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Monday, Jul. 05, 2010
Police relying on free help as budget cuts shrink force
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Art Silva works about 150 hours each month for the Modesto police, and he doesn't get paid.
He sets up speed radar trailers, leads tours at the Police Department, helps at sobriety checkpoints and joins searches for missing people, among a long list of other assignments.
Silva, 63, of Modesto is a volunteer at the Modesto Police Department, where he has donated his time, skills and effort for the past five years.
He sets up speed radar trailers, leads tours at the Police Department, helps at sobriety checkpoints and joins searches for missing people, among a long list of other assignments.
Silva, 63, of Modesto is a volunteer at the Modesto Police Department, where he has donated his time, skills and effort for the past five years.
Modesto Bee - (Brian Ramsay/bramsay@modbee.com) Art Silva, right, has been a community volunteer with the Modesto Police Department for over 5 years. Silva hosted Girl Scouts Troop 3336, including Lizi Vanatta, 7, at center on Thursday afternoon (7/1/10)and gave the Brownies a tour of the Modesto Police Department including an up close look at a police patrol car, a police motorcycle, and a meet and greet with Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden. MPD volunteers provided about 10,000 hours of free labor in 2009, according to the department. July 1, 2010.
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AT A GLANCE
Some facts about Modesto police volunteers:
• Volunteers worked 9,415 hours in 2009.
• Three volunteers worked more than 1,000 hours each in 2009.
• Volunteers served about 6,500 subpoenas to victims and witnesses.
• There are 27 volunteers, and the goal is to recruit about 20 more.
Requirements to become a Modesto police volunteer:
• 18 years or older
• A U.S. citizen or legal resident
• Good communication skills
• Extensive background check
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality
• Comply with uniform dress code
• Ability to work at least 10 hours a month
Some of the duties for volunteers:
• Checking neighborhoods and shopping centers for open doors or windows as well as property that can be stolen
• Assisting residents with questions
• Patrolling school areas
• Clerical work
• Making deliveries and distributing mail or newsletters
• Assisting at public events
• Issuing courtesy notices
• Handing out fliers
• Answering phones
• Assisting Neighborhood Watch coordinators
• Vacation house checks
• Senior citizen checks
• Assisting in searches for missing people
For more information about the Volunteers in Police Services program, call 572-9500 or go to www.modestogov.com/mpd/programs/vips.asp.
Source: The Modesto Police Department
"People always ask me, 'You do this for no pay?' " Silva said. "There's a lot more than just pay involved here."
Silva is one of 27 members of the department's Volunteers in Police Services. They will play an even more crucial role as the department faces layoffs and adjusts to a third year of budget cuts.
"With the budget cuts, they're leaning a little more toward us," Silva said. "We're here to help the people who are working, not to do the jobs of the people who were let go."
The city released a proposed budget in May that threatened to eliminate 60 positions, including 35 in the Police Department.
Last month, the Modesto City Council approved a $386 million budget that closed a $12.7 million general fund shortfall with cuts to services and staff.
While concessions were made by employee labor groups to save jobs, which and how many employees are laid off will not be determined until later this month.
Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden said it's safe to say there will be layoffs at the Police Department, so the department needs all the help it can get.
Harden would like to increase the department's volunteers to about 50 to help handle duties that otherwise would increase the workload for a full-time staff that's already stretched thin.
"I would like to have a pretty deep bench (of volunteers)," Harden said. "This can be a good opportunity for retirees and college-age people with a variety of skills."
It looks great on a résumé, Silva said, and there are some volunteers who are recent police academy graduates looking for jobs at agencies around the region.
The trailers collect vehicle speed data for the department's Traffic Unit, which analyzes speeding trends. Silva said the volunteers also help officers at sobriety checkpoints, important work that can be amusing sometimes.
"There are people who drive up, talking on their cell phones," Silva said. State law forbids drivers from using their cell phones, even at sobriety checkpoints.
The volunteers have to pass an extensive background check, similar to screenings done for sworn police officers.
"The background check is pretty extensive because of the things we have to do," said volunteer Dee Schaffer, 78, of Modesto, who has volunteered for eight years and works about 50 hours each month. "We have to be clean."
The volunteers might be assigned to help people with questions at the department's downtown Modesto lobby, check on the well-being of elderly people at their homes or serve subpoenas to witnesses and victims who have to testify in criminal cases.
In 2009, the volunteers served about 6,500 subpoenas. Karl Finch served about 900 of those.
Finch, 71, of Modesto worked for 36 years as a health teacher at Modesto High School, where he coached football and basketball. When he retired, he decided to volunteer at the Modesto Police Department, because his father was a police officer there.
