COP volunteers needed

Resident Pat Darling, who is organizing the 8 pm Feb. 13 meeting in the Shelburne Community Centre (in what is known locally as the Men’s Room), says she initially circulated a petition in August and September of last year after many residents were victimized by a summer “window smashing spree.”

“Over 400 residents signed the petition with 85 indicating they would help if there was a program,” she says.

However, only six residents attended a Jan. 30 meeting.

Shelburne Town Council and the Shelburne RCMP detachment have each appointed liaisons to the proposed organization.

Now, Darling says, “It is up to the citizens to make it a priority and elect an executive to start a COP program.”

She says the program is a recognized crime prevention initiative of numerous police agencies around the world, adding numerous COP programs are up and running in Nova Scotia as well.

In her former community of Hatchet Lake near Prospect, Halifax Regional Municipality, for example, she says, “We had a lot of problems with vandalism and break and enters but once Citizens on Patrol started advertising and became operational crime really decreased in the community.”

She adds few hours are needed, depending, of course, on how many residents volunteer for the program.

COP volunteers are trained by the RCMP to be “the eyes and ears” of the community, she explains.

Essentially, she says the patrolling volunteers are trained to observe and report and do not have direct contact with criminals. Patrol schedules are not publicized.

“The Citizens on Patrol are not the police, rather they are a valued resource to the local police patrolling the community. There are people living in fear. I think this program, if well-organized, will eventually earn the respect of citizens and alleviate some of that fear.”