Citizen Corps

The Citizen Corps program is part of the USA Freedom Corps, which creates volunteer opportunities for people to help their communities prepare for and respond to emergencies. Citizen Corps has four parts: Volunteers in Police Service, Medical Reserve Corps, Community Emergency Response Teams, and Neighborhood Watch.
Citizen Corps also provides information for how to react when disaster strikes. You can contact the Citizen Corps to learn about protecting your family, even if you are unable to volunteer for one of the programs. The organization offers information on a wide variety of emergency preparedness subjects.

Citizen Corps is governed by an advisory council. The Wheeling-Ohio County Local Emergency Planning Committee (internal link to LEPC) serves as the Wheeling-Ohio County Citizen Corps Council.

Mission

Citizen Corps seeks to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds.

History

President Bush established Citizen Corps in 2002 to provide more opportunities for people to become an integral part of protecting the homeland and supporting local first responders. The Department of Homeland Security coordinates Citizen Corps nationally.