Chris Dow, 20, and Raj Mudhar, 16, of Williams Lake were presented certificates of recognition Tuesday at city hall for their dedication to community policing.
“These two work with regular members, they patrol on foot, by bike and from a vehicle,” said community policing’s citizens on patrol chair and youth mentor Bob McIntosh. “I was the mentor for Chris and now he’s mentoring Raj. It’s great to see young people training each other.”
McIntosh credited Dow and Mudhar for being the first ones to spot the Easter Sunday fire at the Slumber Lodge and having the foresight to contact the RCMP and Fire Department.
“They also went around the neighborhood to alert people that there was a fire and to let them know the fire department was coming,” McIntosh said.
Youth volunteers with citizens on patrol had been checking on the Slumber Lodge regularly for over a year and one time they found some youth staying in there and called in the RCMP, McIntosh added.
Dow and Mudhar also volunteer with Speedwatch.
One day they wrote more than 27 tickets in a four-hour period during Speedwatch when they were checking for seat belts, cell phone use, or insurance decals.
During another period they checked more than 700 vehicles. Sometimes they will leave tickets for people reminding them not to leave valuables in their vehicles.
Dow, Mudhar and the other young volunteers also patrol Boitanio Park and the Stampede Grounds checking to make sure street people are safe, McIntosh noted.
“We also monitoring areas where we know crime has been happening.”
McIntosh said he really enjoys working with youth.
“If we can start to make changes with them we won’t have a lot of problems down the road.”
Besides, the kids are so energetic that he feels energized working with them, he added.
McIntosh encouraged any youth in the community who are interested in joining citizens on patrol to call him at 250-305-1041.
