Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 5, 1993 TAG: 9308050274
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Chief M. David Hooper said Wednesday that 10 to 15 officers will receive training in mid-August to prepare them for the department's Community Oriented Police Effort, or COPE.
Now, the department has eight specially trained officers walking foot patrol in high-crime areas.
The second COPE unit also will have eight officers, Hooper said.
City Council allocated $327,000 to establish the second unit.
Under the COPE philosophy, police join other city departments and social agencies to help residents of high-crime areas deal with problems brought on by poverty and neglect.
By getting police out of patrol cars, city officials thought the officers would be better able to communicate with residents and secure their help in combatting crime.
The city's first COPE unit started patrolling in 1991 and has concentrated its efforts in communities around the public housing complexes at Hurt Park and Lincoln Terrace.
Hooper said a final decision has not been made on where the new COPE unit will set up shop, but said the Lansdowne housing project is a possibility.
He also said no decision had been reached on whether all members of the new COPE unit would be stationed in one location or split between several locations.
The COPE unit now has a lieutenant and a sergeant. Hooper said plans call for a second sergeant's position.
The three-day training session, which begins Aug. 16, will concentrate on such areas as diversity training, the mission of COPE and services available to residents from other agencies.
When COPE officers moved into Lincoln Terrace nearly two years ago, they went door-to-door surveying residents about problems they were encountering.
by CNB