Lethbridge Police recruiting volunteers for The Watch program set to start in May

So, what makes a good volunteer? Hansen says they’re looking for people that want to give back to their community.

“It’s so broad-ranging because it’s not only protecting the downtown area, but it’s being an ambassador for this city. I think it’s just having an open heart and an open mind because we’re dealing with all different types of people, different ethnic groups, and they all require different ways of dealing with people. It just starts with having a kind heart.”

The Watch, modelled after similar programs in Winnipeg and Vancouver, is a new initiative to enhance community safety in the downtown. Volunteers will be highly visible and easy to recognize with their red coats and shirts and Watch patrollers will be deployed seven days a week throughout the year.

They will serve as eyes and ears to connect citizens with the appropriate response from police, EMS or social and community services.

Hansen says he’s expecting people with a wide array of backgrounds to apply, and that that’s a good thing.

“They have to be over 18, but as for a background, I’m hoping we get a diverse background. We may see retired people, or people that want to further their careers, well this is going to give them a good opportunity to get out on the streets and give back to the community.”

Volunteers will also provide directions, first aid, tourist information and other assistance – including a Safe Walk program.

In the 2018 community survey conducted for LPS by Lethbridge College, the citizens of Lethbridge made it clear that they wanted opportunities for greater community engagement and were open to innovative models to address public safety concerns, according to Chief Rob Davis.

“Over the last two years, we’ve done a lot of work getting to this stage. It was very loud and clear from the citizens of Lethbridge and our stakeholders that they wanted to see something different. That’s huge, as a police service when the community is saying ‘we want to be involved’ we’d be fools to not capitalize on that.”

The Watch is a multi-layered approach, one being the community engagement, but when you go beyond that, Davis says it’s the opportunity for them to embrace and engage the diverse community that makes up Lethbridge.

“For some, this will be the beginning of a career trajectory. Not necessarily in policing, if it leads to a career in social services, addictions counselling, education, wherever a person ends up this is the start of that trajectory.”

In terms of response to this point, Davis says they’re looking for 10 Watch team leaders, and in the callout for applications they had 55-60 people respond.

“In the interview process when asking those people if they weren’t successfully chosen as one of the 10, would they still want to volunteer, it was a resounding yes. We’re setting ourselves up here where the community is going to be a true partner in helping us address the public perceptions of safety and making Lethbridge feel safe.”

All volunteers will be provided with comprehensive training including non-violent crisis intervention, street awareness and patrol safety tactics, CPR and First Aid, diversity awareness, citizen powers of arrest, report writing and note-taking, mental health awareness, occupational health and safety and more.

Watch volunteers will be connected directly to LPS by radio and will patrol downtown Lethbridge in groups. They will be responsible for reporting criminal activity, safety concerns, traffic hazards, nuisance behaviour, keeping a daily record of all incidents and events, and offering Safe Walk services.

Hansen says outside of the number of red shirts in the downtown area once The Watch is up and running, there are a few other things that will be noticeable.

“I think it’s about getting our volunteers and our staff to interact with the people around Lethbridge. Both citizens that walk the streets, as well as those business owners, to give them the confidence that we’re there and that we’re just a two-way radio away from having the services of LPS to come in and help us out. I think anytime you have eyes on the street it just gives people a sense of security.”

Sgt. Mike Williamson, who is responsible for community engagement and development, says they’re very close to being able to launch The Watch officially, so it’s a very exciting time.

“What made it real for me was when we actually got our uniforms. We’re in the process of hiring our ten team leads, we just started our volunteer recruitment drive as of today, and my phone is ringing off the hook, and I’m getting e-mails off the hook. The Chief mentioned that this is modelled after Winnipeg, and they started their program in 1996. At that time, they started with 50 volunteers, and today they have 245 volunteers who go year-round.

“It’s totally cleaned up Winnipeg’s downtown, and that’s where we see this Watch going as well. We will grow to that number of volunteers, and not only will we tackle the downtown, but we’ll tackle this great community of Lethbridge in different areas. We’ll be able to deploy them in different areas, and that’s exciting for me as well.”

Volunteer shifts will be four hours in duration and volunteers must be willing to commit to a minimum of one, four-hour shift per week (four shifts per month).

All volunteers must be able to walk many kilometres per day, and candidates will be required to pass a police information check.

Volunteer applications are available here, and once completed can be submitted in person at the police station or electronically by email to jeff.hansen@lethbridgepolice.ca.

LPS will be accepting submissions until Wednesday, April 17.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Lethbridge Police recruiting volunteers for The Watch program set to start in May

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