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CITIZEN PATROLS

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 4, 2008

BRANDON - You won't find Kathy Samuelsen lounging on the couch after punching out as she leaves her job as a sales administrator with a Sunoco oil distributor in Brandon.

The 50-year-old grandmother's idea of a comfortable evening perch is the front seat of a refurbished sheriff's cruiser, patrolling her Bloomingdale neighborhood for four hours.

She is one of 70 volunteers with Hillsborough County's Citizen Patrol Program and one of 18 who take to Bloomingdale streets to help the sheriff's office keep the neighborhood safe. Volunteers also patrol in Apollo Beach, Westchase and Town 'N Country.

"People used to take care of each other, and there was a sense of community," Samuelsen said. "This is what we are trying to get back to."

The idea is simple: Put extra pairs of eyes on the streets to free deputies for more serious calls.

The volunteers don't have the full authority that deputies have and can't make arrests. But they can take on duties such as directing traffic after crashes or anytime vehicles must be rerouted, checking on houses whose owners are on vacation and filling in as school crossing guards.

They use the same radio network as sheriff's deputies and can report suspicious activity immediately, so deputies can respond if necessary. Shifts vary from four to six hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

"Our reward is if we can stop something from happening or make somebody's day better," said Elaine Sellent, 62, of Riverview, who frequently patrols as Samuelsen's partner.

The program seems to be working. Preliminary reports show felony property crime is down in the areas with the patrols.

Samuelsen said that's good news because one goal of the patrols is to deter crime.

"You never see what you are preventing," she said. "So when the stats come out and they are down, you know inside that you had something to do with it."

The volunteer initiatives in Apollo Beach and Westchase served as pilot programs. Patrols began there in March 2007.

Their success spurred the sheriff's office to expand to Bloomingdale and Town 'N Country in September, though it took two recruiting drives to drum up enough interest in Town 'N Country.

The sheriff's office isn't looking to expand the program .

"We want to make our existing groups bigger," said Deputy Lorraine Jordon, who oversees the patrols.

Less than 30 minutes into Samuelsen and Sellent's recent Tuesday night shift, voices on the sheriff's office radio squawked about an accident with injuries. They headed there to see whether they could help.

The women were told to direct traffic around the crash, letting the scene commander send a deputy home so he wouldn't work overtime.

It's the most hazardous task volunteers face.

"Flashing lights don't mean a thing to these people," Sellent said of the less-attentive passing drivers. "This is the most dangerous thing we do."

They left 79 minutes later. Next, they chased drivers from the fire lane at a shopping center. One driver told them she didn't know she couldn't park there.

"You would think the signs and bright yellow hash marks might have been a clue," Sellent muttered after the woman drove away.

The mood got tense when Samuelsen and Sellent did a vacation check midway through the shift. A truck in the driveway wasn't on the duty sheet, nor was the light that was on inside the home.

Before they called for a deputy to check the house, neighbors poured from their homes to assure the volunteers that the truck belonged to the homeowners' son and the light was left on for a neighborhood girl taking care of the family's cat.

Neighbors such as Carole Reid appreciated the women's presence.

"I think it is wonderful that we have something like this," she said.

The volunteer partners say they wouldn't be able to patrol without the support of their husbands and families.

"They might not be out here on the street, but they are part of the program," Samuelsen said. "But it is funny when your family starts understanding the radio codes."

They always ride through neighborhoods with their windows down.

"It's so we can hear better, and it makes us more approachable and friendly to the community," Sellent said.

Neither ended the shift upset that it was relatively uneventful.

"Quiet can be good," Samuelsen said. "It means people weren't getting hurt."

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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