Citizens Police Academy alumni form graffiti cleanup squad

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press 

There’s a new crew in town responsible for graffiti cleanup with Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful thanks to a recent partnership between Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful and the Copperas Cove Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association. 
The CCCPAAA volunteered with Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful during Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful Day last month, picking up trash but also painting over graffiti on the concrete walls at one of the city’s parks. 
The Five Hills Scholarship Pageant Program volunteers had previously cleaned up graffiti with KCCB, with a platform being to support Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful. With the pageant being canceled earlier this spring, there was a need for another group to step up. 
“It kind of ties to their mission, which is obviously crime prevention, and it ties into our mission and beautification,” KCCB Executive Director Roxanne Flores said. 
The Copperas Cove Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association is made up of members who have gone through the Copperas Cove Citizens Police Academy, which is a 10-week course available to the public that offers an inside look in what the city’s police officers go through
Founded in 1997, the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association has grown in membership and hosts appreciation meals for the Copperas Cove Police Department as well as a 9-11 Remembrance ceremony and volunteers at various city and PD events throughout the year such as Kiddo Kards, Rabbit Fest, Cove Night Out, Copperas Cove Halloween - Safe Night Out, Kris Kindl Markt, and various city sponsored bicycle and foot races.
As with all graffiti and trash cleanups sponsored by Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful, KCCB provides the supplies that are either purchased or donated, and the volunteers put in the work. 
Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful Day marked the first time that the Copperas Cove Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association had volunteered for Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful, but it won’t be the last.
One advantage of the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association volunteering is that its members are available to volunteer during the week, rather than just on the weekends, which will allow for a quicker response to any graffiti that pops up, according to Flores. 
Flores said she wanted to shine a spotlight on the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association to help get the group excited and also show that what the volunteers have done and will continue to do is valuable and appreciated. 
“We’re trying to utilize volunteers anytime we can, and so that’s just an opportunity that we could use them and, and it’s just a win-win because it goes with their mission, it goes with our mission,” Flores said. “We’re excited, and like I said, that’s just a win-win situation because they don’t have necessarily a budget like we do where they can purchase the supplies, so when I said, ‘Hey, let’s partner together,’ they were all for it.” 
Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful will offer the supplies, such as paint and rollers for graffiti cover ups, and trash bags, trash grabbers and more for trash pickups, at no cost to any group looking to do a cleanup. KCCB also has an Adopt a Spot program, where groups can adopt a location within Copperas Cove, with a requirement of doing four cleanups per year. Those interested in doing a clean-up should contact KCCB via email kccb@copperascovetx.gov or by phone at 254-547-4221 Ext. 6704.