Police Chief Danny Smyth is pleased to share a "good news story" of a late-night river rescue that occurred literally in his own backyard.

Smyth is praising his officers after they rescued a woman near Kildonan Park who was stuck in a current.

"I don't think a paper release will do this incident any justice," the Winnipeg Police Service Chief says during a Thursday afternoon press conference, noting he was on the scene when it occurred.

At around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, screaming and splashing were heard coming from the riverbank along Scotia Avenue.

"I was awakened by my neighbour, actually, banging on my door. He informed me there was a woman in the river at the rear of our properties and she clearly seemed to be in crisis and distress."

While it was very dark, they knew someone was in trouble.

Calling 911, the pair alerted the emergency services of the situation, who then quickly arrived.

"I gotta tell ya, my backyard looked like a scene out a movie there for a short period of time as our members were out with flashing lights frantically trying to search the riverbank to locate and spot the woman in the water."

Smyth says the woman was hysterical and unable to hear the calls to her, 40 feet away onshore. Now drifting along the river near Kildonan Park, she went silent. Emergency crews decided they needed to take immediate action instead of waiting for a water rescue craft.

"I was worried that the cold water and the length of time she had been in the water was sapping her strength. It  was really a helpless feeling as I wondered if I was going to witness a drowning."

Creating a human chain in the dark, police officers "stripped to their skivvies" entering into the water, swimming in the dark. The group was being tethered by a neighbour's rope with at least a dozen officers on the shore.

"I gotta tell you, I held my breath worried about the woman in the water and now worried about our members who swam out to save her."

Smyth watched with bated breath as at least four officers swam into the unseeable waters, grab hold of the woman, and swam back to shore.

"Last night I witnessed first hand the bravery and the risks that our members were willing to take to save a life."

The 37-year-old woman was brought to the hospital as a precaution.