“It really hits home because my brother was a victim of gun violence,” Cliff Sparks said.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A North Texas community leader is fed up with the violent crime in the area.
Cliff Sparks told WFAA he is signing up for citizens on patrol, also known as the cold blue program. Sparks hopes it will impact the crime he’s seeing along Miller Avenue in Fort Worth.
“It really hits home because my brother w as a victim of gun violence,” said Sparks, “As you guys know, we lost a lot of people on the 4th of July. We were not trying to have that on Miller Street.”
Fort Worth police responded to multiple fatal shootings on the Fourth of July including gunfire that killed two young sisters at a car wash to see fireworks.
After retiring from her civilian job in Dallas, Sandra Jones lives in Fort Worth working to train Code Blue Program participants.
“We have a training program set up for about four or 5 hours on Saturday,” said Jones, “Once they fill out an application. Then you get a background check. And once your background check is done, we will give you the training.”
Now with 400 participants citywide, the Code Blue Program is the first community policing initiative in Fort Worth. There is no cost to undergo the training.
Police officers and residents work together to reduce crime and intervene when possible. After training, Code Blue base operators work directly with Neighborhood Patrol Officers in their assigned areas thanks to dedicated radio channels.
The Citizen On Patrol volunteers are in all of the police districts in Fort Worth. They never get out of their cars and they are visible in neighborhoods on purpose.
“We want to be visible out there and the magnets do it. You know, people think they see it, or the criminals may see it. And that’s a deterrence,” Jones said.
Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Sparks hopes to inspire others to step up too.
“To help try to smash some of the crime down,” Sparks said.
People interested in joining the Citizen on Patrol Program can learn more about the requirements online here.