While Pride month is normally a pretty hectic time for everyone in the community, and our CCOP Patrol volunteer commitments are no exception, this year was particularly full with the Supreme Court marriage equality decision coming down on Friday June 26th.
As an integral part of the LGBT community since our founding in 2006, CCOP has been supportive of the many efforts and events which led to Friday’s successful Supreme Court decision, and we worked closely with the Day of Decision event organizers and SFPD Mission Station to help ensure a safe and fun celebration. As the crowd in the Castro increased we assisted the event organizers to close down the 400 block of Castro Street to ensure attendee safety and we worked with SF MUNI and DPT to help safety re-direct the Friday evening rush hour traffic around the road closure.
We then worked as community safety monitors alongside the SFPD Officers assigned to the fun, friendly and trouble free event. Our Patrollers worked with SFPD Officers to help safety escort a few drivers who were “caught” inside the event footprint, out to the open 18th Street, and we interacted with the event attendees to ensure they enjoyed a safe and fun event.
It was a great event and celebration for the LGBT community in general and the Castro neighborhood in particular, and we were proud to support the incredible efforts of the Day of Decision folks who organized the whole thing.
On Sunday our CCOP Patrollers joined the San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance and the SFPD Command Staff in the San Francisco Pride Parade. The Pride Alliance is an association of LGBT Police Officers who serve with the San Francisco Police Department. The Pride Alliance has been extremely generous and welcoming to CCOP, inviting us to participate in the parade with them over the last four years. Pride Alliance members and their partners and family members, as well as some Police Officers from other departments joined Chief Greg Suhr and a number of Deputy department chiefs in this years parade, which was extremely fun as always.
CCOP is committed to supporting the entire Castro and Duboce Triangle community in every way possible. Beyond our regular community patrolling function on weekends, we support around forty community events each year for various organizations and efforts.
CCOP was founded in November of 2006 and is a program of the non-profit fiscal sponsorship organization, San Francisco Safety Awareness For Everyone (SF-SAFE). Through unpaid volunteer participation we enhance and advance the safety and security of the Castro and Duboce Triangle neighborhood for everyone who lives, works, plays or visits the area in close cooperation with the local community and local government entities.
We are always seeking committed community volunteers to join us as CCOP Patrollers. To become a CCOP Patroller you must be 18 years or older with no felony or serious misdemeanor conviction. As a volunteer we only ask for a minimum commitment of one, three hour patrol each month. Patrolling is fun, great exercise, and extremely rewarding in knowing that you are “Helping to keep the Castro SAFE.” Register for our next training class which will take place in the neighborhood on Tuesday July 14th at 7pm.