The Watch with Will Kennedy: Volunteer COPs Assist CMPD
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CHARLOTTE, NC — Extra eyes and ears, out on the streets, lending a helping hand to CMPD officers.
They’re cops, but not sworn officers. Citizens on Patrol volunteers put on a uniform, go out on patrol and even write some citations. And they do it for free.
“I saw this program, went on a ride along, and I was hooked,” says Andy Hough. “Went through all the training and I, I love it.”
Andy Hough and his patrol partner Randy Matthews are volunteers with the CMPD Citizens on Patrol program. They went through the citizens academy: a 10 week program with 110 hours of training.
“A shortened version of the regular police academy,” says Randy Matthews. “But you get exposed to all the different types of things they work with, and you come away with a different perspective.”
Matthews and Hough have both been C.O.P. volunteers for more than ten years. They average 20 hours on patrol each week; working Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. We rode with them Wednesday, to find out what citizen officers do.
“Mainly so that we’re seen, a visual presence,” says Andy Hough. “But we go through neighborhoods and businesses doing zone checks. We’ll report any suspicious activity that we see.”
Andy and Robert have come across robberies in progress. They call in the incident to sworn officers, who then come in to make an arrest.
They don’t have arrest authority, or carry a weapon, but citizen officers do have some power. They can write parking tickets. They also direct traffic at accidents, help with disabled vehicles; anything they can do to assist sworn officers.
“The lights were hanging down here close to Walmart,” says Matthews. “And when we got to the scene there was one officer trying to manage the blocked traffic, and these lights were right off the ground, bouncing around, about to come off the wire. And so we actually had to get our arms around these lights and hold them.”
C.O.P volunteers are currently assigned to the University City, North, South, Providence and Steele Creek Divisions. The next orientation is Saturday, March 21st.
If you have any questions about CMPD volunteers or the C.O.P. program, please contact Officer Veronica Brown at 704-432-0430.
