By Scott Harvey
Greenville – After one month of service, the Citizens on Patrol program in Greenville is seeing very positive results.
The volunteer organization is for residents who've already completed the Citizens Police Academy, and wish to volunteer at least 12 hours each month with the Greenville Police Department.
Volunteers, who range from 20 to 60 years of age, are paired together and accompanied by a Greenville Police Officer who monitor and assist if need be.
The Department had a similar program that ran for several years, but it has since been revamped to provide more city resources instead of having the volunteers use their own. The Citizens on Patrol program also gives residents more responsibility, such as handling code violation reports, civilian finger printing, disabled parking enforcement and minor vehicle accidents (accidents without injuries).
According to Crime Prevention Office Chris McCaslin, since the program began one month ago, 144 training hours have been accumulated between the programs16 volunteers. Between them, those volunteers have written 19 disabled parking citations and worked five minor accidents.
McCaslin hopes by late October each volunteer can graduate from field training, where they are accompanied by an office, and work the job on their own.
Greenville residents wishing to take part in the Citizens on Patrol program can contact Chris McCaslin at 903-457-2998. You must have taken or plan to take the Citizens Police Academy first. You must also live or work in Greenville in order to participate.
McCaslin says the program serves as a great way for citizens to give back to their community, and enables patrolmen to concentrate on other tasks, while citizens can handle duties that would otherwise take away from patrolmen's usual responsibilities.