The Neighbourhood Watch program in St. James is looking to kick into higher gears this year following its upcoming annual general meeting.

On Wed., May 16, the organization will hold its AGM in the new Sturgeon Heights Community Centre at 210 Rita St. The meeting will cover elections of the board, and include a presentation by former Winnipeg police officer Larry Levasseur on fraud prevention.

Organizers hope the presentation will kickstart a series of information sessions the group plans to host throughout the community during the rest of the year.

"There’s not too much going on but we want to change that and get a little more active in the community," said Wanda Prychitko, president of Citizens For Crime Awareness for St. James, which administers Neighbourhood Watch.

Registration for the meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the meeting slated for 7.

Refreshments and snacks will be served.

The organization covers a huge territory — from the Perimeter Highway in the west, to the Assiniboine River in the south, Polo Park to the east and up north into Brooklands.

There are about 294 block captains, Prychitko said, and the group wants to build up its presence in the Brooklands community.

"They’ve kind of been left out," she said. People out there don’t realize that’s in our chapter’s area, so we want to touch base with areas on our periphery, just to remind people and rekindle interest in their own communities."

The group plans to key in on specific issues endemic to each neighbourhood, Prychitko said.

For example, graffiti could be the biggest problem in Silver Heights but not in Brooklands, she said.

"Instead of maybe having one or two mostly information sessions just about Neighbourhood Watch, we want to get something more interesting out," Prychitko said.

For more information, phone the CFCA at 837-3672 or email cfcasja@mts.net.

matt.preprost@canstarnews.com