Citizens' Patrol

The Citizens' Patrol had its beginnings in May of 1984 when Chief Constable Jim Stewart of the Matsqui Police Department authorized the implementation of the Matsqui Citizens' Patrol.

The intent of a Citizens' Patrol was to provide citizens with an opportunity to act as extra eyes and ears for the Police in protecting the Community. The Matsqui Citizens’ Patrol proudly served until January 1, 1995 when the Municipalities of Matsqui and Abbotsford amalgamated to be called the City of Abbotsford and the name of the Citizens' Patrol changed to Abbotsford.

The Matsqui Citizens' Patrol was distinguished early in its beginnings with saving the life of an extremely intoxicated young male who was found submerged in a body of water at a construction site. The volunteers were checking for thieves stealing construction material when they noticed the youth and quickly removed him from the water. Emergency services were summonsed to the scene and the youth was rushed to the local hospital where the attending physician and medical staff struggled to save his life. Everyone's efforts were not in vain and the young person eventually survived. The attending Physician noted in the final medical reports that had the Citizens' Patrol not noticed the youth, he would have certainly perished having regard to his condition.

The Abbotsford Citizens' Patrol has grown over the years to become a highly technical and sophisticated organization. In 2007, the program has grown to 100 members. These volunteers patrolled 70,983 km, given 10,956 hours, and checked 630,483 vehicles on the ICBC Stolen Auto Recovery database. The volunteers of the Citizens Patrol Program have successfully recovered 83 stolen vehicles and 33 stolen licence plates.  They also completed 6,109 audits on vehicles in parking lots to educate the public on Locking out Auto Crime. Abbotsford Citizens Patrol has a fleet of 5 vehicles and 6 bicycles to use for their many patrols.

What do we do?

Abbotsford Citizens' Patrol volunteers perform many tasks. They can include:

  • Bike Patrols
  • Foot Patrols
  • Park Patrols
  • Vehicle Patrols
  • Lock Out Auto Crime
  • Residential Vacation Checks
  • Special Events
  • Stolen Auto Recovery
There have been times that the volunteers are called out to assist with emergency evacuations, deliver crime prevention and emergency evacuation notices and other duties to assist the Abbotsford Police Department.