Bay Harbour: March 23, 2022

Wednesday March 23 2022 Bay Harbour News
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 7
Community patrol ‘date night’ for Ken
The community patrol
group helps keep us
safe. Reporter Emily
Moorhouse catches
up with Christchurch
South Community
Patrol leader Ken Bye
WHEN KEN Bye isn’t cycling,
reading or gardening, he’s out
keeping the community safe.
The 69-year-old, of Somerfield,
is the leader of the Christchurch
South Community Patrol, a role
he finds very rewarding.
Ken is originally from
Southland and came to
Christchurch in 1971 to study
before becoming a teacher at
Linwood College.
There, he taught social studies,
history and English for 37 years,
and held various roles, including
dean, head of department and
faculty head before retiring in
2014.
However, Ken says he “failed
retirement” as it was only two
months before he was teaching
again at Cashmere High School
as a part-time reliever.
After realising relief teaching
wasn’t for him, he joined the
patrol in 2015 with his wife
Sue, who had come across a
stall promoting the group at
Barrington Mall.
Ken had never heard of the
LOOKOUT: Ken and Sue Bye getting ready for a patrol shift.
patrol before joining, but after
meeting with the chairman he
and Sue signed up.
Ken says patrol shifts vary, but
he usually goes out three or four
times a month, one of which he
is accompanied by Sue.
The couple often call it their
“date night” when logging
in to comms at the beginning
of a shift, and enjoy each other’s
company while keeping a
watchful eye on the community.
Ken recalls a couple of weeks
ago they came across a drunk
man, propped up against the
Christchurch Casino, who had
fallen off his scooter.
They made sure he wasn’t hurt
and had a safe way of getting
home before heading on their
way.
“Between the two of us I think
being able to give something
back to the community is really,
really important, and it gets
you out of the house,” Ken
says.
He still remembers his first
training shift with Sue and
two other experienced
patrollers.
They were responding to an
“agitated woman” in Pioneer
PHOTO: STAR MEDIA
Stadium car park who’d had her
wallet and keys stolen by a man
who was still in the stadium.
The ordeal resulted in a 111
call that required the patrollers
to wait with the woman until
police arrived.
“Being out there, working with
the police, seeing things and
being able to supply evidence to
the police that will actually make
a difference as part of the bigger
picture,” Ken says. “I really like
that idea.”
Although it wasn’t necessarily
about the big dramatic cases but
rather the more communityfocused
issues, such as working
closely with local shop owners
about their concerns and getting
waves from the community
when out on patrol.
“They’re the things that are far
more important and satisfying
than saying ‘I was on the spot’
and we might’ve been part of
leading to a conviction,” Ken
says. “It’s making a difference
by the little things, not the big
things.”
Ken became the leader of the
patrol three years ago, a position
he was shoulder-tapped for as
the previous leader was taking a
break.
For Ken, the role is about
working with the team to ensure
each person is the best patroller
they can be.
Despite the fulfilment of
being the leader of the patrol,
Ken acknowledges it’s a role you
never quite get away from with
the admin and ongoing phone
calls.
However, he says this is minor
compared to the satisfaction that
comes from the job.
“You never quite know what
you’re going to come across,”
Ken says. “It’s being able to
think that you’re contributing
to the safety of the community,
which I think is really important.
“It’s that ongoing sense of
service and making a difference.”
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