Citizens On Patrol enjoying a surge in membership

Citizens On Patrol (COP) is succeeding right now because of one important resource at its disposal these days: citizens.

With only a scant few volunteers in past years, the current COP group is enjoying a resurgence, according to organizers, and the more the merrier, especially at Christmas. One of the main activities of the COP team is warning shoppers about vehicle vulnerabilities when they are bustling about among merchants.

Other activities include watching for stolen vehicles (the group has a laptop linked to the police so current vehicle theft information is at their fingertips), looking for expired insurance decals, and keeping an eye on the community.

"Our sole mandate is to be extra eyes and ears for police," said Mike Burt, one of the group leaders.

"If we come across an incident - a fight, a shoplifter, and erratic driver - then we observe and report that."

The group is based at the Community Police Cente downtown, and co-ordinator Linda Parker said in the past two weeks the COP volunteers have aided in capturing a hit-and-run driver and a shoplifter who ran from a drug store. In both instances, a COP team (they always travel in pairs or threes) followed the suspects at a safe distance while guiding the police to their location.

"They are a huge asset to the community, and we are looking for more volunteers to join them," said Parker.

The current roster is 26 members, aged 19 (the minimum age) to 80-plus.

"The demographic is actually changing," Parker said. "We used to have more seniors but now there is a lot of students and young people.

"Many organizations go through peaks and valleys in their membership - right now we are having one of the peaks. We are getting a lot of interest."

Burt said "patrols usually take place in the evenings and on weekends, but we've had patrols at nine in the morning be just as busy as a Saturday night. We also check with the RCMP detachment to see if there is some hot spot in town they want us to focus on."

They patrol everywhere in between Haldi Road out west of town and Chief Lake Road to the North, using the Community Policing Centre's vehicle.

Anyone who wishes to join is asked to visit the Community Policing Centre on Brunswick Street and 6th Avenue or call 250-561-3366.