The Codiac Regional Citizens on Patrol needs volunteers to help keep neighbourhoods safe.
An information and training session will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Vaughn Harvey YMCA.
It’s a Neighbourhood Watch program that involves neighbours looking out for their neighbours.
“So when people go out for daily walks or once a week, twice a week or they drive or use their bicycle in the summertime, they look for things in the neighbourhood that are out of place,” Board President Yves Belliveau says.
One example is if someone is out walking their dog and they notice a car that has been parked on the street for two or three days and seems out of place. They can report it on the app and that goes directly to Codiac RCMP.
From there, an officer can come check on it to see if the car is stolen or otherwise.
“Another example would be if one of your neighbours is on vacation and their garage door is open. You would have the choice of, if you think it’s an emergency, you can call 911. Or if it’s not an emergency, you could call the the RCMP dispatch, or you could take a picture of the garage door open, and report it on the App. Once you file your report, it would go to the RCMP and they would do a follow-up call.”
Currently, the program has around 50 volunteers, but Belliveau says they need a lot more than that.
“For this program to really work, we would need 30 to 40 active members per ward. So, Moncton has four wards, and then there’s Riverview and Dieppe. That means there would be enough people on a regular basis that are going out and being the eyes and ears of the community,” Belliveau adds.
You don’t need any experience and you don’t have to commit to a specific time each day to do your patrol.
Belliveau says the program started in the west end, and he thinks the residents now feel more aware of what is going on in their community.
“I think having more citizens that know what’s going on, can’t be bad, right? I mean, it’s the best thing that you can have, neighbours looking after neighbours. I think that’s what we’re all about,” says Belliveau.
“If you’re interested to see what we’re all about, and if you like what you see, join our program. Everyone is welcome. To be a member, you’ll have to have a criminal background check. There’s a two-hour training seminar as well.”
