Members of Winkler Citizens on Patrol Program (COPP) had the opportunity to network with members of the 58 other groups from across the province at a conference last weekend in Winnipeg.    

Dustin Brown is the Citizens on Patrol Coordinator for the Winkler branch. He said the event was very educational and an opportunity to hear things that are working for other groups, or perhaps not working.
    
"We had some presentations on drug-impaired driving from MPI, and also a presentation from RCMP on drugs in Manitoba in general, and then we talked about cannabis

marijuana, which I guess will be a reality here very soon."

Canada is expected to legalize marijuana July 1, 2018.
    
Brown noted it was also interesting to hear the different challenges that others communities are facing. For a lot of other groups, especially the COPP members in Winnipeg, drugs are something they struggle with on a daily basis, "it's definitely different than we have here," he said.

The Winkler branch is very fortunate, Brown said, in that they have strong support from the local police department, something they realized not every group in the province enjoys.

"Here in Winkler we're very fortunate to be able to communicate with the police very easily when we're on a patrol, and have the support from them," said Brown.  "Some places, especially more rural areas, they don't quite have that, so it's a big challenge for them."

As many times and as many years as they've attended the conference, Brown said there are always new skills to pick up on. One presentation local members attended was led by the patrol Sergeant of the Winnipeg Police Service on observation skills.

"So I think we'll be able to implement a few of those things just to make it a little easier and take more efficient and accurate notes in the future."

Meantime, Brown said he was impressed to see the well-rounded representation of COPP members, with volunteers ranging in age from 18 to in their 80s, as well as an equal number of woman and men participating.