COPBylaws

Preamble: Roseheart Cellular On Patrol (COP) was established in February, 2006. It is composed of volunteer citizens of both sexes. It was established in association with San Antonio Cellular On Patrol and in liaison with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD).

Vision: Citizens with cell phones BEING SEEN by homeowners and visitors alike as the eyes and ears of the community.

Mission: To provide the eyes and ears of a neighborhood watch organization in a non-confrontational, reassuring manner, one in which our actions provide for both a safe patrol atmosphere and a more secure community.

I. WHAT CELLULAR ON PATROL (COP) IS. It is...

1....a Non-Profit, self-supporting, local organization of neighbors supporting neighbors and the neighborhoods in which they live.

2....designed to be as visible as possible to allow all visitors to see that the residents of the neighborhood have eyes and are using them. That's why the ball caps and T-Shirts we wear are white in color.

3....absolutely non-threatening to neighbors and never uses the patrols to report violations of the neighborhood covenants. (e.g. TV antennas in the wrong place, commercial signs posted in yards, etc.).

4....patrol members keeping a log of unusual or suspicious activities in the neighborhood so that later, if a crime or other event occurs, the police can use our logs to assist in tracking the culprits.

5....an opportunity to liaison and obtain training from our San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) in order to know what to look for and what to report in our logs and what to do if we see suspicious activities... and what NOT to do.

6....a way to not feel helpless about the inevitable break-ins that occur in every community.

II. WHAT CELLULAR ON PATROL (COP) IS NOT. It is NOT...

1.…a police organization.

2....confrontational. We are NOT an angry mob, chasing down would-be burglars and tackling the crooks while waiting for San Antonio's finest to make the scene.

3....getting up in the middle of the night to don black paint and night vision goggles to sit in hideouts, waiting for the perfect shot. i.e. It's not a deer hunt.

4....being stuck with putting in a specific number of hours each month patrolling the streets in your "cruiser" or "walking a beat".

5....being lonely. Always COP members are encouraged to patrol in pairs. That's for safety, for camaraderie, and for assurance of credibility.

III. HOW WE PREPARE FOR THE CELLULAR ON PATROL (COP) PROGRAM

1. MEMBERSHIP.

A. Each COP member applicant is required to attend a San Antonio Police Department-sponsored COP class. The training emphasizes safety, while providing trainees a bird’s-eye look at the state of San Antonio’s law enforcement. It also promotes self confidence because the more we know about the who, what, when, where, and why of Cellular On Patrol, the more confident we will be in our participation.

B. Once the applicant successfully completes training, he/she is admitted to membership in Roseheart Cellular On Patrol.

C. Members serve as their schedules allow

D. Members may resign by notification to the Director.

E. Members may be removed from active COP roles through:
(1) Resignation
(2) One continuous year of inactivity
(3) Sale of their home and/or departure from Roseheart
(4) Membership vote - simple majority of members at a meeting for which a quorum exists

F. Inactive status. Members may request inactive status, in which case they continue to receive training and information via email.

G. The membership may vote to name honorary members.

2. MEETINGS

A. When & where.
(1) Quarterly (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct), on the second Thursday of the month, at 7:30 PM, at the Roseheart Clubhouse. Alterations to this are authorized, based on availability of members and meeting facilities. Alterations shall be posted, on authority of the Director, by email to the members at least 24 hours in advance.
(2) New Member Training. Such meetings shall be determined by a coordinated effort between the COP Director or his/her assign, and the SAPD liaison.
(3) Special Meetings are held ad hoc, as called for by the director.

B. Quorum. A minimum presence of 10 members or 25% of the active membership, whichever is less, is required to constitute a quorum.

C. Minutes. The secretary or his/her assign shall take minutes of the proceedings and shall publish those minutes to the general membership in a timely manner. Minutes are discussed and approved/corrected as the first agenda item at the next, regularly scheduled meeting. Minutes will contain at least the following:
(1) Date, time, and location of meeting
(2 )Members present and whether or not there is a quorum
(3) Approval of previous minutes
(4) Old Business
(5) New Business
(6) Training report (Continuing Education)
(7) Time of meeting’s end
(8) Date, time, and location of next meeting

3. LEADERSHIP POSITIONS. The elected leadership of Roseheart COP’s Program shall consist of a Director, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. Unelected leadership consists of The Roseheart Clubhouse Activities Director and the President of the Roseheart HOA Board of Directors, who shall also have voting privileges. .

A. Elected term of service: 3 Years.

B. Elections. Initially the Director is elected to one year, the Secretary two years, and the Treasurer three years. After that first, organizational election, leadership positions shall be elected to a term of three years. This arrangement provides for continuity through overlapping terms.
(1) Elections are held during the April meeting each year.
(2) Any COP member in good standing may nominate another member after obtaining that member’s consent, or may nominate themselves for election to leadership positions.
(3) The person elected to each position shall be the person who receives the most attending membership votes, combined with proxy votes.
(4) In the case of a tie, the remaining elected officials shall determine the winner.

