OXNARD : Cops and Jocks Plans New Season

Police officers, athletes and coaches huddled in Oxnard on Thursday to discuss the game plan for the 1995-1996 Cops and Jocks season.

More than 82 local law enforcement officials and nearly all Ventura County high schools will participate in this year’s program. . The Cops and Jocks program unites athletes with volunteering police officers, sheriff’s deputies, highway patrol officers and other public safety officials through sports.

“Each school finds a cop or two to adopt their football, basketball or volleyball teams,” said Rich Randolph, a program organizer and Santa Paula police officer. “The officers interact with the kids on a one-to-one basis.”

Randolph said the officers hang out with the kids, attend practice once a week and go to as many games as their schedules permit.

Started in Ventura County in June, 1992, Cops and Jocks has expanded across the state and into Nevada. More than 15 law enforcement agencies and 26 high schools have joined the program.

On Thursday, program participants and organizers met at the Casa Sirena Resort Hotel in Oxnard to hash out plans. Randolph said that when the safety officials visit schools, it’s the coaches--not the cops--who are the bosses. According to Randolph, cops can do everything from getting players water to acting as nurses for injured athletes.

Randolph said part of this year’s strategy involves recruiting more women officers to participate in the program--there are only two now.

Randolph said the program provides a lot of personal rewards. “It makes the kids feel good knowing a cop,” he said. “And it makes me feel good when we stop a car in the middle of the night and it’s filled with kids you know, and they say ‘Hey!’ ”