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Chelsea COPs celebrate 20 years of service

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Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.

The 20th annual Chelsea Citizen Observer Patrol (COP) Awards Meeting was held at the Chelsea Community Center on Feb. 26.

The evening included awards, a guest speaker and remembrance of former members, with a crowd of Chelsea first responders and deputies along with Montgomery VIPS and Police Sgt. Yulanda Nichols.

Assistant Director Bill Robertson led a remembrance ceremony for COP members, who were honored with a special table with a setting for one to symbolize those absent. The COP members who have died while active members include Ernest McConnell, John McMunn, Rod Jones, Bill Weldon and Eddie Huggins. COP members who passed away after leaving the COP program include: Gary Hill, Imogene Roberts, Harold Roberts, Charlie Woodrow, George Blinn, Carl Schultz and Linda Kelley.

The guest speaker for the evening was Col. J. Bradford Lynn, chairman of the Board of Governors for the Civil Air Patrol.

Lynn, a 1976 graduate of the University of Alabama, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and entered active duty in 1977, after being named National Cadet of the Year for Civil Air Patrol in 1973. He served on active duty until 1986 then transferred to the Air Force Reserve where he held numerous command and staff positions. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 2007 before becoming a pilot for United Airlines.

Lynn spoke about being a professional volunteer and described four things required to do so: being highly trained, totally committed, following a set of core values and having class.

“In the dictionary, professionalism is defined as skill, good judgment and behavior from person trained to do a job well,” he said. “That one statement is most likely why your organization has stood the test of time 20 years and is still going strong. You do amazing things every day for your community and are here because you want to be, not because of paycheck.”

Lynn also told the volunteers not to “underestimate the value of your service they provide in their community.”

In 2018, COP Director David Cheek said, the COPs provided 563 patrols and 8,252 total volunteer hours, 2,300 of them on patrol. COPs drove more than 21,000 miles last year, Cheek said, with an 18 percent increase in frequency of surveillance in Chelsea’s different zones and a 26 percent increase in business walk-throughs.

The organization filed 58 incident reports in 2018.

City Council Members Casey Morris and Cody Sumners joined Cheek to show a check representing the value of the organization’s work for the City of Chelsea in 2018, valued at $277,679.80.

Cheek and Assistant Director Pat McDanal also presented awards after Lynn’s speech. The significant awards included:

McDanal made a special presentation for member Hoyt Picklesimer.

“He exhibits quiet leadership in the organization, makes himself available for service in a variety of ways and exhibits his love of the City of Chelsea and the COP organization constantly and exemplifies the volunteer spirit of the COP organization,” she said.

A special surprise was in store during this award presentation when his son, Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer, made an appearance on Skype from his hospital room, where he is recovering from knee replacement surgery.

“I’m so proud of you, Dad, and glad the apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” Tony Picklesimer said.

He thanked all the COPs, telling them “Chelsea couldn’t do what it does every day without you.”

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