Married couple volunteer as Citizens on Patrol for Seminole County Sheriff's Office for 18+ years

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - The FOX 35 Care Force awarded a special couple making a difference as volunteers for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

Holly and Andy Faries have been part of the Citizens on Patrol for more than 18 years and have no plans to retire.

While they wear a uniform and drive a marked vehicle with a scanner, radio and computer, they are not officers of the law.

"We are not law enforcement," Holly Faries laughed. "We don’t pretend to be."

She said her husband, Andy, got the idea from a friend to go through the Community Law Enforcement Academy.

"I wasn’t about to let him do it by himself because it sounded too cool so I decided to go with him," she said. "And that was 18 years ago."

Partners in life who became partners for Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

"He does patrolling and he actually goes out," she said. "He is the eyes and ears for the deputies."

"It’s something I enjoy doing," Andy Faries said.

 "I like to do it. I want to do it. You can’t put a monetary value on that.

C.O.P.’s assist deputies when requested with traffic control, traffic crashes and disabled vehicles.Holly and Andy said they remember one time pulling over on SR-417 to check on a disabled vehicle late at night.

"We came across a disabled vehicle and there was a woman in there and she was petrified," Holly Faries said. "She was by herself on the side of the road, her cell phone had died. She had no way of calling anyone and it was dark. She was so scared. So we pulled up, we got out. My husband did everything he needed to do to call it in because we have to maintain safety at all times. That is our number on priority."

"It is rewarding to be able to help that person," Andy Faries said.

C.O.P.’s also assist with fun community events and provide escort duties for funeral processions or visiting dignitaries."We do a lot of volunteer work for the community," Holly Faries said. "It’s a lot of fun to be able to have somebody to partner with, we talk about a lot of things, we create a lot of things together. We’ve been together 44 years. Forty years married next month."