SCOPE office opens on Fairchild Published Aug. 9, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Larry W. Carpenter Jr. 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- The 16th Sheriff Community Oriented Policing Effort office opened on Fairchild in the 92nd Security Forces Squadron headquarters building here Aug. 7 in conjunction with National Night Out. The SCOPE misson is to provide a safe living environment for the community; to increase citizens' awareness of, and involvement in, community-orientated services in partnership with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office; and to foster community spirit. National Night Out is an event that happens once a year, the first Tuesday of August, and provides an opportunity for neighbors to become comfortable with each other. "It allows neighbors to lock their doors, turn on their porch lights, and come out to meet people," said Michael Marro of the 92nd Security Forces Squadron. "It could be a barbecue or something as simple as an ice cream social. It just provides an opportunity to talk to them and find out the needs of the neighborhood." The neighborly meet-and-greet should allow minor disputes to be handled at the lowest level. "If you have a problem with a barking dog or a loud noise complaint, you don't have to call the police; you can just talk to your neighbor," said Mr. Marro. "That frees up the police to respond to true emergencies." Mr. Marro states it best when he says, "Not all criminals are terrorists, but all terrorists are criminals. Therefore, everything we do for crime prevention is terrorism prevention." The Sheriff's Department has approximately 15,000 volunteers, including 700 citizens in the 16 SCOPE offices and 1,250 Block Watch Captain's, who cover an area of almost 2,000 square miles, providing a critical extra set of eyes and ears for Spokane and Fairchild law enforcement. "It's really the person who sees suspicious activity and acts upon it who's going to stop it," said Mr. Marro. "We're a response (law enforcement) force; we can only act upon information we receive in a timely manner." Fairchild's SCOPE office is the first of its kind in the Air Force, and a model for an Air Force-wide initiative to place similar community oriented police offices at every stateside base. Currently, members of the 92nd SFS and their families are SCOPE volunteers. To become patrolling members, they must complete the SCOPE basic training class, which the Spokane County Sheriff's office teaches at no charge. Of course, the real question is: Will the program work? Mr. Marro has no doubt. In fact, it's already working. "We can attribute over one million dollars of active patrolling in the first six months of our partnership. We've located person's of interest the sheriffs department was looking for and they've located people that we were looking for," Mr. Marro said. "So we're not just saying it's safe; we can prove it." Anyone wanting to volunteer for the program can visit to the SCOPE office here for information and direction.
