Volunteers will commit to patrolling FMC for a certain amount of time each month. Some volunteers may only be able to commit to a few hours a month, while others may want to participate more. We need to have volunteers on duty for at least 60 hours a month to be eligible to participate in the COP program, but I hope that we can have much better representation than that.

A FMC COP volunteer will be required to walk our streets during his or her scheduled hours. COP volunteers will be on the lookout for suspicious characters and activities, and they’ll call in HPD when necessary. The rules of the COP program prevent volunteers from directly engaging suspects, but their presence alone will let criminals and vagrants know that they are being watched by us. Our Association will provide COP volunteers with t-shirts to increase their visibility and denote their authority.

If you are interested in becoming a COP volunteer in FMC, please email Lance McKnight and let him know how many hours per month you would like to contribute and what times during the week you would be available to serve. Please also print out and complete the COP application form, which can be found on our website at http://bit.ly/b3Tx57. COP forms should be delivered to Lance by email or at 3900 Milam.

Once it’s determined that we have enough volunteers and hours, the COP forms will be submitted to HPD and all of our volunteers will attend a training class with Officer Wayne Pate. There will be no firearms or taser training, but coffee and donuts are promised at least.

Even if you can only volunteer 1 or 2 hours a month, you can still participate in this program and help make FMC a safer place.