t going anywhere, he said, and the success of the police blitz depends on how it’s led.

“What it’s supposed to do and what it yields are two different things. There’s a perception that it’s a show of force,” Brennan said.

He noticed an increased police presence during the 10-day blitz, adding drug users relocate when they are dispersed.

“What it’s supposed to do and what it yields are two different things.”

Brennan echoed the need for additional services, while noting many people who are using drugs have gone through personal trauma, including sexual abuse.

A lot of people on the front lines of the drug crisis are doing good work or have good intentions, he said.

“I don’t think there’s a catch-all answer,” he said of potential solutions.

Kennedy noted the stigma that exists around drug users. She said more empathy and care are needed.

Team members from various organizations stood out while they checked on people. They had matching T-shirts, and many had naloxone kits clipped to their belts.

At Main and Logan, a team of “wayfinders” from the Downtown Community Safety Partnership approached people who were slumped over on the sidewalk or in the shade of trees. They roused and spoke to each one, asking if they were OK.

One of the outreach workers handed a bottle of water to a man who bought food at Main Street Convenience and Vape while the Free Press visited the store about an hour earlier.

Employees Chetan Kumar and Bipul Singh said they’re concerned about their safety in the area. They said they’ve been attacked while asking people who are openly using drugs to move away from the store.

“They do it freely. They don’t care,” said Kumar, who also lives in the inner-city.

Singh said he was pepper sprayed by a man who urinated in the store’s doorway.

“The thing is, it’s nothing new for us,” Singh said.

The store used to allow customers inside until it closed at 10 p.m. It now locks its doors at 7 p.m. and operates a window service for the remaining three hours to protect staff.

“They should have a safe spot to do that which should not disturb the businesses and the citizens.”

Kumar and Singh welcomed the police blitz. They said they noticed a difference in the area during the 10-day campaign.

Singh is in favour of sites where people can use their own drugs under supervision.

“They should have a safe spot to do that which should not disturb the businesses and the citizens,” he said.

Manitoba’s first supervised drug consumption site is scheduled to open nearby at 366 Henry Ave. on Tuesday, and has drawn opposition from some residents and business owners who fear it will bring more crime and social disorder.

Justin Lischynski, who works in the area, said the involvement of outreach groups in the police blitz is a better approach, but he fears any improvements will be short-lived.

“It can’t be just a month or two here or there. It has to be constant, but I don’t know if the resources are there to do it,” he said. “I hope it changes.”

Police said the 10-day sweep involved 1,099 officer-generated and related calls for service, and 106 arrests, including 93 for warrants and/or breaches of release conditions. Seven people were taken to the drug detox centre on Disraeli Freeway.

In the hot spots that were targeted, reports of violent and property crime were 16.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent lower, respectively, than the same period in 2025. Emergency calls were six per cent lower.

Daniel Hidalgo, director and founder of Community 204, which is not among the outreach groups involved in the police campaign, welcomed the involvement of grassroots organizations.

“I see the benefits in a hybrid model if you’re bringing the positive and effective aspects of both concepts together into one where there is equal say and support,” he said. “I can see the potential in that. I think it’s just another option the city is trying to exhaust.

“This is a sensitive topic when you’re dealing with very vulnerable people and there is underlying trauma, stigma, abandonment, poverty, negative experiences and judgment.”

David Pensato, executive director of Exchange District Business Improvement Zone, said a holistic approach has long been needed.

“It is important that the police be involved in enforcing the law and maintaining safety within these neighbourhoods. Concurrently, we need to be addressing the really abject situations that people are facing,” he said.

“I think we’ve been slow as a society to address these issues, and so things have just snowballed.”

Exchange District BIZ is working on its own community safety strategy with a similarly holistic approach, Pensato said. It will involve police, governments, businesses and residents, he said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca