The Checotah Police Department is looking for qualified people who are interested in serving their community and are willing to volunteer their time and effort to help patrol the area, along with helping direct traffic or helping block streets during parades. Checotah Chief of Po- lice Darren Glover is hopeful this new program with help make the City of Checotah a safer place to live and work.

“I’ve always wanted to do a neighborhood watch patrol since my very first year of being a chief,” Glover said. “I wanted to implement a patrol program, but I couldn’t get any participation back then. However, recently, Barry Hill, who’s a barber here in town, told me that he had worked a program like this in California and he believed it would work here also. We both believed it would help out the police and it would become like a neighborhood watch that would benefit Checotah and its citizens.

“I know we could use the extra help when kids get out of school and are crossing Broadway. Plus we could definitely use the extra help during Old Settlers Day and during the Fourth of July Celebration at the Checotah Sports Complex when traffic becomes a nightmare. We also want to have an extra patrol list so when people go on vacation, they can come down to the police station and ask to be put on the extra patrol list. Then our citizen patrol unit can patrol these neighborhoods and keep an eye on people’s property while they’re gone on vacation. I think it’ll be a really good thing, just like a neighborhood watch.”

If anyone is interested in becoming part of the citizen patrol program they must first pass a criminal background check and have a valid driver’s license. They will also be interviewed to know that they are the correct person for the program.

“Just like we have volunteer firefighters who helped in our area, the citizen’s patrol will help us by calling in suspicious activities or helping redirect traffic during a wreck, etc.

“The citizen patrol will not be armed, nor will they have the authority to pull over anyone. They are not to interact with anyone or anything that will put them in harm’s way by any means. They will simply be an extra set of eyes and call us so we can respond to the incident.”

The Checotah Police Department will be hosting a Community Volunteer Patrol Academy. If anyone is interested in attending the academy, please contact either the Program Coordinator, FTO Officer Brandon Wilson, or Chief Darren Glover for more information.