With a lack of volunteers joining its ranks it’s likely the Richmond District Community Patrol will shut down.
When most of us are asleep on Friday and Saturday nights, two volunteers drive the streets of Richmond keeping a check on things and notifying police if anything isn’t as it should be. But unless some new volunteers offer up their time, the patrol cannot continue.
“I’ve been with the patrol for 13 years and have noticed a massive difference by our presence,” says Richmond District Community Patrol chairman and co-founder, Marty Price.
Marty says that a previous offender once told him that people recognise the sound of the police Holdens coming, whereas the community patrol car is upon them before they realise.
Volunteers usually only head out one night every six weeks, but with the current level of volunteers, some volunteers are having to do up to three nights a month to ensure the patrol meets its mandate.
Volunteers can be anywhere from 17 years of age and above and from all parts of the community. Some of the volunteers are people interested in joining the police force to get a feel for things before joining up. But anyone is encouraged to apply.
Working in pairs, volunteers need to cover a specific area each night but mix up their routes, encompassing schools, industrial areas, cemeteries and general high crime areas in Wakefield, Brightwater, and Richmond.
Most nights there’s not much on, which is a great result, but there are other times when volunteers are really on the scene and able to assist the police.
One night the team had to assist a policewoman being harmed by an offender resisting arrest. Marty drove her to the hospital and says those are moments when you get a real sense of the importance of what they do.
There are multiple ways the patrol assists the community. As well as the night watches, the patrol volunteers help at events such as the Santa Parade and Ghosts and Goblins.
It’s very much a behind-the-scenes existence, driving the streets at night, with most of us not even aware they’re out there. But volunteers are vital for the continuation of the patrol and keeping an eye out for the community and the police.
Please get in contact Marty Price at rdcpnz@gmail.com if you’re keen to do your bit to help keep crime off the region’s streets.