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CITIZEN OBSERVER PROGRAM (C.O.P.) Are you interested in volunteering your time to help control crime and keep Volusia County a safe place to live, work, and play? If you are, the Citizen Observer Program (C.O.P.) is interested in you. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office C.O.P. program was established in January 1989 to assist Deputies in combating crime throughout the county. C.O.P. volunteers patrol neighborhoods to deter crime and act as an extra set of eyes and ears for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. The program graduated its first class of 80 candidates, who successfully completed the training to become C.O.P. members, in May 1989. The inaugural patrols began in the Deltona area the following month, and since that date, 34 more training sessions have ben completed. A total of 200 members are now patrolling in designated areas of Deltona, Debary and unincorporated Deland and Orange City on the west side of the county and the North Peninsula and the unincorporated Edgewater & New Smyrna area on the east side of the county. The Citizen Observer Patrols watch for any suspicious activity and notify the C.O.P. base through radios in their vehicles. The C.O.P. base than calls the Sheriff's Communications Center with the information. In addition to routine patrols, C.O.P. volunteers assist in traffic control at special community events and during emergency situations. They perform house watches and wellness checks throughout the county. And, they conduct fingerprinting of children at community services events. Since the inception of the Fingerprint Program the C.O.P. has fingerprinted 29,505 children, providing fingerprint cards to their families. C.O.P. volunteers sometimes are called upon to help out sexual predator notifications and follow-up investigations. Between June 1989 and December 2009, C.O.P. members have volunteered more than 743,842 working hours and have logged more than 5,497,408 miles while assisting the Sheriff's Office and the Volusia County taxpayers. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is recruiting new volunteers who want to take an active role in working to help stop crime in our community. Anyone wishing to become a C.O.P. volunteer must apply for membership and undergo a complete background check, including a drug screen, photograph and fingerprint check. Upon satisfactory completion of the entry process, each candidate must complete 60 hours of training conducted by instructors with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. When the candidates complete their training, they are issued uniforms and a photo identification card that will be carried at all times when on official C.O.P. business. Shirley Genander John Kapushinsky |