Citizens On Patrol Assist CMPD
Volunteers Handle Jobs that Don’t Require Certified Officers
By Jahadi Walker, Mayor’s Youth Employment Intern
This week, I went on a ride-along with Thomas White and Robert Riefe. They are both volunteers working for the police department. They shared a plethora of information with me along the way.
As members of the Citizens On Patrol Unit, they do basically anything that a sworn in officer is not mandatory for. Things such as zone checks, parking citations, directing traffic and assisting stranded motorists, just to name a few. They do whatever they can to help out the department and the people of this city. They do not have the authority to arrest or to carry weapons, so they are not allowed to do anything too dangerous, such as chasing a criminal or stopping a robbery. The people, however, are still obliged to listen to them.
These volunteers may not be allowed weapons, but they do get some pretty nifty vehicles. Their cars are basically the same as the vehicles for a sworn officer, except that they have no sirens and rather than having white and blue flashing lights, they have white and amber flashing lights. Also, the sides of the vehicles say Citizens on Patrol. Even though they represent the police force, the volunteers still must adhere to the rules of the road.
The volunteers that I was on the ride-along with were from the South Division. They both have been working there for quite a while, and are both retired. Mr. Riefe is retired from being a principal. He previously lived in Buford, South Carolina. After retiring, he found that there wasn’t much to keep him busy in Buford, so he moved to North Carolina. After moving he went to volunteer at the airport, (which he still does) and after he had been there for a while he met a woman who coordinated volunteer shifts for people. She gave him a few suggestions, one of which was at the police department. He has worked for the CMPD for almost seven years.
Mr. White retired back in 2000. Afterwards, he had been volunteering in various places, including the Salvation Army and the homeless shelter. His wife found an article in the paper that was an offer for a volunteer position at the police department. He ignored the article and continued to do his work elsewhere. About a year later his wife saw another article for the volunteer position in the paper and told him that he should check it out. He decided to take her advice and try it out. He has been volunteering here ever since.
Volunteering at CMPD is a good way to get out there and see what police officers go through. It’s a very productive and rewarding position to be in. They do their part to make sure not to take time away from the sworn in officers when something big happens.
For information about Citizens on Patrol or other CMPD volunteer opportunities: http://charlottenc.gov/CMPD/Organization/Pages/SupportSvcs/Volunteering.aspx
