NCJ Number
163757
Journal
Gazette Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1996) Pages: 14-16
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the pilot program and subsequent program operations as well as impact of the Citizens' Crime Watch (CCW) program, a community-based crime prevention program that has been active in Vancouver, B.C. (Canada) for 8 years.
Abstract
The pilot program, which was begun largely due to citizen requests, involved a 6-month project that was developed and presented to the police executive. A specific area of the city was selected as an appropriate target. A group of citizens, who had been crime victims, were trained and issued equipment that included a VHF radio, binoculars, city maps, and a unit log to record their observations during an evening patrol. They were dispatched under close police supervision to identify suspicious situations that required police attention. The pilot project was a success, as measured by arrests and crime prevention. Two citizen volunteers serve as a team in patrolling neighborhoods in their own cars. They broadcast their observations to two mobile police coordinators, who evaluate the information and respond accordingly. Volunteers have no direct contact with suspects, and they do not leave their vehicles without explicit instructions from a police coordinator. A CCW volunteer has designed a computer program that has made it possible for him to enter all the plate numbers of vehicles stolen in Vancouver into his laptop computer. He has been able to check thousands of license plates as he has patrolled. The "hotsheet" can be downloaded into a tiny electronic pocket organizer for use by other volunteers. In 1994 volunteers helped recover 212 stolen vehicles. In this same year the observations of volunteers resulted in the arrests of 79 persons; they also reported 39 impaired drivers, all of whom were subsequently removed from the highways.