HOLIDAYS WON'T DERAIL CLEAN SWEEP

Winnipeg Police Chief Jack Ewatski vowed yesterday to keep Operation
Clean Sweep in full swing this summer, despite the staffing pressures
of officers going on family holidays.

Ewatski said police will move officers around as necessary so that
project Clean Sweep is maintained, as are other enforcement operations.

"This is normal," Ewatski said. "We are able to adjust
constantly."

Clean Sweep was created last November following the Thanksgiving
slaying of Philippe Haiart on Sargent Avenue. Haiart, 17, was an
innocent bystander killed in a gang-related shooting.

It saw 45 officers brought in from other patrol divisions to clamp
down on the drug trade in the city's West End. The unit is responsible
for about 700 arrests above the normal rate in the past five months.
Because of its success, Clean Sweep was made a permanent unit earlier
this month. The province announced increased speeding fines would go
towards paying for the unit and associated costs, like overtime.

Ewatski also said police plan to fine-tune how Clean Sweep functions,
using more intelligence on crime trends to identify trouble spots in
the city and then act. "I don't like tinkering with success," he said.

He said police know staffing Clean Sweep continuously through July and
August will be difficult as the service must maintain basic patrol and
investigative units to meet calls for service, which typically go up
in the summer because more people are outside.

As well, police have a minimum requirement of 27 two-man patrol cars
on the streets at all times.

Two-man units, as opposed to single-officer patrol cars, are mandated
under the collective agreement the service has with its union.

The Winnipeg Police Association maintains two-man cars are necessary
for officer safety.

The new contract between the force and the union will ease staffing
issues somewhat as senior officers will be allowed to work evenings
and weekends without charging overtime.

The contract also ends a staffing practice that guaranteed
nine-to-five hours to all officers above the rank of staff sergeant.