Kamloops Block Watch: returning to a neighbourhood near you

Kamloops City, Crime Prevention

2024-07-30 11:30 PDT

File # PSA

View larger image: a ‘Block Watch Area’ sign is posted along the street in a Kamloops neighbourhood.

Is there something strange happening in your neighbourhood? Are items mysterious vanishing from your yard? If this sounds like your street, the Block Watch Program could be the solution you’re looking for.

As part of Kamloops’s community safety initiatives, the local RCMP Detachment is partnering with the City of Kamloops to relaunch Block Watch, a program intended to help empower residents interested in reducing crime.

The Block Watch Program began in British Columbia in 1986 and is no stranger to Kamloops. In the late 2010s, approximately 35 blocks were active participants in the community safety initiative, but over time, engagement began to decline. As part of its strategic planning, the Crime Prevention Team decided it was time to renew the program through promotion and partnership building.

The main objective of Block Watch is to build safer neighbourhoods by encouraging residents to take a proactive approach to crime prevention and safety, said Corporal Dana Napier of the Kamloops RCMP Detachment’s Crime Prevention Unit. Providing education on target hardening, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles, and recognizing and reporting suspicious behaviour through the Block Watch Program, enables a community to play a role in its safety and the reduction of crime.

The program involves forming groups or blocks of residents who watch over each other and their neighbours' properties as if they were their own.

It encourages community members to get to know their neighbours, connect regularly, and foster a sense of community, said Lisa Gammel, the City’s Crime Prevention Coordinator.

Currently in Kamloops, there are 21 active Block Watches in neighbourhoods scattered throughout the city, including Dallas, North Shore, Valleyview, Bachelor Heights, downtown, and others. Participating streets are marked with a Block Watch sign at the beginning and end of the area they represent.

Right now, the Crime Prevention Team is connecting with existing groups and encouraging those interested in the Block Watch Program to reach out for more information. Once they do, coordinator Sim Uppal will connect with them, explain what they need to get started, and provide presentations about what’s involved and what services are available.

To learn more about Block Watch or to sign up for the program, visit Kamloops.ca/BlockWatch or contact the North Shore Community Policing Office at 250-376-5099, or Sim Uppal, the Kamloops Crime Prevention Block Watch Coordinator, at 250-828-3238.

Some steps to start your own Block Watch:

• Identify a Captain and Co-Captain
• Fill out an application form and Police Information Check at the North Shore Community Policing Office,
• Canvass your neighbourhood to build your group, and submit a map and list of participating houses,
• Attend a training session with a Block Watch Coordinator, and
• Have signs installed on your street to identify yourself as a neighbourhood that reports suspicious activity.

Released by:

Email: crystal.evelyn@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Website: kamloops.rcmp.ca

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