C. Removal from office. The following may occur
(1) Resignation. The elected official may resign by posting a letter of resignation to the membership and the Director, or in the case of the Director’s resignation, to the Secretary.
(2) Recall. Through a two-thirds vote of the membership present at a meeting in which a quorum is present, an elected official may receive a vote of “No Confidence.” Following that vote, notification is sent to the entire membership. Subsequently, a simple majority of the full membership is required to dismiss an elected official.

4. INITIAL TRAINING. The SAPD has reevaluated and rewritten the training material of the program so that it fits into a one-evening class. It's a class where they combine great information with just the right touch of humor and serious instruction to make clear how important the program is and how valuable your participation can be for you, your family, and your neighborhood.

There are classes held at Roseheart when we have a large enough group (normally 10 or more). In the meantime there are classes quite often in other neighborhoods and at the police sub-stations. Our current SAPD sponsor has offered to let us attend any of these classes.

A. WHAT YOU GET DURING A TRAINING EVENING.
(1) Excellent training. The police trainers tell you exactly what to do and what not to do to protect yourself and your property. It's good, common sense, but as we all know common sense isn't always so common. They emphasize non-confrontation, so using your afternoon or evening walk or drive is the perfect opportunity to be THE EYES AND EARS OF ROSEHEART. The only difference would be that you'd have a ball cap and/or white T-shirt and a clipboard or small note pad to annotate your findings on the COP report form. And you'd be armed with great training on what to do with what you see.
(2) a COP ball cap or T-Shirt. Since the COP Program is financially self-supporting, you'll need to pay a fee if you want both items.
(3) a highly regarded and coveted COP bumper sticker.
(4) a picture ID (with unflattering photo) to wear when you're on your patrols.
(5) a Diploma
(6) authorization for a ride along with the San Antonio Police. That alone is a chance of a lifetime to see what our police do to protect and defend.

IV. PROCEDURES. (HOW WE DO THIS THING)

1. Schedule. Our COP Scheduler volunteer sends out a blank calendar on approximately the 20th of the month. Use that calendar to let him/her know which days you cannot be on patrol. That schedule comes back to our patrol members in time for patrols beginning the first of each month.

2. Expectations.
A. COP Members will be expected to patrol when they promise to patrol or find a substitute.
B. Members NEVER carry weapons on their patrols.
C. Members carry cell phones when possible and use them to provide immediate reports to authorities where required
D. Members do not use their patrols to report neighborhood covenants violations. If a member sees a violation that he/she feels MUST be reported, the member completes their patrol, changes out of their COP clothing and ID and only then returns to inspect and report to Association Management Services (AMS) or other authority.
E. Members do not confront suspicious activity or participants. Instead they annotate what they see and/or use their cellular phones to call for help (take along a camera, if you have one).
F. COP members on patrol are clearly identifiable (wear their IDs and a white, COP ball cap and/or COP T-shirt)
G. Patrol members travel in pairs. This is highly encouraged to: prevent boredom, promote camaraderie, heighten safety, improve vigilance (four eyes are better than two), ensure credibility of reports, and share experiences.
H. Annotate suspicious activity.
I. File a patrol report (log) after each patrol

3. What's a patrol?
A. Twice or three times around the complex should do it. Being seen is the goal, i.e. High Visibility/No Confrontation. In our complex, if you're in a vehicle, that would take about 30 minutes.
B. How many patrols per month per member? This depends upon the number of active members in the organization, but generally the scheduler tries to schedule two pairings per day. The main thing is to avoid burnout, however experience shows in other neighborhoods that the more often that COP ball caps and T-shirts shirts are evident during the day, the less the thugs are evident at night.
C. Turn in Logs. This is critical to success. License numbers of suspicious vehicles (slow moving, aimless, violating gate security, etc) are of great value. New homes with doors ajar after closing time should be logged. Even stray dogs and cats annotated where and when could mean a lot if there is a bite in the neighborhood.

V. FINANCIAL ISSUES

1. We maintain a bank account with not less than two signatories on the signature card.

2. There are no dues requirements for Cellular On Patrol, however donations are much appreciated because Cellular On Patrol is self-supporting.

3. Any financial assets accrued are considered nonprofit and will be used only for COP-specific projects, except as described below.
A. Authorized regular expenditures. The director may pay bills and other, legally required expenditures.
B. Authorized special expenditures. The membership may authorize the director or his/her assign to spend monies for projects as voted upon and carried by a simple majority of members present (and proxies presented) at a duly authorized general membership meeting.
C. Authorized outside expenditures. The director may neither expend money on non COP-specific projects nor transfer money to other organizations, except where authorized by a two-thirds majority vote of members attending (and proxies presented) at a duly authorized general membership meeting.

Finally, Cellular On Patrol is not a posse of deputy sheriffs. It is a serious, but absolutely non-confrontational way to make our neighborhood a safer place for each of us. But to make it work we're going to need lots of us, women and men alike, to step up and say: "Yeah, me too. I can do that."

Atch: Checklist. Use the following Checklist for patrols.