Looking for volunteers

Times Reporter

 

Citizens on Patrol is looking for more volunteers to help lend an extra set of eyes to the RCMP and help keep Strathmore safe. They are a group of citizen volunteers who go out into the community and patrol anywhere and everywhere around town, reporting suspicious activity to the RCMP.

“Essentially they give us an extra set of eyes out running around the neighbourhood,” said Cnst. Keith Anderson, with the Strathmore RCMP.

Anderson is the RCMP liaison for Citizens on Patrol, and his role is to provide them with information and assistance where he can. 

“The group itself is entirely citizen run and the RCMP doesn’t directly run it,” said Anderson. 

 The patrol group are just observers, and are not out there to actively intervene with crimes. They are out there to just keep an eye on the community and let the RCMP know if they see anything amiss.   

Citizens on Patrol has been in Strathmore for many years, but is currently going through a reinvigoration due to a turn over in the personnel and new people becoming interested.

“For quite a few years it was relatively dormant. Even though the group still existed, they weren’t terribly active but their activity has picked up again,” said Anderson.

“We have people interested again, and they’re getting out and doing their patrols.”  

Citizens on Patrol are always looking for volunteers. The commitment, said Anderson, is they come out and get a little bit of information about the program. They will get basic training as to how to document their observations and then it’s essentially whatever time they can give.

Volunteers will have to have a record check. They can’t have criminal or police histories. They must have a valid drivers license because most of the patrols are done within the safety of a vehicle, and at least one person out at any given time must have a cell phone. The rest of the equipment is supplied by the Citizens on Patrol, said Anderson. 

“Anybody that is interested in the program can look up the Alberta Citizens on Patrol website, and that can be found through any search engine,” said Anderson.

The general application is available on the website and people who are interested can fill it out and deliver it to the RCMP. Anderson will then do the criminal history check and will let the individual know if they qualify. Anyone looking for more information can also call Cnst. Keith Anderson at 403-934-3968.