Citizens on patrol: Moncton group takes to the streets to deter crime

In the early hours of the evening, Yves Belliveau walks the streets watching for trouble.

Wearing a reflective yellow vest, he's looking for graffiti, bike theft and suspicious people.

"We're extra eyes and ears on the road," he said. "Police can't be everywhere all the time."

As a member of the Codiac Regional Citizens on Patrol Association, Belliveau is part of a group of more than 40 volunteers helping to report information to the RCMP. They walk, drive and bike parts of greater Moncton, sharing photos and notes on suspicious activity through an app.

On Monday night, seven members gathered for a group patrol in Riverview. While they typically head out in their own neighbourhoods, once a month the volunteers go together along with an RCMP officer. It's a time to ask questions and learn more about what to look for on patrol.

As the sun sets, they take photos of graffiti on a playground and stop to chat briefly with a school principal.

Behind Riverview Middle School, they see a man inside a dumpster. While RCMP Const. André Lirette goes over to check on him, volunteers ask questions about what to do.

Trevor Goodwin, a founding member of the group and a community officer with the RCMP, tells the members not to approach or interact with the man, but to put a note in the app if they want to.

"If you walk by, and you know that dumpster has always got a padlock in it ... you might think that someone's cut that padlock. At that point it's a crime," he said. "But if it's just an open dumpster, then anybody can go in."

After the patrol wrapped up for the night, Goodwin explained in an interview that volunteers are told to simply be extra "eyes and ears" for police, but they should never intervene themselves. For more serious activity, they're told to call the non-emergency line or 911, he said.

"This is very much an observe and report program, so we really push not engaging," Goodwin said.

"If it is something, that's great, and if it isn't, there's no harm in reporting. The key is that you have that data, it's gone through, and then the RCMP can use it to maybe increase their presence in your area."

Citizens on Patrol is a well-established program primarily in Western Canada, but the concept is new to New Brunswick. The Moncton association started up three years ago and is slowly gaining volunteers in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe.

There are no set times or routes for patrols. Members can go out whenever and wherever they want, recording any observations into the app. They don't wear vests when patrolling alone, to try to maintain a low profile for safety reasons.

People who apply to join have to undergo a criminal background check and a three-hour training session led by Goodwin, who explains safety practices, how to use the app, what to look for and how to interact with vulnerable people in the community.

Leah Musgrove, a board member and volunteer, got involved after her husband's truck was stolen out of the driveway of their west-end home.

"I just wanted to do more to make my community safer," she said.

"One of the ideas of the group is we're a visual deterrent. So the more members we can get — and get out in the community — hopefully that can reduce crimes in the area."

In the last few years, residents in Moncton's west end have been voicing concerns over crime, drug use and homelessness in the neighbourhood.

Michael Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, said the citizen patrols are, in part, an attempt to address an under-staffed RCMP.

"These patrols are also a response, one could argue, of communities, neighbourhoods being frustrated by a lack of what they may perceive as adequate policing, so they may try to take matters into their own hands," he said.

Boudreau said the citizen groups could have an affect on deterring crime, but there's not enough data to know how effective they are. He said they are largely a "stopgap measure," and could help as a liaison between police and communities.

"I think the potential could be there, so long as these groups don't try to take the law into their own hands because then things can get very dangerous very quickly," he said.

One risk, Boudreau said, is the patrols could simply shift crime to other parts of the city, without reducing it overall.

The Moncton group said it's hard to point to clear evidence their patrols are reducing crime, but there are signs their presence is helping by getting graffiti removed and locating neighbours in distress.

Belliveau, the association's chair, said he initially got involved to try to make his community safer. He lives in Moncton's Pinehurst neighbourhood in the city's northwest end.

"We don't want to push things somewhere else. We just want to make sure we take care of neighbours, take care of our friends, take care of our family," he said.

Video journalist

Alexandre Silberman is a video journalist with CBC News based in Moncton. He has previously worked at CBC Fredericton, Power & Politics, and Marketplace. You can reach him by email at: [email protected]

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

A variety of newsletters you'll love, delivered straight to you.