OLDS — Citizens On Patrol (COP) in this community is in danger of disbanding if more people don’t join the organization and go out on patrols, president Gord Bueckert warns.
Members of COP are volunteers. They patrol the community looking for any suspicious activity. If they see any, they inform police so they can check it out.
COP members are not vigilantes. They are not authorized to do any more than simply observe suspicious people or activities and report them to police.
Bueckert believes the group has helped discourage and prevent at least some crime in town.
As a result, he’s encouraging local residents to come out to the organization’s annual general meeting (AGM).
It will be held this Tuesday, Sept. 29 from 5 to 9 p.m. in the old Search and Rescue building, at 4512 46th St., just off Highway 2A, north of Highway 27.
Due to COVID restrictions, this AGM is an informal affair; people will sign in, pick up reports, read them, vote for board members and walk out. A couple of current board members will be there to answer any questions.
Although the AGM is scheduled to last from 5 to 9 p.m., that’s not how long people are expected to be there. They should be able to be in and out fairly quickly.
The purpose of that window is to provide lots of time for people to come at a time that’s convenient for them.
“It just gives everybody hopefully the opportunity to take the 10 or 15 or 20 minutes or whatever to go through and ask questions and rekindle a few things,” Bueckert said during an interview.
The Olds COP was formed in December, 2017.
Initially, it was off to an enthusiastic start as more than 70 people registered. However, as time went on, that figure dwindled to the current 25 or so.
Bueckert said membership declined because some people moved away and others found they were juggling too many commitments.
However, he believes a handful dropped out because they were disappointed that the rules only allowed them to observe and report suspicious behaviour – not actually apprehend anyone.
He suspects falling crime stats in Olds and area may also have led some COP members to drop out.
“It seemed like people just kind of said, ‘well, we don’t have to patrol then if everything’s in good shape,’” he said.
Interest seemed to wane even more when the organization was forced to shut down for a couple of months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now the plan is to restart and reinvigorate it.
Bueckert said the goal is to have members patrol in groups of two once or twice a month for a total of three hours per outing. That includes a two-hour patrol and a one-hour debriefing.
“We’re not asking for a huge commitment. That’s the thing,” he said.
“Like, if we get enough people involved, you can still have a ton of patrols but we just have to get that excitement back where we have people wanting to protect our community.”
“It’s exhilarating; it is,” he added. “It’s just really cool to be out there knowing what you’re doing.
“You feel like you’re like a police officer, because you’re doing the same thing they’re doing. You’re driving around and looking for bad guys.
“All of a sudden you do see something that’s out of the blue and you phone it in. If the police aren’t too busy they’ll check up on it right away and otherwise you give them as much detail as you can.
“It kind of puts a bit of adrenaline in your system, knowing you’re out there and that you’re (protecting the community).”
