Call is out for community patrol volunteers | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

THE call is out to recruit community patrol volunteers in Stratford, to man the CCTV cameras at the police station and/or patrol the town at night.
The volunteers are made up of interested community people, who are willing to give some of their time, to take a little bit of responsibility within their own community, and to help the NZ Police make their community a safer environment in which to live. 
All volunteers are vetted by the Police before they can become a member and then they must complete a period of training (usually three months) where they work with those who are already trained. 
Senior sergeant Darrin Haenga said the group are a great help and local police now have the CCTV cameras monitored on a regular basis.
He said the volunteers are women and men from a range of ages.
The volunteers network is a national organisation that was set up in 2001, to help Community Patrols throughout New Zealand as well as to help set them up. Check out CPNZ website  www.communitypatrols.org.nz   
Stratford Community Patrol is run by Central Taranaki Safe Community Trust and coordinated by Dalwyn Smart, Community Safety Officer and Police Liaison Officer Constable David Lindsay, Stratford Police Station.
At present here are 14 volunteers and the organisation would like to raise that number to over 20.
The volunteer system has been operating in Stratford since December 2009 and any person, aged over 18, male or female, who has a caring attitude to their community may offer their services.
Community patrollers act as ‘eyes and ears’ for police. They patrol in pairs and/or monitor the CCTV cameras from the Police Station. Patrollers note anything that could be suspicious and inform police immediately of incidents requiring urgent attention.
They report behaviour such as drinking on the streets, fighting, intentional damage etc.
They don’t get involved but radio police if they spot suspicious behaviour and fill out reports after every shift..
For interest in attending a Stratford Community Patrol information evening, please contact Dalwyn Smart, Community Safety Officer on (06) 765 8863, or email Dalwyn at stratfordns@xtra.co.nz