Paws 4 Peace is a group of dog owners who not only like to walk their dogs, but are interested in doing something to stop crime. The group is based in Chicago, Illinois, and focuses their "patrols" in the city's Rogers Park.

It works like this. You have a dog, you like to walk your dog. You volunteer with Paws 4 Peace to keep an eye out for suspicious or illegal activity. If you see something, you report it to police. It's very much like the community-based policing programs all over the nation. In fact, Paws 4 Peace is now working with Chicago's CAPS program.

Paws 4 Peace is looking for more people to volunteer their time walking a dog. You don't have to own a dog to volunteer.

What Paws 4 Peace brings to community-based policing is the presence of dogs, particularly large dogs. The sight of a large animal not only provides some protection to the Paws 4 Peace volunteer, but also provides some sense of security for the folks nearby.