On our last patrol, our Citizens On Patrol neighborhood captain gave us material to read and a form to fill out from the County Sheriff. It was all material that we had already been briefed on when we trained for the program, but they once again emphasized some of the obvious points–particularly

“Weapons of any kind will not be carried by any COP member while on duty. This applies to people who have a Florida concealed firearm permit.”

There were also a list of other instructions designed to limit our interaction and contact with suspects. Most of these are common sense, we are there to observe and report, not interact with others, and all of these were already spelled out to us when we trained years ago.

The captain mentioned that several of the old-timers in the program had carry permits and hinted they were carrying on patrol. He has told them they will be immediately discharged if he finds out. But he seemed concerned that they were not paying attention to him.

I’ll keep you posted.