2024 – F.B.I. Director’s Community Leadership Award
2024 – San Francisco Mayor’s Certificate of Honor
2024 – San Francisco Board of Supervisors Certificate of Honor
2021 – Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club Community Service Award
2020 – Neighborhood Empowerment Network Outstanding Neighborhood Watch Group Award
HELP US GET BACK ON OUR FEET
Chief Ken Craig of Community Patrol Service (CPS), Chief Greg Carey and Patroller Leandro Gonzales (CCOP) at F.B.I. headquarters in Washington D.C. to receive the F.B.I. Director’s Community Leadership Award on April 19th, 2024
- VOLUNTEER to patrol with us if you can give 3-hours a month to the community by CLICKING HERE?
- DONATE any amount through our VENMO account, or through our GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN or mail a check (so we can avoid the VENMO and GoFundMe handling fees) to CASTRO COMMUNITY ON PATROL, 584 CASTRO STREET #731, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114 to help us secure our first fiscal year as a new nonprofit (our Federal 501c3 is pending but we are a CA nonprofit). Your donation will help us keep our safety commitment to the community.
- SHARE this post with EVERYONE, but especially anyone you think may be interested in Patrolling with us or donating to us.
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We greatly appreciate every donation of any amount which helps us in this process and we want to extend our most sincere gratitude to the following significant contributors to our rebirth:
- The Sister’s of Perpetual Indulgence – $2,000
- Mark McHale – $500
- Alexander Upchurch – $300
- James Bowler – $250
GIVE US JUST 3 HOURS A MONTH
Castro Community On Patrol (CCOP) is a California nonprofit volunteer safety patrol and education corporation that enhances the safety and security of the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco for residents, businesses, employees, and visitors.
- Sister’s of Perpetual Indulgence Easter in the Park
- Harvey Milk Day Celebrations
- Castro Street Fair
- Castro Holiday Tree Lighting
- Castro Menorah Lighting
- Santa Skivvies Run Fundraiser
- Pulse Nightclub Memorial Event
- Proposition 8 Rallies and Marches
- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg Memorial March
- Women’s March
- Asian and Pacific Islander Anti-Violence Rally and March
- Club Q Memorial Event
- Heklina Memorial Event
- San Francisco District Attorney’s LGBTQ+ Forum
- San Francisco Police Department LGBTQ+ Advisory Forum
- Castro Community Benefits District Board of Directors
- Castro CBD – Castro Cares program
- San Francisco LGBTQ+ Community Safety Program
JOIN US / TRAIN WITH US
BECOME A PATROL VOLUNTEER
Anyone of 18 years of age or older is welcome.
Basic training for all CCOP Patrol volunteers involves reading a Basic Training manual which is sent electronically, attending a 2-hour instruction course held via ZOOM and scheduled at a mutually suitable date and time, then completing four (4) supervised patrols within six (6) months of completing the ZOOM Basic Training class.
JUMP TO OUR VOLUNTEER PAGE TO REGISTER AS A NEW TRAINEE PATROLLER
COMMUNITY TRAINING CLASSES
BEGINNERS SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING CLASS
Open to anyone of 18 years or older, normally held in the Castro neighborhood. $30 per person. Our next class will be held:
ACTIVE SHOOTER BASIC TRAINING CLASS
Open to anyone of 18 years or older. Click the link above for more details about the class. $20 per person. Our next class will be held:
CORPORATE AND ORGANIZATION TRAINING
We offer specialized advance training to corporations and community organizations. This training includes 6-class Self-Defense Training, Active Shooter & Terrorist Incident Training, Event Protection Training. Contact us at INFO@CastroPatrol.org to discuss your specific needs.
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Private Basic Self-Defense Training Class – For nonprofit and for profit entities and groups at your own facility. $60/person for nonprofit groups and $100/person for for profit groups with a minimum of 10 attendees guaranteed to secure the training date.
- NOTHING SCHEDULED AT THIS TIME
Active Shooter – Terrorist Incident – Event Protection Intermediate Training Class – For Bars, Clubs, Businesses, Organizations, and Event organizers.
- NOTHING SCHEDULED AT THIS TIME
FIRST AID / CPR / AED CERTIFICATION CLASS WITH BAY AREA RED CROSS
Open to anyone of 18 years or older, normally held once per quarter. We will update this space when we secure a date, time, and location for the class.
- NOTHING SCHEDULED AT THIS TIME
Stop The Bleed Training class
Open to anyone of 18 years or older which is led by an accredited vendor and provides guidance on responding to traumatic and severe injuries. We will update this space when we secure a date, time, and location for the class.
- NOTHING SCHEDULED AT THIS TIME
KEEPING THE COMMUNITY
SAFE SINCE 2006
We deliver several KEY programs to help improve and enhance the “fabric of safety” for the neighborhood including:
- COPS – Community On Patrol Service program which trains, certifies, and deploys volunteers on regular neighborhood patrols, much like a normal neighborhood watch but with “boots on the ground” walking and interacting with residents, employees, and visitors.
- CRESt – Community Response, Engagement, and Support program which brings emergent community volunteers together with our trained Patrollers to assist other community groups and organizations with their special events, rally’s, marches and so on. Through this program our Patrollers also engage directly in the management of other community benefit efforts such as the Castro Cares program, Castro Merchants, Stop The Violence program, etc.
- CET – Community Education and Training program which develops training classes and outreach materials on a number of safety topics which are open to all. This program includes our Community Self-Defense classes and our Active Shooter classes which are extremely popular.
- CAR – Community Alert and Response program which encourages, develops, and supports the creation of Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch programs, including training and guidance on how to identify suspicious activity and effectively report it to other neighbors and businesses as well as law enforcement.
We also work diligently to share relevant information and concerns, ensuring the appropriate people, groups, and entities are involved in finding suitable long-term solutions.
WE NEED YOU!
Castro Patrol is built on, supported by, and relies on UNPAID VOLUNTEER support.
It all started in 2006 in response to a crisis with reports of violent robberies and associated sexual assaults in the neighborhood. The community rallied, decided “This should not be happening in our neighborhood,” and the Patrol was created. The original threat quickly disappeared, but the need for safety and prevention training in the neighborhood and LGBTQ+ community continues to this day.
In 2007 we were able to field three separate teams, each having three Patrollers every Friday and Saturday evening. During those first months our Patroller numbers swelled to over 150. As the immediate threat and news coverage receded however, our volunteer numbers shrank from a high of just over three-hundred to a more steady thirty to forty Patrollers. This generally allowed us to field one Patrol with three volunteers each weekend for the most part, and to support many community events, rallies, and marches from the Castro to City Hall.
We do our best, with the limited resources we currently have available – but we could do SO MUCH MORE if we increase our volunteer Patroller numbers to just thirty or more. PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING with us, to help the community and improve the overall safety of the neighborhood. We provide full training and equipment, and all we ask of you is just one, three-hour patrol per month. Patrolling with us is fun (at least we think so), rewarding, interesting, and invaluable to the neighborhood as a whole.
TRY US OUT – you never know. You may just love Patrolling as much as we do!