Community Looking Out For Each Other

Since May 2010, the Chestermere Citizens on Patrol Association has been keeping careful watch on the citizens of Chestermere. With the population increasing at an alarming rate, with no end in sight, and our recent graduation from town to city, many have been wondering if those two things will bring big city crime to Chestermere.
It goes without saying that the men and women of the Chestermere RCMP detachment do an outstanding job keeping our city safe, but they can’t be everywhere at every moment. Introduce, the CCOP who states, “Our mission is to act as eyes and ears to our local RCMP detachment and in doing so help to reduce crime in our community. This is strictly a passive role and we do not involve ourselves in any incidents. We look, we listen, we record and we report.”
The requirements to be involved in the CCOP are that you need to be over 18 years of age, a resident of Chestermere and you must be able to pass a RCMP screening. In addition they ask that you be able to contribute 5 hrs a month to patrolling. They currently have a membership that is made up from all walks of life young men and women, retirees and those in between.
How does CCOP work? The members use their own transportation and patrol the community in 2 member (or more) teams. Many of their members prefer to patrol with their spouses or a friend, which is allowed as long as no one patrols alone. The members are equipped with a kit containing the necessary tools to complete a patrol. They have communications with the RCMP and report any suspicious activities to them for further investigation. They specifically look for suspicious vehicles, people, activities and whatever else may warrant police involvement. They do not wear obvious identification, i.e. badges, jackets, shirts, however, they do carry ID cards should they need to identify themselves to anyone.
The CCOP is not intended to replace police patrols or to do the work of the RCMP. They are just an extra set of eyes and ears to assist our officers. They operate under a set of protocols that has been jointly established by the CCOP Board and the RCMP.
An information session was held on Tuesday February 3rd where a small amount of interested residents did attend to get involved in the initiative, but they anticipate more will join up as this moves forward. “This was a very basic introductory meeting. We asked everyone to get their police checks done and then we will have another in-depth meeting towards the end of this month and get the new people out on patrol. We had 5 new people attend but we also have about 10-15 more that have contacted me but couldn’t make the meeting”, said meeting organizer, Daniel Gretener.
Glenn Henry, S/Sgt of the Chestermere RCMP Detachment commented, “The Citizen on Patrol program has been operating in Alberta for many years. A local group in Chestermere has also been in place for a number of years. This program consists of community volunteers spending their time out in our community acting as an extra set of eyes and ears monitoring for any suspicious activities and reporting their observations to the on duty RCMP members. The Chestermere RCMP supports this program as a community based crime prevention initiative”.
If you are interested in joining the Chestermere Citizens on Patrol, please visit http://www.ccop.ca/contacts.htm