By Ruth Haesemeyer
ruthh@neighborsgo.com

They patrol neighborhoods, watching for suspicious activity. They write tickets for handicap parking violations. They help prevent graffiti.

They’re not the police ― they’re members of the Carrollton Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association.

The group, made up of volunteers who have completed the Carrollton Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy, provides support to the department and helps deter crime in the city.

“Everything they do frees up officers to make us more efficient and effective,” said Jeff Moore, crime prevention officer, who said the group put in nearly 12,000 volunteer hours last year.

The nonprofit organization has a little less than 100 members with about 40 of those being very active, vice president Bobbie Irwin said.

Extra sets of eyes

Association members perform a wide range of tasks, from reminding residents of outstanding warrants over the phone, to raising funds to supplement the department’s budget.

Members who complete additional training can become part of the Carrollton Citizen Patrol. These volunteers, who are in contact with a dispatcher during their shifts, serve as extra sets of eyes for the department, reporting suspicious activity.However, association president Bob Entrican said their job stops there ― citizen patrol members let the police handle any such activity.

The patrol also serves as a simple prevention tool.

“Just the fact that we’re visible will deter a lot of crime that’s out there,” Entrican said.

Another major initiative of the CCPAAA is its Graffiti Abatement Project. Involved volunteers go out into the community to wash away or paint over graffiti. Irwin said graffiti is more common in the city than most realize.

“Unless you’re looking for it, sometimes you don’t see it,” she said, “until one of your friends gets hit with writing on their garage door.”

Since the project started in early 2009, the group has cleaned up more than 600 instances of graffiti, Moore said. Here again, the group also helps with prevention, Irwin said, because if graffiti is removed quickly, perpetrators are less likely to deface that location again.

Desire to help

Although Moore said a lot of police departments have programs such as the CCPAAA, he said he believes this one is more active than most.

Volunteer Russell Widener said he believes the department has done a great job utilizing volunteers and finding tasks to fit individual strengths. During the academy, participants are given a look at everything the department does, making it easy for volunteers to see needs, he said.

This also inspires a desire to help.

“That makes you want to give more back,” he said.

But the real beneficiary of the association is not the department, but the community as a whole.

Irwin, who has lived in Carrollton since she was 10, said that’s what got her involved.

“I just saw a need, something that I could do to help make my city a safer place to live,” she said.

***

GETTING INVOLVED

SUPPORTING CCPAAA: Members of the Carrollton Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association are collecting donations of goods for a fundraiser garage sale, scheduled May 6 and 7. Contributions are tax deductable. Proceeds will help supplement the Carrollton Police Department budget.
To make an appointment for a pickup or for more information, call Bobbie Irwin at 214-914-7770 or Susan Campbell at 972-245-7315.
The association is also in need of paint brushes and rollers for its Graffiti Abatement Project.
For information about other ways to help, visit ccpaaastore.org.

JOINING CCPAAA: The Carrollton Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association is made up of graduates of the Citizen Police Academy, which is presented twice a year. The next class will be this fall.
For more information, call 972-466-3330.

__________________________________________________________

Ruth Haesemeyer is the Carrollton/Farmers Branch/Addison neighborsgo editor and can be reached at ruthh@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-8024.