COPs recognize members for 2017 service
Following thousands of volunteer hours in 2017, the Chelsea Citizens Observer Patrol presented Mayor Tony Picklesimer with a symbolic check on Tuesday night.
Written for $266,878.51, the check represented the monetary value of the 7,931 total member volunteer hours completed by COPs through patrols, traffic management and at events.
Councilman Cody Sumners, also a lieutenant with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, presented the check to Picklesimer, noting how the COPs in Chelsea help keep the city safe and keep events flowing smoothly.
The check, however, was not the only presentation made during the night.
At the program's 19th annual awards dinner, the COPs also took time to recognize volunteers who had reached certain milestones in their service.
David Cheek, director of COPs, recognized members who had completed 150 volunteer hours in the last year, who completed more than 1,000 volunteer hours in their time with the COPs, who recruited and trained new members, who joined the COPs in 2017 and who had filed more than 10 incident reports.
They also presented several awards for overall service.
The following award recipients were recognized:
- Five Year Service Recognition Award - Jim Powers
- 15 Year Service Recognition Award - Alicia Johnson, Judy Cain
- Presidential Service Award – Silver (for 250-499 volunteer hours) - Donald Lemley; Janet Shaw
- Presidential Service Award — Gold (for 550+ volunteer hours) - Bob Bush, Robert Everett, David Cheek, Donald Robinson, Ron Shaw, Carlos Sanders
- Presidential Service Award – Lifetime - Mike Coley – 4,423.5 hours of service
The total number of volunteer hours contributed by COPs who have earned reward pins, Cheek said, totals to more than 83,000. That’s a lot of hours, he added, and it took a lot of work to develop a system that allowed for easy and accurate recordkeeping for the organization.
“Tonight, we have a special recognition award for a person who was instrumental in developing our system,” Cheek said. “Dana Polk, please come forward.”
This year’s Rookie of the Year, Carlos Sanders, was also recognized at the award dinner. Sanders has logged more than 500 hours, attended all monthly meetings and made himself available for events throughout the community, Sumners said.
“He has assumed responsibility for leadership in the COPs teams covering sports events, the Big Kaboom, Chelsea High School football parking and the fall festival at Chelsea Park Elementary,” Sumners said.
The volunteer of the year was also recognized. John Peacock, who has volunteered for almost 1,400 total hours and filed 119 incident reports, was recognized for his willingness to go to offsite training, special meetings and to volunteer at special events.
“As far as leadership, for the past several years, our volunteer of the year has assumed a major role in training new COP volunteers. His commitment, he takes his patrol responsibility seriously, and portrays the model spirit of a volunteer organization,” said Picklesimer, regarding Peacock’s work.
Also at the awards dinner, COP volunteers and their guests heard from Johnnie Sharp Jr., special agent in charge with the Birmingham Division of the FBI. Sharp, who served as a sheriff’s deputy and then detective prior to joining the FBI in 1998, said he recognizes the importance of citizens and citizen volunteers in law enforcement. Not only can they serve as a force multiplier on the streets, but they also serve as additional eyes and ears for law enforcement.
“What they [the Sheriff’s Office] do here in Chelsea, what they do here in Shelby County, they couldn’t do that without the assistance of each of you,” Sharp said. “We can’t be everything to all people, we can’t be all places at all times, so we rely on citizenry such as yourself because you’re another set of eyes and ears that can help us do our jobs.”