After having lived in Odessa her entire life, Angela Roghair was intrigued when she saw a social media post about Odessa Police Department’s 12-week Citizens Police Academy a couple of years ago.
She signed up figuring she’d get to know more about Odessa and the police department itself.
“When you think of the Odessa Police Department you just think of the officers that are patrolling around. You don’t think of the crime scene unit and SWAT. We even got to visit the courthouse, so there’s things in there that I didn’t even know about,” Roghair said.
Every week Roghair, 53, went to OPD and listened to representatives from each unit discuss the work they do. She was so impressed, she promptly volunteered to become a Citizen on Patrol. Last year, she spent 79 hours helping out at parades and other community events like National Night Out. She’s also helped provide traffic control and performed other tasks that allow officers to respond to higher priority calls.
The United Supermarkets bakery manager considers her volunteerism as an adventure.
“We get to go out and kind of do some of the same things police officers do, not fully, but it’s just something kind of out of our comfort zone to step into, where we get to do things alongside of them,” Roghair said.
All of the officers she’s interacted with have been supportive and grateful, Roghair said.
“With our times that we have now everybody’s like, ‘Officers are bad, bad, bad,’ but they’re really not. We have a really good set of police officers. Once you put yourself in that classroom, you will get to know them and get to talk to them and see that our police officers are great, they’re wonderful and they really care about this town,” she said.
Rene Barrientos, 52, went through the Citizens Police Academy back in 2003. Like Roghair, he became a volunteer Citizen on Patrol immediately afterward and has been the COP coordinator since 2012.
The long-time Walmart employee originally wanted to be a law enforcement officer, but a leaky heart valve made that impossible. Being a COP is the next best thing, he said.
Roughly half of the folks who go through the Citizens Academy end up volunteering as a Citizen on Patrol, Barrientos said.
Academy participants also learn about the homicide and property crime units, internal affairs and other areas within the department, he said.
“It just opens up your eyes,” Barrientos said. “What drives these officers is their passion of being an officer. It’s not about the money. They love what they do and they really want to help the community.”
Over the years, participants have ranged in age from 18 to into their 70s, he said.
There are currently 30 volunteers in the Citizens on Patrol program, Barrientos said.
They are required to pair up and they patrol in two vehicles that closely resemble regular police vehicles, complete with lights and police radios they are trained to use, Roghair said.
Barrientos said the officers are always appreciative when they come to help out, especially now that the department is so short-handed.
For example, instead of having to wait and wait for tow truck drivers at accident scenes, officers can leave that to the volunteers and head back out to handle more pressing matters, he said.
In addition to the duties Roghair mentioned, Barrientos said the volunteers often patrol parking lots looking for people unlawfully parked in handicapped spots and people doing “donuts.” They’re also always looking for drunk drivers, suspicious activity and people parked after hours in parks.
“We’re just the eyes and ears for OPD,” he said.
Every year, the department holds a dinner banquet to show their appreciation, Barrientos said.
Even though it’s been years since he first joined up, Barrientos said he still loves what he does.
“I always tell everybody who goes through the academy and are considering being a COP, it’s the best seat in the house. You get to see a lot of things and sometimes we’re right there with OPD as far as a major accident, doing the impounds or helping out when senior citizens that have Alzheimer’s get out or when children don’t come home from school. Whenever they need us, we’re just a call away and we can help out,” Barrientos said.
INTERESTED?
Odessa Police Department’s next Citizens Police Academy begins Thursday, April 20, and the deadline to register is Thursday, April 13.
To register for the free program, visit tinyurl.com/mtud7xkj
