{"id":788097,"date":"2026-07-08T11:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/788097\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:25:12","slug":"winnipeg-business-owner-patrolling-streets-solo-to-help-reduce-crime-open-drug-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/788097\/","title":{"rendered":"Winnipeg business owner patrolling streets solo to help reduce crime, open drug use"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

\"AMichael Paille has been running a one-man crime and open drug use patrol for the past seven weeks. He says he’s not out on the streets every day to enforce the law, or judge anyone, but to help those that need to be helped. (Prabhjot Lotey\/CBC)<\/p>\n

For seven weeks now, a Sargent Avenue business owner has been taking matters into his own hands, patrolling his neighbourhood administering naloxone and helping prevent crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that something needed to be done and I picked it up and said what I was always taught: ‘If you\u2019re not willing to do it yourself, then don\u2019t ask others,’\u201d said Michael Paille, co-owner of Cobra Collectibles, a retail store that sells toys, comics, and games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not out here to enforce the law, I’m not out here to judge anyone \u2014 I’m out here to help the people that need to be helped,\u201d said Paille, who has also organized crime prevention conferences for local retailers.<\/p>\n

He patrols the area near his store daily, from morning until evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As he walks, he checks in on people he passes by on sidewalks, down alleyways, and behind buildings \u2014 all while wearing a vest carrying medical supplies, a camera, and little information forms advising people where to go to find housing, food, and encampments, <\/p>\n

The \u201cSargent Street Watch\u201d as he calls it, is not immune to danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was assaulted about 2\u00bd weeks ago, and then I was just assaulted last week,\u201d said Paille.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past two months he says he has picked up approximately 400 needles, and about 50 broken “bubblers,” a type of pipe used to consume drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He says that\u2019s in addition to having administered naloxone \u2014 a medication used to reverse the effects of opiod overdoses \u2014 to 40 people.\u00a0The medication is also known by the brand name Narcan.<\/p>\n

At first he wasn\u2019t doing this alone, but that changed after the first week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first week, the other two couldn\u2019t deal with it,\u201d said Paille.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s things you have to do like administering Narcan to a 12-year-old \u2013 it really shocked them, some of the stuff they saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hoping others will join him on his patrols, to help alleviate some of the pressure on first responders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tamerat Sisay, who owns T.S. Auto Service says he\u2019d be willing to step up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they need me and they tell me to do it, yeah I would help out too,\u201d said Sisay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ATamerat Sisay, owner of T.S. Auto Service, says he’d be willing to join the Sargent Street Watch, as he’s had people breaking into his customers’ cars on his company’s lot. (Pranhjot Lotey\/CBC)<\/p>\n

He says what Paille is doing for the community is very good, as he\u2019s had to deal with people breaking into cars on his company\u2019s lot, even sleeping and sometimes leaving used needles in customers’ cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThen the customer is blaming you, and then I\u2019m going through insurance, right, it\u2019s really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paille says he has had to put in about $1,000 of his own money into this initiative, mostly to pay for medical supplies, as funding for this sort of work is limited.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something he\u2019s hoping the city of Winnipeg will look at.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the city should be getting people to do what I do, you know, you don’t need police to do it,\u201d said Paille.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf one person can make a difference, a group of people can make a bigger difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-788097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}