Community policing received 3,000 volunteer hours in 2013.
“Of that 1,800 was spent out in the community so that’s a lot of extra eyes and ears our members who were on patrol,” safer community co-ordinator Dave Dickson told city council during an update.
Restorative Justice’s 40 volunteers and trainers put in more than 1,000 hours and did 40 plus cases.
“Our annual grant that we apply to just came through from the government so that’s a boost in the arm for 2014,” Dickson said.
The newly-launched Wandering Program is going well and people are encouraged to get involved, Dickson said.
“If you have a person under your care who has dementia or Alzheimer’s it’s a program where you can give us basic information and a current photograph to the detachment.”
The community policing team will manage it so that if a person goes missing officers will immediately have accurate data and a current colour photo that they can share with social media.
In 2013 Speed Watch volunteers put in excess of 140 hours and checked more than 6,000 vehicles.
They looked at speeding vehicles and at driver distraction.
“Cell phones are all too common and Heaven forbid we would have somebody injured by someone paying attention to their cell while driving,” he said.
Insp. Warren Brown said Williams Lake has 15 community policing programs involving more than 300 volunteers.
“I would boast that against any other community our size or larger,” Brown said.
