Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 08/05) - Charlie Wilson looked over the pile of items in hands, sees a CD and said, "Queen's Greatest Hits, I really like that album."

Wilson is a Citizen on Patrol (COPS) and the items were left behind by someone he called the RCMP about.

A couple began arguing on the Frame Lake Trail, and Wilson watched it get out of hand.

The woman struck the man with her plastic bag, scattering the contents. The man then shoved her into the lake.

The direct line paid off. The RCMP arrived in under seven minutes.

The Citizens on Patrol are the extra set of eyes and ears for the RCMP. They aren't allowed to stop crime, but they do call in everything they see.

They also do their best to sound like police officers. COPS weren't taking a break at Tim Horton's, they were at "Tango Hotel."

They use 10-4 on the radio, and a licence plate is a NWT marker.

Wilson wanted to be a police officer when he was younger. He needs glasses, so a career in law enforcement wasn't an option.

With Wilson on the shift were partners Debbie Decker and Wayne Overbo.

All three spend their days as civil servants for the GNWT. After the call to the RCMP, they were excited. Overbo and Decker grilled Wilson for the details. Actually stopping a crime is the major motivation for this group.

They patrol Yellowknife, checking behind buildings and in sheltered locations, from Latham Island to the end of the Karn Lake Road.

RCMP come and go in Yellowknife, but COPS are mostly long-time residents. They know where to look.They have heard new officers on the scanner who couldn't find the Explorer Hotel.

When they left for one recent patrol, they were handed a sketch of someone the police want interview.

Decker spotted a group of youths loading a bike into a truck, and noted the plate number, just in case.

Later in the evening, they saw a fox and her kits. Further along the road they saw someone walking a dog without a leash.

Overbo leaned out the window and identified himself as a member of COPS, then let the people know about the foxes. They leashed their dog.

Patrolling isn't a smooth ride for COPS. Their car is an older, white Ford Taurus.

The hood won't close completely and the car smells suspiciously like burning oil.

Their other vehicle is in the shop. The group requested $15,000 from city in March, but only received $5,000.

COPS is like a social club that watches for crime.

"It's like belonging to Elks or Lions or Rotary, you're there for the social aspect, but you feel good because you are doing something for the community," said Overbo.

There are 22 COPS members who meet their quota of two four-hour patrols a month.

It was shift number 30 for Decker. "I've been here since 1981 and saw a big change, the increase in drugs. I felt the need to help," said Decker.

Now that his kids are grown, Wilson has time to devote to the program.

"The summer before we started, my kids cars had been vandalized three times over the course of a summer, that was disturbing," said Wilson.