Schedule (members only)

Requirements

Participants are trained by the Orange County Sheriff's Office in areas such as Crime Prevention, First Aid, CPR, Sexual Harassment, Communications and how to spot suspicious and criminal activity. Community Volunteers are not law enforcement officers, but are trained to be the "eyes and ears" for the Sheriff's Office.

Community volunteers help reduce crime through increased cooperation between citizens and the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The Citizens On Patrol does not replace the various Neighborhood Watch programs, but greatly augments them.  

The COP is a volunteer unit of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, responsible for patrolling neighborhoods, providing the Sheriff with extra sets of eyes and ears to enhance law enforcement. With over one thousand square miles in Orange County, the Sheriff’s Office is very appreciative of the help it gets from COP groups. The Sheriff provides a patrol car and lots of training. The training includes Defensive Driving, First Aid, CPR, Hazardous Material Awareness and several other courses. We may be asked to perform a variety of services, such as helping to evacuate the community in an emergency.

But the primary job of the COP is to watch over our neighborhoods. Our Hunter’s Creek unit provides numerous services for our residents, such as enforcing Orange County parking regulations, traffic control, assisting motorists, checking parks, helping school crossing guards and providing support for special Hunter’s Creek events.

The Hunter’s Creek COP is made up of men and women who may also be husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers. The members of the group come from diverse backgrounds, but they share a common goal: keeping Hunter’s Creek a safe place to live.

When COP members are patrolling the community, they are in contact with the Orange County Communications Center. We have been trained to look for suspicious activity. It might be a truck that doesn’t seem to belong where it is, or a guy carrying a pillowcase with something in it. If something suspicious is spotted, the COP personnel contact the center and report what they observed. The center then dispatches a deputy to the scene. What do residents do that most often provides an opportunity for someone to commit a crime? They leave a garage door open. We often notify the owner or leave a notice that the garage door was open and unattended. Perhaps we have saved a set of golf clubs or two. Some members of the COP have received additional training (and the authority) to give parking citations to people who park their cars illegally in fire lanes or parking spots designated for handicapped drivers. Aware that this was a top issue of concern for residents who participated in the 2003 survey, we also help the Sheriff’s Office by using a radar sign to monitor and remind drivers of their speed. We also perform traffic studies to determine where we need help from deputies to control speeding.

In addition to law enforcement assistance, the COP members on patrol often help control traffic. At our local schools, we may help crossing guards get children safely to and from the school property, assist busses in getting through the auto traffic, or help the flow of traffic at the most congested times. We may also help with traffic entering parking areas during Hunter’s Creek events. Frequently we answer questions for people who may not know how to find their destination in Hunter’s Creek, or someone who may not know where Go-Peds can legally be ridden. We even will stop to call for assistance if a motorist has a disabled car. We also report traffic signs blocked by plants or burned out street lights.

We have helped citizens to report incidents, documented violations with our digital camera, protected crime scenes from contamination and checked the identification of people using Hunter’s Creek parks. If necessary, we can call 911 from the patrol car or perform first aid. We also can charge a dead battery or inflate a tire. But sometimes we have fun, too. Such as participating in the annual Hunter’s Creek Fourth of July Parade, or escorting Santa through Hunter’s Creek in December.

As you can see, the COP is an important volunteer group in Hunter’s Creek, which performs a great variety of services for the community during hundreds of hours spent watching out for you and your neighbors. We don’t get paid, but it is very rewarding knowing we are doing a valuable service for our community. Want to get involved? Contact us at the Hunter’s Creek Community Association office at 407-240-6000.

How Do I Join?
Simply notify the Orange County Sheriff's Office Community Relations Division and arrange to attend the next available academy on COP. This informal training educates citizens on observation techniques and crime prevention. It gives the citizens a more thorough understanding of law enforcement in Orange County. After completion of the training academy, citizens are ready to patrol for COP.

Contact Information:
Ed Royal
COP Coordinator
407-254-7382