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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Last week, a long-time Yellowknife couple was so fed up with neighbourhood vandalism they suggested the city adopt a vigilante-type group similar to New York City's Guardian Angels.

Founders of Community Patrol Services Mike Lowing and Lea Martin stand in front of their first patrol van in 2006. - NNSL file photo

While RCMP said such a group is unlikely to receive its support, there are two citizen groups in Yellowknife who patrol the streets with their full blessing: Citizens on Patrol Service (COPS) and Community Patrol Services (CPS).

Unlike the Guardian Angels who make arrests and tend to create controversy wherever they go, both of Yellowknife's citizen patrol groups are more like a neighbourhood watch.

Instead of getting involved in conflict, they operate as "another set of eyes and ears," said Sgt. Larry O'Brien.

"Obviously when a police car rolls down the road, most people stop what they're doing if they're doing something wrong," he said.

Citizen-run patrols, however, may be able to catch would-be criminals unaware.

Volunteer patrollers call in any suspicious behaviour they see to the RCMP, said city councillor Lydia Bardak, who was a COPS member before the formation of CPS, at which time she switched over.

COPS members receive training both from the organization and from the police. The RCMP takes members on a ride-along before they're initiated into patrolling.

"If there's a building where the door is open and that looks weird, they'll call it in," said Bardak. "If there's somebody sneaking around by a building they'll call it in."

Members usually go out on Fridays or Saturdays, or both, at about 10 or 11 p.m. for around four hours, said Bardak. Before hitting the streets, they'll be briefed by the RCMP and pick up their gear - like police radios.

"If there's anything in particular that we need to be aware of they'll indicate (it)," said Bardak.

This could include anything from giving patrollers a licence plate number to asking them to watch out for, say, a foster child who didn't come home earlier, she added.

One volunteer, Cam Kos, has come across a few fires, witnessed accidents, a break and enters, some assaults, found a stolen vehicle and dozens of stolen bikes and has seen all kinds of reckless driving during his two years of patrolling.

Kos started volunteering because of a problem he was having in his own neighbourhood.

"Like most COPS members, I wanted to help make the community safer and give something back," he said of his decision to join. "Any help we as citizens can provide to (the RCMP) is like helping ourselves."

He added volunteering with COPS has given him a new appreciation and greater respect for the work the RCMP does. Citizens on Patrol began in 2004. At that time the city injected $10,000 of start-up funds, the Elks Club donated $2,000 and the Rotary Club donated $1,000. It continues to receive funding from the Yellowknife Community Wellness Coalition, which is an umbrella organization for both COPS and CPS.

Currently, COPS has about 20 members, but is always looking for more.

Its complementary group, Community Patrol Services, started in 2006 and its members "are more out there trying to help people who don't need to be in cells but need to get off the streets," O'Brien said.

Those people are usually drunk and are taken by volunteers to places such as shelters or a friend's residence instead of to the drunk tank.

"This certainly takes a little bit off our plates," said O'Brien.