Board member, Don Estes of Village Del Mar, with the guidance of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department (Sheriff Charles McCutchen) was designated Captain of our Boca Del Mar unit in September 1996. He set about organizing his command and issued notice for volunteers. At the Boca Del Mar board meeting of November 8, 1996, Captain Estes announced that 54 volunteers had signed up for interviews and training.

Purpose: To provide "eyes and ears" for the Sheriffs and to notify them of any untoward happenings in the communities of Boca Del Mar.

Composition: Volunteers, male and female, have never been convicted of any felony, citizens of the United States, have a driver's license with visual I.D. and no restricting physical handicap.

Training: Carried out by Sheriff's Department at a nearby substation on "What to look for and how to report (whether urgent (911) or non-emergency)."

Duties: To tour at least 3 hours per week - 2 observers in the vehicle - slowly through as many communities as you see fit in your time period. House checks (residents fill out forms with details of his home and how it was left) by one of the volunteers, carrying a walkie-talkie to remain in contact with the other volunteer. If anything unusual noted, notify the Sheriff's office.
No personal confrontation.

Some of our volunteers have also received training in traffic control. If the patrol car participates in an emergency, the volunteers may be asked to carry out duties under the supervision of the Deputy Sheriff.

Automobile: Provided by Sheriff's Department in good repair (hand-me-down from working Deputies) - contains telephone, walkie-talkie, telephone numbers to call postings and scanner tuned to our district. Instructions given on care and maintenance of auto and equipment. Vehicle is quartered at the Fire Station on Palmetto Park North.

Clothing: Dark trousers - a shirt with C.O.P. insignia and a distinctive cap (shirt and cap provided).

Progress: We are Unit 54 in a total of 103 Units in the county. We are now in our 6th year. A number of our original volunteers have departed - moved away or became incapacitated, etc. We are constantly looking for more volunteers and feel that each of our communities should provide at least one volunteer. If we can obtain a volunteer group of about 100, we can obtain 2 automobiles, thus supplying more frequent and total coverage of our communities. We are still far from this goal. 15-20 people of our unit have each year performed for 100 or more hours.

Monthly Meeting: Second Monday of each month at the Veranda Club (2nd floor auditorium) for review of the previous month's statistics and progress and for up-to-date discussion of present day considerations -led by our assigned Deputy Sheriffs.

Rewards: The 100 hours + people are invited to an awards luncheon by the Sheriff's Department and given a pertinent medallion to be worn on the shirt.

Addenda: Regular maintenance of our vehicle is carried out by the Sheriffs Department. Boca Del Mar Improvement budgets a suitable amount to cover gas expenditures and incidentals. Our unit is commanded by a Captain, two Lieutenants and four Sergeants, each wearing distinctive insignia on the shirt. Each officer has a pertinent overseeing duty. In our time span, we have had as Captain, Don Estes for three years, John Chaves for one year and Meir Rapaport for the past year. We have also had changes in command with our Lieutenants and Sergeants. Our present captain is Shia Lome.

Future: Our present Palm Beach County Sheriff Beiluch, is a strong supporter of C.O.P. Palm Beach County has had a crime reduction of nearly 40% and he gives much credit to the presence of the C.O.P. Boca Del Mar, which has its own Contract Deputies, is a very safe place to live and crime is minimal. Here again, some credit is undoubtedly due to the presence of our C.O.P. Unit.

We are constantly in need of volunteers. Please be so inclined and get in touch with the Boca Del Mar Improvement office at 368-1503.