Here's how citizen volunteers with the Stolen Auto Recovery Program spend a typical evening on patrol.
Volunteers for the evening meet and form 2-person teams. They check the date of the licence plate information on their portable computers and download today's data base if it's not there yet. They also do a quick test routine on their police-band radios.
A community police liaison officer begins a formal briefing, suggesting where members should patrol, alerting them to vehicles believed to have been used in a break-and-enter or other recent crime, and describing suspected criminals they should especially watch for. The patrollers are reminded that the iron rule of the stolen auto recovery program is "observe and report only."
The teams take to their vehicles for their 6-hour patrol. As one member drives, the other is prepared to key licence plate numbers into a portable computer. All teams work in the same area and remain in radio contact with the supervising police officer who can join up with them on short notice. Support for and safety of citizen volunteers is critical.
The volunteers begin to slowly patrol the streets of the assigned area, keying in the letters and digits on the licence plates of both the parked and moving vehicles they pass. If there is no match after 3 or more keystrokes, the computer beeps politely once, and the operator begins to input the next plate. "It's a lot like fishing," observes Les, a 5½ year Citizen's Crime Watch volunteer. "You keep hoping for a strike, but there are lots of nights you don't get one."
When the computer does generate a match, a chime sounds. If the suspected stolen vehicle is parked, the patrollers pull off the road nearby and keep an eye on it. They stay in their vehicle and radio in to the supervising officer. The officer confirms via a real-time, on-line link that the identified vehicle is the correct make and model. If it is a stolen vehicle, the officer calls for a tow truck and heads to the scene.
Once the police arrive, the volunteer team resumes its patrol.
If the team identifies a vehicle that's moving, or if the thief drives off in the suspected vehicle, they follow at a safe distance, relaying reports to the supervising officer. The officer then co-ordinates with nearby patrol cars that gradually close in on the suspect vehicle, doing all they can to avoid a dangerous high-speed chase. In 1997, strikes of this kind resulted in more than 70 arrests province-wide.
