Only two months into the program, the downtown Watch is already looking to expand.
The Lethbridge Police safety initiative is recruiting another 20 volunteers.
Watch Manager Jeff Hansen says the red shirts and jackets have been welcomed with open arms downtown, but in order to keep rolling at good pace, they need to beef up their volunteer numbers. “We’ve found with 24 volunteers now, it’s just not enough to continue the success. Just adding additional volunteers, which had been in the mix, will help make scheduling easier and will give us a max amount of people (from the Watch) on the streets at any given time between 10 am and 10 pm.”
Highly visible and recognizable by their red shirts and coats, Watch patrollers are deployed seven days a week throughout the year to enhance public safety and connect citizens with the appropriate response from police, EMS or social and community services.
Watch volunteers are connected directly to LPS by radio and patrol downtown Lethbridge in teams. They are responsible for reporting criminal activity, safety concerns, traffic hazards, nuisance behaviour, keeping a daily record of all incidents and activities, providing First Aid, tourist information and Safe Walk services.
All volunteer shifts are four hours long. Applications can be found on the Lethbridge Police Service web site until July 19th.