The more eyes and ears police have in their fight against crime, the safer a community will be.
That’s why a group of volunteers plans to launch a Citizens on Patrol program in Flin Flon.
“I’m tired of hearing all this crap about ‘what can we do, we’re helpless...and we can’t do anything about [crime],’” says Ben McCutcheon, who is spearheading the initiative. “Well, that’s the thing: we can do something about it. And I’m putting my foot down and I’m going to do something about it.”
Citizens on Patrol, or COP, is a nationally recognized volunteer program in which private individuals conduct patrols of their community in search of criminal or suspicious activity. They immediately report those situations to the police.
Civic pride
McCutcheon, a truck driver in his late 20s, is motivated by civic pride. Having grown up in Flin Flon, he feels that crime is growing out of control.
“Just within the last month we’ve had, what, two stabbings that people even talk about,” he says. “There’s [also] crime in this town that people don’t report or talk about.”
With help from his girlfriend, Sherrie Wordon, McCutcheon held a COP organizational meeting last week that brought out eight residents. He’s hoping to see more people at the second gathering next week.
It’s not known when COP will formally launch, but McCutcheon envisions volunteers patrolling the community at night both on foot and by vehicle.
He says other volunteers could help simply by taking turns keeping a watchful eye on their individual neighbourhoods.
COP volunteers have no special authority to detain criminals, only to alert the police, so McCutcheon says physical prowess is a non-issue for anyone wanting to get involved.
“That’s not what we’re after,” he says. “It’s definitely not a vigilante group, it’s not a violent group. We want to stop the violence, we want to stop the crimes.”
McCutcheon got the idea to establish COP from Flin Flon Post It, a Facebook page showcasing rants and debates among area residents.
On the topic of crime, McCutcheon kept reading posts asking why no one is starting a local COP program.
When McCutcheon posted that he didn’t know what COP was, someone sent him a link on how to establish the initiative in their community.
Has limits
Mayor George Fontaine would welcome COP but says it has its limits.
“I’m never against a program like that as long as it’s well organized and you have the right people around who actually want to try and do that,” he says. “But I mean, most of the [more serious] incidents that we’ve had happen, you know, you have to be at the right place patrolling. And, yeah, it might stop something there, I don’t know.”
McCutcheon too acknowledges that COP is not a cure-all, but he believes having people on the lookout for crime could make a real difference.
“Physical presence is a key factor,” he says.
“The cops can’t be everywhere.”
Aggressive tack
While victims of crime may applaud McCutcheon, some believe city council must take a more aggressive tack by hiring additional police officers.
But Mayor Fontaine says his understanding is that Flin Flon has a full complement of Mounties.
“You know, you can have as many police officers as you want around,” he adds. “They’re not going to be there when these things happen, they’re going to be there to respond to them.”
The Flin Flon RCMP detachment consists of 10 officer positions. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Miles Hiebert says the Mounties use a variety of factors to determine staffing and resource levels at individual detachments.
“They factor in population, crime rate, caseload, geography, crime severity and what types of crimes are occurring in the area, and look at the location specifically,” Cpl. Hiebert told The Reminder last year. “They use this information as indicators or requirements, keeping in mind that they include additional information pertinent to the decision, including consultations with the province for provincial members and consultations with municipalities for municipal members.”
But Gregg Whyte, a former city council candidate, says it’s time Flin Flon abandoned the RCMP altogether and formed its own municipal police force.
Whyte, who says he has been robbed a half-dozen times over the last several years, believes a municipal force would give the community greater control over its own policing.
As for COP, the program operated in Flin Flon for about eight years beginning in 1995. At one time about 60 volunteers were said to be involved.
Interest dwindled and COP disbanded, apparently sometime in 2003. A campaign to reinstate the program in 2005 evidently fizzled.
McCutcheon invites anyone interested in becoming a part of the new COP to attend the next organizational meeting on Wednesday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Burkee’s Sports Lounge.
Interested residents may also contact him via Facebook.
