By paNOW

Ward 8 considers neighbourhood watch program

Jun 22, 2018 | 6:00 PM

Another group of residents in Prince Albert has expressed interest in assembling a neighbourhood watch.

Ward 8 Coun. Ted Zurakowski hosted a meeting Thursday night, inviting community members interested in the idea to learn more and discuss plans to move forward on implementing the program. A crowd more than 50 strong descended on St. Anne School to hear what would be involved in launching the volunteer effort, Zurakowski said, alongside many residents already quite motivated to roll out the project.

“We talked about how we are here for a reason,” he said. “Let’s get organized and [determine] what are the next steps.”

Insp. Jason Stonechild was on hand representing city police, and walked attendees through the logistics of running a neighbourhood watch. Moving forward, Zurakowski said he expects to survey residents on what they would be able to offer, such as volunteer time, and schedule another meeting to find co-ordinators and nail down a core group of people who are willing to be trained more extensively.

The group will scrutinize and build off other neighbourhood watch programs in the city — Midtown and Crescent Heights — to learn best practices, he said.

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“That is the benefit of not being first,” Zurakowski said. “We can learn from some of the hiccoughs and glitches, as well as some of the successes that they have had.”

Though Ward 8 is not home to the volumes of crime plaguing other parts of the city, Zurakowski said the mixture of commercial corridors, such as South Hill Mall and the liquor store, woven through residential areas can lead to substantial pedestrian traffic. Overall, Zurakowski said he was proud to see residents stepping up to watch out for one another and asked anyone interested in participating to reach out.

“You should know who belongs and who doesn’t, and if we can get a cross-section geographically and across the ward of people from all four corners knowing who their neighbours are, it is great,” he said. “It makes the neighbourhood stronger and increases the health of it.”

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr