ORLANDO, Fla. — People in Pine Hills are looking into new options to help keep their community safe. 

The Pine Hills Community Council meeting was centered around a conversation to revamp its Citizens on Patrol Program (COP), which partners people in the community with Orange County Sheriff deputies to keep people safe. 

What You Need To Know

  • Pine Hills Community Council held its monthly meeting Tuesday, in part to discuss revamping its Citizens on Patrol (COP) program

  • Volunteers in the COP program receive training from the Orange County Sheriff's Office to be the eyes and ears in the community

  • Pine Hills is hoping to add more volunteers to the program. If approved, they would receive an agency vehicle, uniform, and radio

  • Not many residents know about the program but left the meeting feeling that it is needed

For residents in Pine Hills, community is everything, and that’s why they’re hoping to take care of their own by reigniting the COP program.

“We need patrolling. We need individuals to help, not just the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It’s a lot for them,” said Pine Hill Community Council Vice President Sandra Fatmi Hall. “There’s a criteria, and there’s a lot involved, but it’s doable.”

The COP program was brought to Pine Hills by Fatmi Hall’s late husband Dennis Hall.

She says he was constantly working to improve his neighborhood, while also helping deputies with the OCSO.

“They’re the eyes and ears for our deputies because our deputies can’t be everywhere,” explained OCSO Community Relations Specialist Awilda Torres. “So, it’s good if they see someone pulling on doors or if they see a door open or they see something suspicious, they can actually get on the radio and everybody in the county is listening to that radio.”

But it’s a program that needs more attention. Pine Hills resident Jolanna Mitchell says she has never heard of the COP program but feels it could be beneficial.

“I feel like it’s a great idea, especially in Pine Hills. It’s had a bad reputation for a very long time,” Mitchell shared. “I’ve been here for about seven to eight years and it’s called ‘Crime Hills,’ but I feel like it’s really changing.”

Mitchell works with kids as a dance instructor with Real in the Field Productions, or RIF, and feels the COP program can change lives by repairing the relationship between the youth and law enforcement through volunteers.

“If someone sees their cousin or something working with the law enforcement, they’ll be like oh, maybe they’re not so bad, you know? If someone in the family is doing it or someone at school is doing it or a teacher or something like that,” said Mitchell. “I feel if people are a part of it and getting the word out there, then it’ll be an amazing change.”

Tuesday’s meeting was an informational one, but Pine Hills Community Council members hope they can attract volunteers to join the program, and hope to see them at their next meeting on June 9.

To join the COP program, the sheriff’s office says you have to care about your community but also have a clean record.

If approved, you’ll receive an agency vehicle, uniform, and radio while being trained by the sheriff’s office.

For those interested in joining the Citizens on Patrol Program, you can find out how to get involved by visiting OCSO’s website.