- Ward 81 Councillor Ashley Potts has distributed 20 bicycles to safety volunteers in Rocklands and Westridge to enhance patrols and visibility.
- These mobile patrols aim to deter crime, providing residents with a greater sense of safety and hope, especially around bus stops.
- Plans are underway to introduce rewards for these dedicated volunteers, recognizing their selfless contributions to keeping the streets safe.
Ward allocation and the addition of support from the provincial department of police oversight and community safety will see safety volunteers in the Rocklands and Westridge areas better equipped to patrol their neighbourhoods.
Ward 81 Councillor, Ashley Potts, handed over the first of 20 bicycles last week. “Unfortunately, we don’t have hundreds of them, we’ve got 20 that I’m going to be distributing, 10 to Rocklands and 10 to Westridge, as part of my ward and the neighbourhood watches that’s been active will be able to ride around and not just be standing static at one bus stop,” says Potts.
This allows for better visibility and instills a sense of community safety.
“It gives less room for criminals to hide their activities, because they don’t know where the volunteer is going to be riding. The importance goes without saying: it provides a sense of peace and hope and safety within the community. When they see these yellow jackets, I know for a fact many have said to me if I can just make it past that corner and I can see Mr J or I can see Naz or Washiela then I know I’m safe,” he says.
“Many commuters that go to the bus stop build their time and their connecting bus around that person, so if they are not there then they feel unsafe. It is important to equip them and we want to go over and above equipping them because they volunteer, they do it because they love it.”
Potts says they are currently working on rewards systems for volunteers, that will assist with small vouchers, giving back to those who tirelessly work to keep the streets safe.
