As a Neighborhood Assistance Officer (N.A.O.):  What can I do?

The N.A.O. program’s intentions are to be of service to the sworn officers of the Charleston Police Department (CPD).  As an N.A.O. you are volunteering your time to this purpose and there is a mutual desire between you and the CPD to get the most value from the time you offer.  While we wish to give excellent service to every need of the public, we can best serve the public by creating priorities of assignments so you can best serve the officers and thereby, the public as well.  At the present time the CPD’s highest concern is with response to priority calls regarding potential life-and-death situations.  We pride ourselves in having excellent response time, while simultaneously not jeopardizing our safety or that of others for the purpose of a speedy arrival.  In order to keep up this commitment, we need to relieve our patrol officers of the burden of time-consuming chores, and that is where the N.A.O. can do the most service. The patrol officers are very appreciative of this assistance when they can get it.  A CPD officer with a traffic control duty appreciates being released so to respond to other calls, thanks to an NAO relieving him/her.  Freeing up those officers for other calls or enforcement duties gives the city better protection by the police, especially if during a peak time.  The CPD will not dictate to you when you should come out and work, actually we hope you schedule your hours to best suit your own needs.  It is an obvious benefit to have N.A.O.’s available during the peak traffic rushes or large-scale events.  We want the program to have a public visibility so that it can be publicly supported, therefore it is preferable that you be seen in a helping capacity at the most visible locations or special events as possible.  We will also require you be in uniform for special assignments, and may specify a dress uniform for some occasions.  We have trained you to understand that you are taking NO law enforcement actions and will call the police to handle such situations.  We want you to make it clear to anyone you are dealing with that you are NOT the police and CANNOT enforce laws, yet you are acting as an agent of CPD, so you may lawfully give them an order to move their vehicle (such as in wrecks), or their persons (such as in evacuations).  CPD prefers that you spend the greatest majority of your time working alongside patrol, even though there will be opportunities to work in a more behind-the-scenes capacity.  Often you could attend public meetings and act in a Public Relations capacity, representing the spirit of community volunteerism.  Some paperwork relief may be requested by liaison officers.  If you are needed in other capacities you will be requested for the specific duty.  Be aware that whether out on the street or in an office, the Chain of Command must be followed to assure smooth operation of the department, so you will possibly work at something you may not prefer to do.  Every NAO should take responsibility for cleaning and upkeep of vehicles and office spaces assigned to them.  CPD will do its best to keep you safe, and if you are given an assignment you feel is too dangerous, you should indicate that that is the case and request a supervisor allow you to pass on the assignment in the interest of your comfort level.  You are the best judge of the situations which make you uncomfortable and which ones you can handle.  For that reason we are suggesting you work with a partner when possible, and make sure that you and your partner can communicate with each other.  Proper communication with Metro 911 and supervising Patrol Sergeants can also keep you safe.  You will be released the from Field Training phase when you have demonstrated you skill in equipment operation, as well as performance of duty.  We thank you for your willingness to be of the most valuable assistance to CPD.