MISSION – The District of Mission is the latest partner community in CUPE BC’s City Watch program, which brings CUPE workers together with management and local police to help make communities safer and more secure.
“Local government employees are working in communities throughout BC every day. Without keeping them from their regular jobs or costing more money, they can help make their communities safer, with just a bit of extra effort,” said CUPE BC Secretary-Treasurer Paul Faoro. “It’s about giving something back to the community and we’re proud to be a part of making that happen.”
“We want the public to know that if they are having difficulty, whether it is due to a criminal incident, accident or medical emergency, they can approach any District of Mission employee for assistance in calling the needed emergency service,” said Mayor Ted Adlem. “When the City Watch Program was presented to Council, we unanimously agreed this was something we wanted to support. It is just one more way that we can make Mission a great place to live, work and play.”
“Mission CUPE workers are in the community every day pruning trees, cutting grass, fixing potholes, repairing water mains, cleaning the streets and many other activities,” said Donna-Lee Lakes, President of CUPE Local 1267. “Just by being on the alert, keeping our eyes open and reporting suspicious activities to the RCMP, we can help keep Mission safer.”
City employees’ work from vehicles equipped with two-way radios. When they see criminal or suspicious activity they call their dispatcher on a priority basis and the call gets transferred to the RCMP.
“With this kind of quick response, we hope to help the RCMP respond while there is still a chance to catch the criminals, or better yet, help prevent people from committing crimes in the first place,” said Lakes.
Mission City Watch is made possible through the cooperation of the District of Mission, the Mission RCMP, CUPE Local 1267 and CUPE BC.
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