For areas with many apartments, such as the West End area of the City
of Vancouver, this program can be very helpfull. The main purpose
of this program is to bring residences of local apartments closer
together with each other and with the police; as well as to provide
them with crime prevention tools. Information is mainly conveyed in
the form of a newsletter, that is produced, maintained and
distributed by station volunteers.
Working closely with the station constable, volunteers contact
the apratment buildings in the area retreiving information. At
first, the main information retrived includes the building name,
address, the building's owner and/or management company, the
building manager or other contact persons, as well as the number
of units in the building. The information is then maintained and
updated at regular intervals.
The newsletter contains important crime prevention information
and updates. It can address current safety concerns, as well as
any letters or questions that are asked by local residences. Station
programs, such as Family or Bicycle Identification can be advertised
in the newsletter and performed for the residents at their request,
either on a personal level or as a group.
In many respects this program is similar to Block Watch, and by
all means can work with Block Watch programs. But most of all, it
is a good way to draw people together - both through the newsletter
and through the contacts.
