Neighborhood Watch to Expand for Holidays

The Hillsborough County Sherriff's Office has a contingent of volunteer citizens ready to patrol the streets that will be expanded this holiday season.

Bloomingdale, FishHawk Ranch and Brandon are three of the areas that are patrolled by the volunteer force in cars that heavily resemble police cars. The group is only deployed in areas that are deemed safe enough for citizen patrol, but they are still a valuable tool for the police force.

"The most important aspect of what our volunteers do is save taxpayers money," said deputy Lorraine Jordan, volunteer coordinator for the sheriff's office. "If a crossing guard calls out of work sick, we would have to send an officer to do the job, but the volunteers step in and allow our officers to go back to doing police work."

In areas such as Bloomingdale, the citizens patrol has a variety of duties, which include traffic direction, checking on houses for people who are on vacation and keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.

"They are our eyes and ears out there," deputy Curtis Warren said. "They don't have weapons, so we don't send them out to high crime areas, but in the communities that they are in they provide a valuable service keeping their eyes peeled and relaying anything suspicious to the department so that we can get a squad car on it."

For the entire county, the volunteer patrol staff consists of about 85 people in the communities of Bloomingdale, Apollo Beach, Brandon, Lutz, FishHawk, Westchase and Town and Country.

The volunteer contingent is on the verge of expanding in Bloomingdale and Brandon for the holidays as retail centers become flooded with consumers.

"We're getting ready to expand in those areas because there are a lot of shopping centers and the holidays is a time when people are vulnerable," Jordan said. "It's important that we have them out there and that their presence is felt so they'll drive through the parking lots and look for suspicious activity."

To become a volunteer officer, visit the sheriff's office website. Volunteers must be at least 19 years old, possess a clean driving record, attend the volunteer training program and fill out the necessary paperwork.