Since its first patrol in November last year, the Waitaki Community Patrol has reported 1142 incidents to police, including about 40 of damaged vehicles, more than 20 involving property, a score of disorder incidences, and 45 people-related incidents.
However, community patrol chairman Brian Dark said at present the organisation's 19 members patrolled just one night a week, from 10pm every Saturday.
Patrol members worked closely with the police in Oamaru, but the group now needed more members so it could run an additional patrol on Fridays, Mr Dark said.
''We are just another set of eyes for the police. We are in a marked car and normally there are three of us. We patrol until 2am, but we have been as late as 4am in the morning.
''We are just trying to make Oamaru a safer place.''
The patrol had so far driven 1500km and volunteered more than 300 man-hours while patrolling the streets. It costs about $1800 to run the community patrol car for a year.
In order for the group to patrol an extra day a week, it needed sufficient members available to join a patrol one night a month, Mr Dark said.
Another 10 members would make that achievable, he said.
Community patrol liaison officer Sergeant Wayne Brew believed the patrol provided a ''very effective'' visual deterrent to criminals.
''They have led to the arrests of two youths in a stolen motor vehicle before it [the theft] was actually reported.''
