First of all, our auxiliary program is tremendous. I'm glad to hear that you experienced something similar.
We have 850 across the province. They work hand in hand with our officers. They don't work independently. They don't do police work on their own; they have to be with a police officer at all times. But I can say that even within a regional context, they are visible everywhere. They increase our visibility; they contribute to our crime prevention initiatives, our partnerships, etc., and are a great resource to us. But there are certain limitations as to what we can and cannot do with them, and these are outlined in internal policy and in the Police Services Act as well.
Broadly, beyond that there have been various levels of community volunteerism over the years I've been policing. There was a time when community policing was a focus for which you would often see community residents coming in to volunteer and provide support. Now we're moving towards a community engagement model that embraces the same type of participation. There are limitations to the extent to which you can embrace it in that respect as well. There are always the parameters requiring that the police officers do the police work, and they have to do the primary responses. The question is how an auxiliary officer and a civilian who is volunteering can support us in delivering that service.
It helps us in many respects—I would say mostly in our community services or visibility, etc.—but it doesn't actually remove the workload that is there for the front-line officers.