A local community organization is helping to keep the streets of St. Albert free from crime.
The St. Albert Citizen's Patrol Society has been serving the community since 1998, with volunteers helping keep an extra set of eyes on the city. Members patrol neighbourhoods on foot, by bike or by vehicle, wearing reflective vests and driving cars marked with Citizen Patrol decals.
Brian Andersen, the current president of the organization and longtime member, said the St. Albert Citizen's Patrol Society takes neighbourhood watch groups one step further.
"We're a group of volunteers who go out in pairs, sometimes in vehicles, occasionally on foot, occasionally on bicycle, and we patrol neighbourhoods in St. Albert, not really limited to specific neighbourhoods," he said.
The St. Albert Citizen's Patrol Society works closely with the St. Albert RCMP, maintaining regular contact with a liaison officer, which helps them to identify areas of concern within the community.
"We just kind of go wherever the RCMP directs that there's activity, either, you know, forms of vandalism, theft, or other things like that, that are more visible crimes that we can, we can have an effect on," he said.
Andersen explained that they don't just patrol residential areas but will also enter commercial areas.
"We're equally looking out for businesses in St. Albert that you know are like, say, Riel Business Park and Campbell Business Park, where they're not normally open on weekends," he said. "So we try to look out for them as well."
Currently, the organization has around 12 to 16 active members who patrol for a few hours every couple of weeks. Andersen noted that the number of active volunteers has decreased since 2020, when approximately 30 volunteers were involved.
Andersen said the main reason for the organization is to ensure a visible presence in the community to deter crime before it occurs.
"Our key is visibility and crime deterrence. So we want to be visible. We're not lurking around in the dark and kind of trying to look for crime," he said. "We just want to be visible and so people recognize that's citizen's patrol there, you know, and that there's a connection to the RCMP and that were the extra eyes and ears for them."
If volunteers spot suspicious behaviour, they report it to the St. Albert RCMP, who Andersen said have been very responsive.
While the citizen's patrol doesn't have enforcement powers, Andersen said being an extra set of eyes in the community makes a real difference.
"We're looking for things like if people forget to close their garage doors, and things like that. So it might be 11 p.m. at night, and sometimes we'll knock on your door and we'll let you know, let your garage door's open," said Andersen. "Ninety-nine per cent of the time people are quite happy, the others are a little upset that we will come up or disturb them."
Andersen said they are always looking for more volunteers and encouraged anyone interested to get involved.
"We're not looking for criminals or people in St. Albert that are up to no good," said Andersen. "It's about just keeping your neighbourhood safe, and it's about crime prevention."
For more information on the group visit www.citizenspatrol.org.
