Colorado Springs Volunteer Fire Departments

Official Volunteer Program: Colorado Springs Police and Fire Departments & Office of Emergency Management

The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is a progressive municipal law enforcement company with an official force of 659 sworn and 357 civil staff members.

Volunteers have been a fundamental piece of day-to-day functions throughout the CSPD for over forty years. According to community need, a diverse selection of stakeholders explored and created the existing program, introduced into the general public last year as Community Advancing Public Safety (CAPS). Since its launch, CAPS has actually experienced great growth and success. How many volunteers has increased 80 per cent since the CAPS launch, from 350 volunteers before 2011 to 630 volunteers today. An all-volunteer Leadership Committee provides oversight and neighborhood resources to your system. CAPS has actually implemented considerable programs that optimize the skills of volunteers and enhance CSPD services. In 2013, volunteers across 80 assignments within the program provided over 71, 000 volunteer hours at a value of $1, 600, 000.

CAPS volunteers made a significant effect on community safety solutions in Colorado Springs in revolutionary techniques, including the following:

• Completing crucial functions when you look at the Emergency Operations Center during 2013 Black woodland Fire and flooding catastrophes
• Freeing over 1, 800 hours of violent crimes detectives’ time by giving key investigative help
• Encouraging practical active shooter training for 120 officials
• Processing 1, 700 unlawful guidelines contributing to 47 arrests
• Providing crisis input and supporting solutions to 4, 600 criminal activity sufferers and another 1, 200 connections encouraging elders
• Offering customer care as ambassadors in key business areas
• Ensuring meaningful accessibility general public safety services for Spanish-speaking residents in 119 requires service
• Reviewing 460 incidents on community safety surveillance cameras, causing 56 arrests

One of many diverse possibilities that strengthen CSPD’s services are four revolutionary positions:

Public protective camera system: In 2013, ten volunteers served nearly 1, 000 hours viewing surveillance cameras when you look at the downtown Colorado Springs area as a crucial element of a larger public safety initiative. Inside part, the volunteers come in direct communication with officials and communications center workers, reporting real-time dubious behavior and recording video for future requirements. Volunteers assisted in over 460 incidents ranging from assaults to narcotics violations, leading to 56 arrests. In one case, a volunteer camera operator observed a man wielding an illegal knife and was able to direct officers to the location.

Investigations: Volunteers served nearly 1, 000 hours in 2013 within the Unique Victims, Crimes Against Elders, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and cool situation units, assisting detectives with situation reports, victim phone contact, also crucial study. This area is also a magnet for students in the department’s robust volunteer intern program; eight interns have successfully worked in this area. One sergeant states, “Interns within the Domestic Violence and mature Sexual Assault products tend to be a tremendous asset, together with work they do assists release a detective’s time and energy to go after more leads.” Specifically trained cool instance homicide and lacking persons volunteers served 841 hours organizing and digitizing voluminous situation data, paginating the instances, and making the situations searchable. This work makes reviewing situations simpler and follow-up on potential leads more effective and effective. In addition greatly improves detectives’ capability to access critical information rapidly during their judge testimony. Volunteers in addition conduct files searches and do other responsibilities to support detectives within device.

Instruction Scenarios: Over 50 volunteers served almost 400 hours in part play “acting” circumstances to guide education officials. These volunteers supported it of 120 officials in practical active shooter circumstances. Within one energetic shooter training, volunteers as “victims” reached 3:45 a.m. and remained over 6 hours. Also, over 200 volunteer hours supported three CSPD Training Academy situations: a bar battle, a traffic accident with an impaired motorist, and a burglary beginning. The influence to your department is a savings of a huge selection of officer hours in “extras” functions, and as one officer stated, “CAPS volunteers have actually aided us at a whole new degree.”

Strategic Suggestions Center (StIC): Volunteers when you look at the Suggestion Processing product tend to be a subgroup of StIC, processing a number of incoming criminal activity tips. Tip specialists analysis, assign, and distribute the methods for follow-up and served over 2, 300 hours in 2013. Tip technicians are accountable for monitoring criminal activity Stoppers strategies for rewards processing and reporting purposes. The job among these volunteers in processing over 1, 700 recommendations in 2013 added to 47 arrests.

A significant success for the system is development into large-scale disaster functions. Community volunteers have-not historically been used inside the town’s event demand framework. Colorado Springs has-been hit with considerable all-natural disasters within the last eighteen months, which have tested the capability of police, fire, as well as other public security sources to react.

Following the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire, the city’s after activity report included nine guidelines to include CAPS volunteers in disaster reaction. Consequently, the CAPS volunteer program has officially already been built-into the City of Colorado Springs crisis Operations Center (EOC) and is at forefront of this formation of additional local resource companies. Volunteers are trained and mobilize upon EOC activation, frequently stating in the hour despite unique personal crises. The highly trained volunteers served nearly 600 hours through the 2013 Black Forest Fire and lots of floods, carrying out important responsibilities that freed officers to focus on the emergent conditions accessible.

Key opportunities for volunteers when you look at the EOC feature providing as call-takers and athletes when it comes to Operations part officials, scribes documenting real-time task into a web-based monitoring system, and volunteers ensuring correct sign-in/sign-out processes were used in the EOC. A CSPD lieutenant described the prosperity of integrating these volunteers because of this: “As an operations main when you look at the EOC, i've discovered having trained, professional, and motivated volunteers crucial in providing continuity of communication in that stressful environment. Their role provides instant use of taped information during operations concerning all-natural disasters and says of disaster which may otherwise be lost to unfolding events.” This part for CAPS volunteers is a unique collaboration among public protection services that included significant value toward city’s ability to react to these disasters.

CAPS is marketed throughout CSPD—from the highest degrees of town and PD management toward 63 staff group frontrunners just who supervise volunteers, the CAPS staff, and also the staff members who work alongside volunteers everyday. CAPS is so important to CSPD functions that methods concerning the system are included into eight of ten department strategic goals for the next three years. CAPS has been completely acknowledged while the way CSPD does business, recognizing its sight of “transforming delivery of public security solutions through volunteerism.”