Blanco Police Chief Mike Ritchey is looking for community member to volunteer to serve on a Critical Response Team (CART) that he will train to deploy to assist with local incidents.

“The Department of Justice has recommended that communities have CARTS in place for years,” he said. “Det. Ben Ablon and I recently went to a conference and attended an eight-hour session on CARTs in communities.”

The Blanco CART would respond to missing persons reports, for example, and assist law enforcement with local searches.

“You’ve seen situations where people are lined up in rows combing a field thoroughly,” he said. “That’s what we need to have available for deployment -- trained volunteers that can help multiply our force by beating the bushes.”

Chief Ritchey says that volunteers would attend a two-hour class on field training and register with the police department.

“We plan to reach out to the clubs and organizations in the community for CART members,” he said. “CART training is a natural extension of the CRASE training the department recently provided for civilian response to an active shooter event.”

Volunteers will be issued ID badges that get them onto the incident scene. According to Chief Ritchey, they will learn about different cases and outcomes, learn what to look for, how to determine if evidence is discovered that would make the area a crime scene and other techniquest.

Interested persons or organizations are encouraged to contact Chief Ritchey at (830) 833-4375.