Some residents in Saskatchewan’s Lakeland region are calling for a new or revamped crime watch program as frustrations over break-ins, vehicles thefts and other crimes grow in the area.

Nearly 150 people, including RCMP and conservation officers, as well as special constables, gathered in Christopher Lake on Thursday night to discuss ways to curb rural crime in the Lakeland region — Christopher Lake, Emma Lake and Anglin Lake — and the nearby rural municipalities of Paddockwood, Buckland and Meath Park.

Elaine McMillan, an organizer of the meeting, said crime has been steady for the past four to five years in the region. Breaks-ins to cabins, houses and vehicles; gas thefts and property crime were just some examples she listed.

“When your frustration level gets really high, yeah, people take the law into their own hands, and that’s the fear: that it’s going to get out of control,” McMillan said.

Prince Albert RCMP have responded in the Lakeland region to about 340 calls — or eight per cent of their total calls — in the past six months. They said the area may experience lots of crime because it’s a rural and seasonal region; people tend to keep their doors unlocked and to not tie down belongings.

The potential crime watch program is community driven, RCMP said, but police support it. Officers would like to see a program in the area, but note it’s up to community members to come forward.

Volunteers would report to officers and have regular meetings.

A program called Citizens on Patrol already exists in the Lakeland region, but organizers said the group doesn’t cover all affected areas — specifically, the nearby RMs — and volunteer numbers are dying down.

Citizens on Patrol programs are registered through the RCMP and involve monthly meetings, but the groups often only communicate with RCMP and not with patrol groups in other areas. Several people at the meeting said they’d want any proposed crime watch program to involve communication among all areas near and within the Lakeland region.

One option discussed at the meeting was creating Citizens on Patrol programs within all Lakeland areas and nearby RMs, and requiring the groups to work together.

Another meeting is expected to be scheduled next month.