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Flying the Stars and Stripes
By Chuck Graham
The U. S. Congress has specified the
rules pertaining to display and care of
the United States flag in U. S. Codes
Title 4 and 36. These rules, commonly
referred as “The Flag Code,” are basi-
cally these:
– Always fly the U. S. flag with respect
and in the place of honor. The U. S. flag
is never dipped in honor of anyone or
anything. No other flag is displayed
above the U. S. flag – in accordance
with international protocol.
– When displayed with other flags, the
U. S. flag is either on the right in a
line of flags, in the center if in front
of a line of flags, or in a position above The U. S. flag is flown at half-staff by
other flags.
– When displayed in a hall or audito-
rium, the U. S. flag is to the right of
the podium.
– The flag is displayed only during day-
light unless properly lighted, and is not
displayed in inclement weather unless
designed for weather.
Q&A with the Sun City Texas Citizens on Patrol (COPs)
Submitted by Larry Swim
The COPs and the CA surveyed Sun City
Texas residents about their knowledge
and attitudes toward the COPs program.
We discussed the responses to questions
in a previous issue of the Sun Rays. In
this month’s article, we are going to
discuss some of the comments from the
write-in section of the survey.
Patrols after dark
The COPs board and more recently the
CA have been discussing the possibility
of overnight patrols. This is a difficult
matter and will be discussed more in the
future. There are serious issues of avail-
able and willing drivers and volunteer
safety in the case of encountering feloni-
ous activity.
What do the COPs do besides drive
around?
The COPs have a number of duties. In ad-
dition to patrolling all neighborhoods, the
COPs do increased patrols in neighbor-
hoods with reports of incidents or suspi-
cious activity. We provide security patrols
at both of The Worship Place churches.
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
– Never allow the flag to touch the
ground.
At the Welcome Station at Sun City
Texas, the U. S. flag is displayed on the
right since the flags are in one line. At
the corner of Del Webb and Sun City
Boulevards, the U. S. flag is displayed
in the center since the center flag pole
is in front of the other two flag poles. At
the Veterans Memorial, the flag is in the
center since it is higher than the six ser-
vice flags. The U. S. flag displayed on a
staff attached to the house at a resident’s
home should be to the right of any other
flag as you face the street.
order of the president upon the death
of principal figures of the U. S. govern-
ment, or by the governor of a state in the
event of the death of a present or former
official of the state government. Quite of-
ten the president’s directive specifies the
U. S. flag be flown at half-staff at federal
buildings and on federal installations
We perform welfare checks on homebound
residents living alone when somebody
thinks they may have had a health crisis.
Furthermore, the COPs provide security
patrols at the Pulte construction sites.
COPs cars outside of Sun City Texas
COPs patrols typically do not go outside of
Sun City Texas. Reported sightings at CVS or variety of driving habits and capabili-
H-E-B may have been the Georgetown Po-
lice Department’s COPs car. Alternatively,
a volunteer who took a car for servicing
may have made a quick personal stop on
the way. This is an allowable deviation
since it so rarely happens.
Do the COPs report Community
Standards infractions?
No. The COPs do not report infractions to
Community Standards. The Community
Standards Office hires people who are
trained to do that job.
Patrol frequencies
COPs patrols are random. Each driver
develops their own way of patrolling Sun
City Texas. It also depends on whether
there are one or two cars out. When just
CA NEWS
leaving some dis-
cretion as relates
to other locations.
The U. S. flag is
also flown at half-
staff on May 15
– Peace Officers
Memorial Day;
the last Monday
in May – Memo-
rial Day; July 27 – Korean Veterans Day;
September 11 – Patriots Day, and De-
cember 7 – Pearl Harbor Remembrance
Day. Members of the Veterans Memorial
Advisory Group lower and raise the flags
at the Welcome Station while the Pulte
staff does the same for the flags in front
of the sales center. When the U. S. flag is
at half-staff, all other flags at that loca-
tion are also flown at half-staff.
Additional information concerning the
U. S. flag can be found on the Internet
at www.usflag.org.
one car is patrolling the entire communi-
ty, it is impossible to travel all the streets
and cover all major areas of concern in
the community.
COPs driving habits and training
With 200 members in the COPs program,
you can understand that there is a wide
ties. In the event that a COPs driver is
reported for improper driving, we take
action by either having a meeting with the
individual or even discharging them for
repeated driving infractions. The COPs
are trained to drive the speed limit on
main streets. This, of course, is to prevent
traffic backing up behind a slow-moving
vehicle. When driving the narrower
neighborhood streets, they are supposed
to travel 15 to 20 miles an hour. For an
added margin of safety, they’re also urged
to slow as they pass pedestrians or people
walking dogs. Additionally, we’ve imple-
mented an in-service training program
for all our drivers so that their driving
habits can be reviewed periodically.
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