Crime spike in Sundre inspires residents to organize street patrols

A group of Sundre, Alta.,residents say a spike in property crime in their communityhas prompted them to restart a Citizens on Patrol group.

The groups, which are active in several Alberta communities, enlist volunteers to patrol the streets to act as an extra set of eyes for police.

"We've seen break and enters, from people breaking into our buildings, to cutting our compound fences," said Todd Dalke, who lives in the town 125 kilometres northwest of Calgary.

Dalke says he has seen an increasing number of thefts at his Sundre tire and automotive shop over the past few years.

"Very frustrating. It's not all local. A lot of it is people coming in from out of the area," he said.

The community has experienced a 30to 40 per cent increase in property crime in the last two years, Sundre RCMP said.

Officers are now working with the residents to organize the new Citizens on Patrol group.

That includes Joanna McKenzie, who says the organization was last active in the town in the mid-1990s.

"It has been important to me just mostly because I do have friends who were hit by a lot of the thefts and so it was time for us to start doing something about it," she said.

Several Alberta communities are seeing a similar problem.

Ennio Ricci with Alberta Citizens on Patrol says the organization is active in 74 communities, and that a third of the groups were launched since 2015.

"We are extra eyes and ears for the police," he said.

The Sundre residents hope to have volunteers patrolling their streets later this year.

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