Castro Community On Patrol will celebrate the extraordinary milestone of ten years of continuous service to the Castro / Duboce Triangle communities in October of 2016. The plans are still being formulated, but we hope you will keep some time aside in October to join us in marking the achievement.
This month will also see us host our 50th new volunteer training class since CCOP began. We held our very first training class on November 11, 2006 and we have typically held four or five classes each year since that time.
We are always in need of new Patrol Volunteers to join our ranks and help up in keeping the Castro and Duboce Triangle a safer and more secure place to live, work and visit. Please consider joining, or re-joining, us as a Patrol Volunteer by pre-registering for our 50th volunteer training class on Saturday January 23rd from 1 PM to 4 PM in the heart of the Castro.
We have changed a lot as an organization since our early days of reacting to violent crimes, by moving more into prevention and education. We consistently attend community meetings, provide free self-defense seminars, offer advice and counsel and work closely with many community organizations and city agencies.
We provided over 1,269 hours of Patrolling services to the Castro community in 2015 alone, and have provided more than 7,128 hours in total to the community since we began recording such hours in 2012.
In addition to regular visibility patrolling, we have also participated in around 25 community support events and activities each year including such things as:
- Harvey Milk Day
- Day of Decision
- Sisters Easter In The Park
- San Francisco Pride
- Castro Street Fair
- SF Leather Walk
- AIDS Emergency Fund Holiday Dinner
And many more other events besides.
We are engaged in a number of external safety and security efforts through our participation in:
- B.I. Citizens Academy
- CA Volunteer Disaster Corps
- SFDA LGBT Steering Committee
- SFPD Chief’s LGBT Community Advisory Forum
- SFPD Auxiliary Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT)
- SFFD Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT)
- Safety Awareness For Everyone (SAFE)
- Castro Cares
We look forward to your continued support in 2016.