Winnipeg police arrested hundreds in summer blitz of 2 areas

Well, police and community groups are teaming up to try and combat an increase in criminal activity in two Winnipeg neighbourhoods. Project Revive is targeting vacant and derelict buildings, known drug dens and an opioid crisis police are trying to get a handle on. But they say the problem is too big for officers to handle alone. CBC's Ian Fraser is live in one of the areas police say has been hardest hit. So, Ian, where was Project Revive focused? Brittany, this was centered on the William White and Point Douglas neighborhoods. Now, we got details from the police just around an hour ago. They break down Project Revive into three categories. Number one, enforcement. From the middle of May to September, 423 people were arrested. Number two, police teamed up with community organizations like women's shelters and drop-in centers because they said, frankly, that they needed the help. There wasn't enough police to go around. And finally, number three, what police called a compassionate response to the issue of unhoused individuals. 24 encampments were visited, and the police say that the people there were given some of the supports they needed. The head of the William White Residents Association was a big fan of this operation, says it has success. And he had a message for those criminals that he says still may want to visit the area. It will not be tolerated, and if you don't find yourself a new address somewhere else, I promise you, your next address will be Henley Correctional or Stony Mountain Pen. So Ian, while police are saying they had success, it sounds like the press conference turned into a plea from police for more help. So what did we have? Well, we heard from Inspector Elton Hall that about midway through this operation, he was walking the streets with a partner and realized that he simply needs more police officers to help. With all due respect, we policed the hell out of this area and did what we could to get rid of the drug traffickers and the lawlessness, but it's still here. As a police agency, we deal with crime. We're dealing with that, but it's the social impacts of this and the mental health issues that need to be dealt with from government and other agencies. Now he says all governments will say they have a plan to deal with the crime and the homelessness, but they don't spend enough time sitting together as one with members of the community and some of these community organizations and figure out how they can solve this problem. So Ian, the federal budget has some big money for Manitoba to deal with homelessness and addictions. What are we expecting to hear more of? Budget documents, Brittany, saying that this will create the conditions to end homelessness in Winnipeg. This is a significant announcement. One billion dollars, over one billion dollars, that money will go towards creating a center for mental health and addictions. There will also be money towards creating 2,000 housing units, permanent, supportive, and transitional. Ottawa Ottawa will put the money towards the capital while the province will contribute. To the operational costs, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham calling it in a statement a once-in-a-generation investment. The Prime Minister will be in Winnipeg tomorrow for this announcement, and we'll have more for you tomorrow.