Parents, stroller walkers and child owners!
This is our chance to get active and make a difference in our own neighbourhood.
The Resident's Association has decided to organize a resident's patrol called the "Roam" with help, training and liability form the VPD and Chinatown Policing Centre. Sign up and make your daily strolling into an aware and purposeful presence on the streets with our very own vests and name badges. Get to meet other neighbours and learn about safety issues concerning Strathcona. Read more below and be sure to reply to me to get your name on the list.
The Strathcona Residents Association invites your input on a proposal to establish a resident’s patrol in Strathcona.
Constable Colin Downton of the Vancouver Police Department and Chris Beach, retired cop turned director of the Chinese Community Policing Centre (CCPC) have offered to collaborate with the SRA to establish a residents patrol organization.
We're tentatively calling it the Strathcona Roamers, or Roam. (Proposals for a catchy name are welcome.)
The Strathcona Roam would be an organized group of trained volunteers who would walk the neighbourhood in small groups of three or four in order to:
1) Provide a positive and regular presence of residents in the streets, parks and lanes of Strathcona to improve the sense of well-being in the neighbourhood and reduce the vulnerability of our area to criminal activity and street disorder.
2) Provide a proactive way for residents to contribute to the community, meet their neighbours, get to know the neighbourhood, and become aware of current issues our area may be facing.
The Strathcona Roam’s shifts will focus on a few specific goals to be determined by the SRA. Examples of goals could be:
• Create a positive presence in parks and school areas.
• Interrupt and reduce sex trade activity in residential areas.
• Reduce car theft and theft from cars
• Identify places where there is drug use or dealing
Roamers are not expected to intervene in any criminal activity they may witness. They would just keep their distance and phone 911.
The Roam’s focus may change according to varying situations such as closed schools during holidays, rashes of break-ins or arsons. Roamers might sometimes distribute leaflets or other info (e.g. to cyclists asking them to slow down, use lights at night, exercise caution at the linear park; or to neighbours to remind them to close windows, keep valuables out of sight, etc.).
Patrol shifts will be about two hours, and may be during the day or night (depending on needs or specific goals). Each “roamer” will be able to volunteer for a shift and area they feel strongly about. Dog owners and parents of young children might even be able to maintain their own basic walking routines while doing a roam, but now will be trained to look out for specific things. Cell phones are not required but are an asset. Roamers can pick their own start- and end-points for their patrol.
On an active Strathcona Roam, volunteers will be clearly identifiable by their bright vests with SRA logos. The Roam will be updated by the police as to current issues in the neighbourhood and can likewise inform police about local matters they may not be aware of. Each patrol shift will prepare a brief report to email.
For liability reasons, all volunteers must have a VPD criminal record check. The CCPC will conduct an evening training session (no longer than two hours) for all volunteers at the Strathcona Community Centre, after which they will all receive volunteer badges (photo ID) and vests. The criminal record check, training, vests, and ID are free. Sometime this summer, we'll organize a barbecue or party for the Roamers.
