HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 01 - Citizen Volunteer ProgramCitizen Volunteer Program
The formal volunteer program will be structured to capitalize on the many citizens
interested in working with the Police Department. This program will consist of three
levels of volunteers with their respective duties briefly described as follows:
1. CPA Alumni — These volunteers will continue to provide the services they
have participated in for several years. Some of those services include:
a. Providing holiday meals for officers;
b. Staffing an information desk in the police building to assist persons
visiting the Police Department and Municipal Court;
C. Assisting the Community Relations Unit at safety fairs distributing
brochures and fingerprinting children;
d. Assisting with other special events such as Santa Cops, National
Night Out, and bicycle rodeos;
e. Other similar duties as needed.
2. Volunteers in Police Service (YIPS) — These volunteers will be more
involved in the Police Department and will require a more extensive
background investigation than those in the previous group. Their duties will
include the following activities:
a. Deployment and staffing of the Sky Watch units;
b. Scheduling and deployment of the speed trailer;
C. Neighborhood traffic surveys utilizing radar equipment;
d. Document scanning in the Records Division;
e. Coordinating Victims Assistance programs;
f. Working with the Project Lifesaver program.
3. Reserve Officers — These volunteers will undergo a hiring process similar to
that of regular full-time officers including an extensive background
investigation, polygraph examination and physical and psychological
evaluations. They will be certified police officers licensed through the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education. Their
volunteer duties will be the same as a full-time officers and will include:
March 2, 2006 (12:32PM)
a. Preventive patrol;
b. Response to emergency calls for service;
C. Conduct vehicular, bicycle, ATV and/or foot patrol in assigned
areas;
d. Conduct preliminary investigations and complete offense and
accident reports;
e. Fill-in when and where additional officers are needed.
When implementing any new program there is always the question of liability. With this
program there was not a concern from the City Attorney in regards to the reserve officer
program. With the VIPS program the liability concerns, if any, would depend on the
activities they would be doing. The examples provided above did not cause our City
Attorney any concern and any additional activities would be discussed with him prior to
implementation.
Workers Compensation insurance would be added for any volunteers utilized by the
department. According to Risk Manager Dan Hambrick this coverage would cost
approximately $1,500.00 for the entire program.
Volunteer programs are nothing new to police departments. In fact, the City of
Richardson among others in the Metroplex, have very successful and active, VIPS and
Reserve Officer programs. Both provide a needed service to the department and allow
them to accomplish more than they could without the programs. Implementation of a
volunteer program of this magnitude will afford the Police Department the resources to
provide better coverage than is currently possible. In particular, providing regular patrol
of the parks and the trail system. It would also provide significant cost savings for
security at the many festivals and city -sponsored events.
However, the success of this program, as with any other, is dependent on the
management of the program. With this in mind, there will be one promotion to sergeant
needed to ensure a supervisor is available to coordinate and manage the program. I
believe that having a supervisor dedicated to this program will go a long way in making
this program successful. I am confident that the benefits of the program will far exceed
any costs related to its implementation.
es
March 2, 2006 (12:32PM)