Crime prevention starts in the home and since the late 1980s the RCMP has partnered with the city’s Block Watch program to support Prince George residents who look out for their neighbours.
At its Tuesday meeting at city hall, the Standing Committee on Public Safety received a report from city administration on the Block Watch and Citizens On Patrol programs to learn about grants and training opportunities for neighbourhood watches, which are provided through the RCMP’s Community Policing section.
The city currently has 44 active Block Watch neighbourhoods – 25 in urban neighbourhoods and 19 in rural communities – and people in those neighbourhoods rely on the connections the program provides to communicate with each other if they see anyone or anything that arouses suspicions.
“Neighbourhoods are generally safer when people are communicating,” said Krystal Devauld, the city’s assistant manager of police support services. “What tends to happen with a Block Watch community is different neighbours watch driveways or when someone’s out of town they will have their car situated in someone else’s driveway.
“There’s just that constant communication and proactive endeavours to deter theft or break and entry.”
The Block Watch Society of BC provides training for captains and co-captains on such details as how to maintain a Block Watch map, how to respect privacy considerations and methods of reporting criminal incidents.
Block Watch participants are trained in how to light up their properties, how to maintain clear sight lines of the property, how to mark personal property for identification purposes and how to secure doors, windows and gates with locks.
Each Block Watch area is eligible for a $300 grant to host an annual meeting or barbecue to help neighbouring residents maintain ties with each other or meet area newcomers.
Two co-captains are required to set up a Block Watch neighbourhood and each is required to submit to a police criminal record check, now referred to as a police information check.
“Once we figure out who will be the captain or co-captain then they will go around to their communities and whoever wants to get involved, we’ll get a map going with their parameters and they will go to them with a letter stating what it is they will set up,” said RCMP Community Policing co-ordinator Catharine Hamilton.
The Nextdoor app is used in some communities to connect area residents but more and more communities are turning to Facebook group pages to connect local residents in their communities. Hamilton says Facebook groups are less formal community watches and she also advises them on protocols to follow.
“As long as there’s communication, people feel safer in their communities. It brings them together,” said Hamilton.
The Prince George Community Policing Unit is required to monitor break and enter statistics and report those figures monthly or bimonthly. In the 12 months of 2023, 565 break and enters incidents were logged and 2024 is following a similar trend with 373 break and enters reported through to the end of August.
The city’s Safety Committee was also updated on the Citizens On Patrol program. The RCMP are actively recruiting more volunteers to form an observational support team that backs frontline officers. There are currently 12 volunteers involved in Citizens On Patrol.
They conduct vehicle and bike patrols looking for criminal activity in public places, especially at public events.
They also set up electronic signs that show passing motorists the speed they are driving.
If you would like to get involved in either Block Watch of Citizens On Patrol, call Hamilton 250-561-3319 or Community Policing at 250-561-3366.
