We Called Ourselves "the Cops"
Fifteen years I volunteered on the Police Force. Civilian Observation Police – COP, I think that's what it was called. I did it while Daddy was in the nursing home. You had to take a test at Sheriff's Headquarters. We would drive around in a patrol car. We called ourselves the cops. There were always two of us. We had a radio in the car and we went to Oriole Development, and we went up as far as Military and Atlantic in the shopping area. We stopped at every synagogue and church on the way. We did the whole neighborhood. We were not the only ones. Every one of the developments had a similar program. My cousin Eddie was doing it for the place where he lived. We got a pin. We worked three hours a week. Sometimes if there was an emergency, they'd call you. Sometimes I did it at night with a man named Dave. While Marilyn was here I drove with Dave because he was losing his eyesight. So I would help him.
It really wasn't very exciting. However, one time I was driving at Military and Atlantic in that development there and a woman stopped us; she said she owned one of the shops. She said, "I noticed that there was a man walking up and down trying to open all the cars." There were burglaries of cars, so we rode up and down. The man must have thought we were the police so we didn't find him. So what were we going to do? We thought we'd call the sheriff because we weren’t supposed to get out of the car. People stopped us for directions, especially in this neighborhood where there were new addresses and people couldn't figure out where they were.
The COP had an impact on the neighborhood. People said the minute they started that program, there were fewer burglaries. And it's still the same. They still ride around.
Once I saw a strange man who looked like he was fishing – but he wasn't fishing, he had binoculars. And I thought, well, what is he doing there at the canal? So I rode by slowly, and then I rode back. By that time, after noticing I was with the police, he had moved. We always felt it had done something.
Fifteen years I volunteered on the Police Force. Civilian Observation Police – COP, I think that's what it was called. I did it while Daddy was in the nursing home. You had to take a test at Sheriff's Headquarters. We would drive around in a patrol car. We called ourselves the cops. There were always two of us. We had a radio in the car and we went to Oriole Development, and we went up as far as Military and Atlantic in the shopping area. We stopped at every synagogue and church on the way. We did the whole neighborhood. We were not the only ones. Every one of the developments had a similar program. My cousin Eddie was doing it for the place where he lived. We got a pin. We worked three hours a week. Sometimes if there was an emergency, they'd call you. Sometimes I did it at night with a man named Dave. While Marilyn was here I drove with Dave because he was losing his eyesight. So I would help him.
It really wasn't very exciting. However, one time I was driving at Military and Atlantic in that development there and a woman stopped us; she said she owned one of the shops. She said, "I noticed that there was a man walking up and down trying to open all the cars." There were burglaries of cars, so we rode up and down. The man must have thought we were the police so we didn't find him. So what were we going to do? We thought we'd call the sheriff because we weren’t supposed to get out of the car. People stopped us for directions, especially in this neighborhood where there were new addresses and people couldn't figure out where they were.
The COP had an impact on the neighborhood. People said the minute they started that program, there were fewer burglaries. And it's still the same. They still ride around.
Once I saw a strange man who looked like he was fishing – but he wasn't fishing, he had binoculars. And I thought, well, what is he doing there at the canal? So I rode by slowly, and then I rode back. By that time, after noticing I was with the police, he had moved. We always felt it had done something.