Finch runs the juvenile diversion program, working with first-time offenders. The program keeps young people with minor infractions from entering the juvenile justice system and connects them to resources that might help turn things around before they get worse.
"I worked with youths before, so I felt this suited me," Finch said. "You're helping people. You feel like you're doing something good, and they make you feel appreciated."
No set schedules
He works about 70 to 130 hours each month, but the volunteers don't have set schedules. If they have time, they work. If they don't, the department asks other volunteers to come in.
The volunteers can't issue citations, but they can issue courtesy notices when they spot illegal parking, an open garage door or a portable basketball hoop in the middle of the street.
"There really are important things to be done and nobody to do them," Finch said. "That's why we're hoping to get a few more volunteers."
Candace Roberts signed up to be a volunteer three years ago. A retired nurse and widow, she said she wanted to give back to the community.
Roberts, 63, of Modesto works 80 to 100 hours each month with the juvenile diversion program. With the other volunteers, she handles traffic control at parades and other public events as well as major wrecks.
She also works with a truancy program, speaking about the consequences of skipping school with parents of children with multiple absences.
"I like everything about the job," Roberts said. "With the budget the way it is, they could use all the help they can get."
Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.
Silva is one of 27 members of the department's Volunteers in Police Services. They will play an even more crucial role as the department faces layoffs and adjusts to a third year of budget cuts.
"With the budget cuts, they're leaning a little more toward us," Silva said. "We're here to help the people who are working, not to do the jobs of the people who were let go."
The city released a proposed budget in May that threatened to eliminate 60 positions, including 35 in the Police Department.
Last month, the Modesto City Council approved a $386 million budget that closed a $12.7 million general fund shortfall with cuts to services and staff.
While concessions were made by employee labor groups to save jobs, which and how many employees are laid off will not be determined until later this month.
Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden said it's safe to say there will be layoffs at the Police Department, so the department needs all the help it can get.
Harden would like to increase the department's volunteers to about 50 to help handle duties that otherwise would increase the workload for a full-time staff that's already stretched thin.
"I would like to have a pretty deep bench (of volunteers)," Harden said. "This can be a good opportunity for retirees and college-age people with a variety of skills."
It looks great on a résumé, Silva said, and there are some volunteers who are recent police academy graduates looking for jobs at agencies around the region.
Many are retirees
Silva used to work as a public works superintendent in San Leandro before he retired. A lot of the jobs he used to handle in the Bay Area are similar to his volunteer duties, including setting up radar trailers along city streets.The trailers collect vehicle speed data for the department's Traffic Unit, which analyzes speeding trends. Silva said the volunteers also help officers at sobriety checkpoints, important work that can be amusing sometimes.
"There are people who drive up, talking on their cell phones," Silva said. State law forbids drivers from using their cell phones, even at sobriety checkpoints.
The volunteers have to pass an extensive background check, similar to screenings done for sworn police officers.
"The background check is pretty extensive because of the things we have to do," said volunteer Dee Schaffer, 78, of Modesto, who has volunteered for eight years and works about 50 hours each month. "We have to be clean."
The volunteers might be assigned to help people with questions at the department's downtown Modesto lobby, check on the well-being of elderly people at their homes or serve subpoenas to witnesses and victims who have to testify in criminal cases.
In 2009, the volunteers served about 6,500 subpoenas. Karl Finch served about 900 of those.
Finch, 71, of Modesto worked for 36 years as a health teacher at Modesto High School, where he coached football and basketball. When he retired, he decided to volunteer at the Modesto Police Department, because his father was a police officer there.
Finch runs the juvenile diversion program, working with first-time offenders. The program keeps young people with minor infractions from entering the juvenile justice system and connects them to resources that might help turn things around before they get worse.
"I worked with youths before, so I felt this suited me," Finch said. "You're helping people. You feel like you're doing something good, and they make you feel appreciated."
No set schedules
He works about 70 to 130 hours each month, but the volunteers don't have set schedules. If they have time, they work. If they don't, the department asks other volunteers to come in.
The volunteers can't issue citations, but they can issue courtesy notices when they spot illegal parking, an open garage door or a portable basketball hoop in the middle of the street.
"There really are important things to be done and nobody to do them," Finch said. "That's why we're hoping to get a few more volunteers."
Candace Roberts signed up to be a volunteer three years ago. A retired nurse and widow, she said she wanted to give back to the community.
Roberts, 63, of Modesto works 80 to 100 hours each month with the juvenile diversion program. With the other volunteers, she handles traffic control at parades and other public events as well as major wrecks.
She also works with a truancy program, speaking about the consequences of skipping school with parents of children with multiple absences.
"I like everything about the job," Roberts said. "With the budget the way it is, they could use all the help they can get."
Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.
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