COPS watch

An elderly gentleman recently came to the Neva-Wood COPS substation worried that he may be arrested for domestic violence. His son told him that if he didn’t stop yelling at his wife, neighbors would report him. But he yells at his wife because she doesn’t hear well.

Art Frank, 72, a retired Army officer was volunteering that day. Frank wrote “It’s OK for him to yell at his wife. She’s deaf.” on the back of a COPS substation business card.

This simple act was all it took to calm the man’s fears. He went on his way, relieved that he wouldn’t be arrested.

On a typical day neighbors come in to the COPS substation looking for information, reporting suspected drug activity, graffiti, car prowlings or returning property they’ve found.

Frank, a volunteer since 1997, has been the COPS substation president for the past three years.

According to Frank, there are 12 regular volunteers, but in an emergency situation, such as a searching for a missing child, 40 volunteers can be mobilized.

Some days are uneventful, almost boring, but there’s a wealth of information for volunteers to read on quiet days. The COPS shop has racks full of brochures and pamphlets covering community resources and crime prevention topics.

Frank believes that neighbors feel less intimidated coming there with questions than they are going to the Public Safety Building. He remembers a man who came in to ask, hypothetically, what a dad should do if he found a large quantity of marijuana and suspected his son of dealing.

Frank told the man he had three choices. He could turn the son in, flush it down the toilet or go with his hypothetical son to the dealer and return the drugs.

The man just needed a safe place to talk about his options.

Sometimes residents’ concerns lead to more than talk. Alert neighbors once reported suspicious behavior at a suspected drug house on East Crown. Those reports led to an investigation and police officers last month arrested the driver of an SUV on drug and firearms charges as he pulled away from the house while driving on the wrong side of the street. Officers found a rifle, handgun, methamphetamine, legend drugs, a safe and explosive materials in the vehicle.

Pam Silva, 52, decided to become a volunteer because she has spare time and wanted to get involved with her neighborhood.

Silva is a retired deputy who moved to Spokane a few years ago from Northern California.

In addition to volunteering at the front desk, Silva spends her Friday nights on neighborhood observation patrol.

Teams of at least two patrol volunteers use their own cars and their own gas to drive around the neighborhood streets at night. They are trained to be the eyes and ears of the community, reporting suspicious or criminal activity to the Police Department.

Patrol volunteers attend special training. They don’t carry guns, and their cars are marked with signs on the side.

They’ve broken up late-night parties simply by circling the area. “We see a lot of strange people out at night,” said Silva.

They report possible drunken drivers, domestic violence incidents, burglaries in progress and kids out on the streets at 3 a.m.

Last year, 21 new Block Watches were established in the Nevada-Lidgerwood neighborhood, and two apartment complexes have been enrolled in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program. Volunteers also participated in NorthTown Community Days, Night Out Against Crime, Meth Watch Program, Senior Fraud Fighters Program and the Burglary Victim Call Back program.