OLDS — The Olds Citizens On Patrol (C.O.P.) is now in the final stages of shutting down.
But their equipment is getting new life.
On Jan. 26, at their headquarters off Highway 2A, a couple of members of the Olds C.O.P. gave members of the newly started Innisfail C.O.P. access to their equipment and supplies.
Last February, after only 13 people attended the group’s annual general meeting, it was decided to put the organization’s future on hold pending a recruitment drive over the spring and summer.
Last fall, after that drive seemed to fizzle, Olds C.O.P. treasurer Phyllis Horpenuk said the group appeared to be “dead.”
A previous edition of Olds C.O.P. also folded several years ago.
Members of COP are volunteers. They patrol the community looking for any suspicious activity. They are not authorized to do any more than simply observe suspicious people or activities and report them to police.
The Innisfail C.O.P. is expected to hit the streets Feb. 1.
“We’re glad to pass it (the equipment and supplies) on to them,” Horpenuk said.
The next – and likely final – step in the dissolution of the Olds C.O.P. will occur in a few weeks when the organization distributes its remaining funds to various local non-profits.
Horpenuk was relieved to see the equipment and furnishings in the building as well as other equipment going to good use “instead of sitting in my shed collecting dust.”
“I was real happy, you know, to finally finalize it,” she said.
— With files from Johnnie Bachusky
