Local security group looks for support

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This article was published 30/04/2021 (1817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been more than a year since a coalition of locals has been monitoring Oak Bluff for crime, and now, a volunteer is calling for support.

Twelve people are currently part of Oak Bluff’s Citizens on Patrol Program. The group is one of 55 in Manitoba that prowls its neighbourhood looking for suspicious activity. Law enforcement entities send information, like pictures of wanted vehicles, to COPP groups; in return, COPP personnel submit photos and data of what they’ve seen, and they alert authorities if they spot crime.

Oak Bluff’s crew is trained by the RCMP, according to Kerry McInnes, one of the group’s most active members.

McInnes, 68, drives around Oak Bluff in his Honda CR-V during the shifts others don’t want — normally that’s the red-eye, late night to early morning stretch. He keeps a first aid kit, a searchlight and cold weather gear in his trunk. He wears a yellow reflective vest with the COPP logo. A sticker reading “Citizens on Patrol” is branded on his vehicle.

McInnes is a retired civil servant, but he estimates he spends about 60 hours a week on COPP duty.

During a ride through Oak Bluff West last March at nearly 2 a.m., McInnes caught people in three black pickup trucks attempting to steal lumber from half-built homes. McInnes pushed a button in his Honda connecting him to the RCMP’s non-emergency line — but they were so busy, nobody could come to the scene, McInnes said. So, he shined his searchlight and drove right by the thieves. They fled, empty-handed.

Oak Bluff’s COPP group has scared away people trying to break into cars and businesses, McInnes said. It helped Macdonald’s fire department block the highway during a traffic accident that required a STARS air ambulance. It works with local businesses as a pro bono security guard.

Every time McInnes goes out, he takes pictures of the suspicious cars he sees and the times he’s seen them.

McInnes is proud of the program — he said it’s working at keeping crime away. But, he fears it won’t last.

“One of the things I really dread is waking up and having all our volunteers leave the program,” he said.

COPP members don’t get compensation for their work — they can’t claim gas mileage on their taxes, nor do they receive money for the gas they use on duty. McInnes has bought two new tires at $300 each because of things he’s driven over in Oak Bluff’s business park.

Several companies have offered to pay COPP, McInnes said, but the group hasn’t taken anything. 

McInnes said the volunteers aren’t looking for much, but gas money, or some compensation, from government or for-profits would be appreciated. 

“Sooner or later, the volunteers that are out there in 20, 30 below in their patrol cars … they’re just gonna pack up their bags and go,” he said. “Even a small amount of tax rebate back, or … saying ‘Here’s a month’s worth of gas’ … that sort of thing is what we’re looking for, and we just don’t know how to do it.”

He sent an email to the rural municipality of Macdonald’s council looking for support, which council received for its April 20 meeting.

Reeve Brad Erb said the RM supports the COPP program, but needs more information about what the volunteers want, as the letter was “general”.

“We would look to provide assistance where we can that is reasonable,” Erb said. “We look forward to more dialogue and having a more formal request.”

Erb said he’d be open to moving the COPP initiative to a municipal level.

Another area where Oak Bluff’s COPP is struggling is recognition, McInnes said. He’s called the non-emergency RCMP line, and the responder questioned who the group was. But, the local RCMP detachment is in regular contact with COPP, McInnes said.

In an email, Christina Loeppky, the co-ordinator of Oak Bluff’s COPP, said the group formed in the fall of 2019 after seeing rates of property crime increase.

“We wanted to band together to try and deter future criminal activity,” she wrote, adding she believes increased crime would be an ongoing issue if COPP didn’t address it.

However, property crime rates in the RCMP’s Stonewall/Headingley/Teulon detachment area (which covers the RM of Macdonald) dropped in 2020, probably due to the pandemic and people staying home, said Sgt. Sean Grunewald, the detachment’s commander. 

There were 872 reported property crimes in 2020, down from 1,009 in 2019.

People who want to join Oak Bluff’s COPP team can email OakBluffCOPP@gmail.com for details.