Erika Sherk
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 05, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - "A fistfight broke out between two individuals... One was thrown into the lake. It was an interesting half-hour."

Charlie Wilson was recalling one of the more interesting patrols he took part in while out one night by the Frame Lake trail.

Wilson is a volunteer with Citizens on Patrol Service (COPS). The organization's mandate is to help free up the RCMP by patrolling the city part-time.

If they come across a crime in action, they report it to police, who come and deal with it.

In the lake-side assault case, Wilson and his partner called the RCMP and stayed on scene as police and an ambulance raced over.

COPS volunteers may not be real cops but they are proving their worth as crime-busting partners nonetheless, according to RCMP.

During 2006 they made 81 patrols, helping police during Raven Mad Daze and with the fire at Ecole St. Joseph last summer, among other outings.

Coming up to their third anniversary in Yellowknife, COPS basically do the easier, safer patrol work, freeing RCMP officers so they can stick to the riskier duties.

"We are strictly observation and reporting," said John Carter, chair of the Yellowknife COPS.

"The idea is to get extra eyes and ears out within Yellowknife to provide RCMP with a heads-up with what's going on."

Twenty-volunteers strong, COPS go on patrols, in pairs or more, usually in the evenings, when calls to the police are more frequent.

Usually it is by vehicle, but the volunteers also go on foot and by bike and snowmobile, "depending on the weather," said Carter with a laugh, adding that volunteers tend to stick to their vehicles this time of year.

Normally patrols run four to six hours, but on weekends, they will often stay out until after the bars close around 3 a.m., said Carter.

They are briefed by police before every patrol, which gives them their priorities for the night, whether it be hunting down a stolen vehicle, a suspected person, or ongoing problems like passed-out drunks.

It can be a real education coming face-to-face with the darker side of the NWT's capital, said Carter.

"It's not as safe a city as we like to think it is," he said.

"It changes your perspective on that."

Wilson, who has volunteered with the organization since the beginning, agreed.

"Before I got involved I was rather nave about what goes on in our community," said Wilson.

It also opened his eyes to what RCMP officers see all the time, he said.

"The RCMP have to deal with some very difficult situations in our community that no one hears about," he said.

That ties into another reason for COPS's existence, providing patrols in the quieter areas of town, so RCMP can concentrate on the more challenging spots.

The program has made it easier for the police, said RCMP liaison Const. Maria Williams. "It means more eyes and ears out there for us. "We can't be everywhere at all times," she said.

Sticking to the quieter areas of town can make for uneventful patrols, said Wilson.

"It can be really exciting or really dull," said Carter. Wilson seconded that, particularly the latter part.

"I'd say 75 per cent of times we do a four-hour shift the most exciting thing we see is a fox."

When it comes to COPS' highlight for the year, Carter paused.

"There have been so many of them, that's a tough one," he said.

Locating a vehicle used in a drive-by shooting was a big one, he said, but for him that was not the most important work they've done."I'd say for myself, it's finding people passed out in obscure places and saving their lives," Carter said.