Vancouver taxi drivers helping police reducing crime

From mid-July at peak-hours there will be about 700 Vancouver taxi drivers trained to help police reduce crime, reports Metro. In the Taxi Watch programme they will be trained to report any suspicious activity they see to the police. A similar programme – Taxis on Patrol (TOP) – was set up years ago by the Taxi Limousine & Paratransit Association in the US. This association is revitalising this programme this year.  In the Vancouver programme, which is similar, about 2.000 taxi drivers, managers, and dispatchers will receive training to become part of the Taxi Watch program that helps them report suspicious activity directly to police. The Vancouver Taxi Association is partnering with Vancouver police to provide more eyes on the street to report crime. The top four crimes taxi drivers see are: distribution of drugs using a taxi, car accidents, assaults and drunk driving. Taxi drivers are mainly to report crimes and not to intervene, although anyone can flag down a taxi if there is an emergency.