TCOPA was formed to educate, train and instruct Citizens on Patrol (COP), Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) , Code Blue , Wise Eyes and other law enforcement volunteer groups across Texas. Law Enforcement Volunteers greatly enhance the departments’ community policing concept.

At the 2024 Conference in Decatur as per the bylaws the positions of President, 2nd Vice-President, Region2, and Region4 were up for election. All currently serving members were reelected to their positions.

Educational and Instructional Opportunities

The first regional training for 2024 was held in Round Rock in March 2024. The second regional training was held for Region 4 in LaPorte on July 2024. If you are interested in hosting training in your region (generally a one day event) please contact your region representative or the board. In the future we would like to host several of these each year to provide the training each region needs.

TCOPA with a host agency (or agencies) provides an annual conference presenting relevant and useful training sessions. Thanks to Decatur for hosting a wonderful 2024 conference. Details about the location of the 2025 conference were shared at the banquet.

Some of the courses that have been offered at past conferences are listed below as examples of the training you can see. Every year the hosting city reviews and chooses new training base upon the needs of members .

• Human Trafficking
• Homeland security
• DWI recognition
• Suspicious Activity ( Day and Night )
• Precision Driving Course
• Drug activity
• Handicap Parking enforcement
• FBI debriefs
• Self Defense
• Situational Awareness
• Radio Communications
• Round Table Discussions
• etc.

TCOPA also provides a Citizens on Patrol Certification Course during each yearly conference. The C.O.P. Certification course is an in-depth Citizens Patrol Class. TCOPA started to provide an Advanced certification course at the 2024 conference. These courses fill up quickly so register early to sign up.

TCOPA believes in the importance of volunteerism and especially in the field of law enforcement. Our mission is to provide the type of ongoing training for police volunteers to assist them in the performance of non-law enforcement functions so that police officers can be available to answer higher priority calls. C.O.P. volunteers are the additional eyes and ears for law enforcement. Police volunteers play a vital roll in their community by acting as a force multiplier for their local police department.