SPEAKER (Male, Canadian): Thank you all for coming out tonight to learn about our neighborhood watch program. We all care deeply about the safety of our community, and participating in this program is one way we can work together on that. So, as you probably know already, we are really fortunate to have long-standing partnerships with the local Toronto Police Service, as well as with our City Councilors, some of whom are here tonight.

Let’s start by reminding ourselves of why we are here. We live in a relatively safe city in the world, but Toronto is not free from crime. Far from it, in fact. And we’ve seen certain crimes on the rise in recent years. Uh, petty theft, drug possession, violent crimes…uh, if I’m not mistaken, murder rates have also been increasing.

Research shows that the best way to tackle crime is through prevention, and that’s why we’re here. Prevention is the key, and prevention starts with the community. It’s the people of a community that make it safe through networking, sharing information, having emergency plans, and knowing our community well enough to, to know when to pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1.

For those of you who are new to the group, I’ll go over the basic types of activities we engage in. Our, um, most popular activity is the night watch program. Teams of two to three people take watch in the neighborhood each night, walking the streets and, you know, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. This is what you could call the foundation of any neighborhood watch program.

We also do online alerts…basically a place on our website dedicated to people posting about concerns or about recent happenings that we should all be aware of. I’ll give you an example. We had a couple of bicycles go missing a few months back. Nobody was caught stealing them, but it was clear that there was a thief visiting our area. So, because we were alerted, we could all be extra careful about locking our bikes up properly, which probably prevented a lot more bicycle theft.

All of this is volunteer-run, of course, which means that we really rely on our members to be active and reliable. Many of us have been doing this for over, let’s see…ten years, I guess. And we always welcome new people. But since we do require a certain level of commitment, let me be really clear about what is expected of you as part of the neighbourhood watch.

First of all, each member has to agree to take one night per month of night watch. There are two shifts each night. One starts at 5 and ends at 7:30, and the other starts at 7:30 and ends at 10. So that’s two and a half hours each shift. It seems long, but when you are walking around talking with other people, it goes by fast. Plus, groups usually take 10- to 15-minute breaks every hour or so.

Secondly, we have biweekly meetings that you are highly encouraged to attend. At the meetings we discuss recent events, local news, any program changes…these sorts of things. The meetings take around an hour, give or take. Oh, and we all try to bring snacks and beverages so that it’s a bit more of a jovial atmosphere.

I should also mention that we have a membership fee. It’s $30 per year per member. I’m sure you’re wondering, why is there a fee for a volunteer-run organization? Well, basically the fees pay for our website domain and maintenance. We also use the money to buy reflective vests for our night watch. It’s really important for your safety that cars can see you clearly.

So, if you are interested in joining our group, then all you have to do is register with Marsha in the back. She’ll help you fill out an application and give you some information pamphlets. And if you have any questions, I’ll be around for another half hour or so.

Answers:

1. B

2. E

3. A

4. D

5. C

6. D

7. two

8. biweekly

9. $30

10. reflective vests