HARRISONBURG — The Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office has a few more eyes and ears these days.

Sheriff James Kelly recently started a Sheriff’s Citizens on Patrol program, in which members of the community do things like check on homebound citizens or make sure homes where the owners are on vacation are still locked up tight.

“It is basically doing things that family used to do for family,” Kelly said.

Currently, six citizens are involved with SCOP.

“They are not law enforcement officers, they are not out there to enforce the law,” Kelly said. “They have no arrest power, they are strictly a volunteer group of people who are concerned about the community.”

The SCOP participants are given a shirt with the program logo embroidered on it, and while they aren’t law enforcement they do assist law enforcement, said Rhonda Squyres with the CPSO.

“If there is a wreck, they may direct traffic so the officer can deal directly with the wreck,” Squyres said.

“They might go by a closed business and hang a hanger on the door to let them know the sheriff’s office had been by.”

The SCOP participants are also encouraged to be on the watch for any suspicious vehicles, and if they see one they can call the sheriff’s office, Squyres said.

The sheriff said he heard about the program from Lincoln Parish Sheriff Mike Stone.

“He told me that one of the best things he could start was a SCOP program, and he said it has turned out to be a really good program,” Kelly said.

As far as he knows, Kelly said Catahoula Parish is only the third parish in Louisiana to have a SCOP program. Lincoln and Bossier parishes are the other two.

Those who want to participate will have to fill out an application, which will be reviewed by a three-person committee, Squyres said.

Catahoula Parish residents interested in participating should contact Squyres at 318-744-5411.