IT SHOULDN'T SURPRISE ANYBODY IN THE LEAST TO LEARN THAT A GROUP OF NORTH
SHORE RESIDENTS HAS FORMED A COMMUNITY SAFETY PATROL IN AN EFFORT TO TAKE
BACK THEIR STREETS

It shouldn't surprise anybody in the least to learn that a group of North
Shore residents has formed a community safety patrol in an effort to take
back their streets.

This idea isn't new.

Many communities have established, through their local police departments,
official citizens' patrols, funded through the city, which sees
civic-minded people volunteer their time to help make their town a bit safer.

These patrols use clearly marked vehicles to roam the city day and night,
acting as a second set of eyes for the overtaxed police force.

Certainly, such endeavours have prevented burglaries, dissuaded parties in
parks and forced the criminal element from streets used by families, kids
and others who simply deserve the right to go about their business without
being confronted by drugs, crime and violence.

But they do much more.

Seeing a Citizen's Patrol vehicle pass by a darkened parking lot, or cruise
through a dank alleyway, can and does give members of the public some
reassurance that others care about the town, and are donating their time to
make it a worthwhile place in which to live.

The North Shore patrol is in its infancy, but if those involved stick to
the plan, results will be seen.

Sure, these patrol members with their orange vests may simply succeed in
pushing hookers, thieves and drug dealers to another part of Kamloops.

So be it.

Joe Sixpack in North Kamloops has lived long enough with multiple
burglaries, with walking his daughter to school while playing hopscotch
around discarded needles, with avoiding certain areas at night because they
have been commandeered by society's lowlifes.

Critics will point to a failure of the social safety net, to funding cuts
and other decisions by government that have resulted in such deplorable
conditions.

Perhaps.

But there's also something called personal accountability.

And it takes much more than a decision in Victoria or Ottawa to prompt
someone to continue robbing to pay for an addiction that was self-inflicted.

Those busting their ass every day to raise a family and pay the bills
shouldn't be held hostage by the poor decisions of others.

March on, community patrol.

Citizen patrols are a necessity