Volunteer effort aids Caribou police

CARIBOU – The Caribou Police Department had an uneventful night Monday as extra bodies assisted in patrolling streets, keeping an eye on the city during the annual night of trick-or-treating by young Halloweeners and not-so-young revelers.

About 30 volunteers from the Caribou Emergency Management Agency patrolled streets in their own vehicles, giving more visible police cruisers assistance in limiting pranks and vandalism while keeping an eye on children trick-or-treating.

Roy Woods, chief of the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department, said his department has been running a “Child Watch” program for several years. This year, 30 people volunteered their services for Halloween night.

“We are volunteers who patrol the streets and advise police if anything suspicious is seen,” Woods said. “We don’t do enforcement; we are simply more eyes for the police.

“We have done this for years,” Woods said Monday. “It’s a valuable service.”

He said the volunteers had radio equipment to contact police while they rode around watching out for children’s safety. At the same time, they watched for vandalism that tends to happen on Halloween night.

“We’ve prevented vandalism over the years,” Woods said.

Police Chief Michael Gahagan agrees that Woods’ volunteers have been helpful over the years.

“We have had no serious incidents in all these years on Halloween,” he said Monday afternoon. “They are more sets of eyes keeping watch.

“It’s helpful to make it safe for children,” Gahagan said. “It’s also helpful to watch for egg throwers and pumpkin smashers.”

Gahagan said the more people police have out there watching the better it is.

People tend not to do mischief when cruisers are around, and these volunteers can watch when the cruiser is not there.

“The volunteer effort helps,” Gahagan said.