Volunteers with the Vancouver Police Department’s (VPD) Neighbors On Watch (NOW) program will participate in a “saturation patrol” this evening, Tuesday, Sept. 30, to look for, and report, suspicious activity. While VPD NOW has conducted this type of large-scale group patrol in the past, 40 volunteers have signed up to help – the most in the program’s six year history.

The 40 volunteers will be divided into 16 patrol teams. From 6 to 8:30 p.m., the teams will patrol on foot, bike and in vehicles across the city. One squad will also patrol in a specially equipped truck, looking for stolen vehicles. The citizen patrol teams will be supervised by Neighborhood Police Officers and the patrol routes will be directed based on areas that need special attention or increased police presence.

NOW volunteers are non-confrontational, highly visible, and do not take any law enforcement action. Each member of NOW had completed the NOW training academy and commits to a minimum of four hours of volunteer patrol time each month. NOW volunteers wear issued uniforms, place a NOW magnet on their vehicle while on patrol, and report anything out of the ordinary to police while on their patrols in the community. More information and a printable application, visit http://tinyurl.com/m8j528k.