| RSPCA VOLUNTEERS HELP OUT AT THE GARDENA POLICE DEPARTMENT |
(Text by Pete Porter; Photos by Margaret Porter)
Although the Gardena Police Department has a complement of nearly ninety officers on its staff, it has a vacancy list that would bring their force up to a hundred if it was completely filled. However, their high standards have made this quota difficult to reach. So they are very thankful that their work load is mitigated by the help that they get from the many civilian volunteers that assist them in the more mundane tasks that are still an important part of their mission.
The Gardena Police Department has around thirty civilian volunteers on their books and I am proud to say that a third of these are members of our RSVP organisation.
The other day, I met with Virginia Burgos, the Volunteer Coordinator for the department. Virginia was hoping that I would get to meet two of our members during my visit but I found out that Ken Lang had just left while Mari Matzek had a doctor's appointment that she couldn't postpone. Hence I was happy to meet another of our volunteers named Michiye Takeyama who was hard at work in the Volunteer Office on the lower floor of the building. As well as doing volunteer work at the Police Department Michiye also volunteers as a Traveler's Aide at LAX, so she is definitely typical of the active type of volunteerism that RSVP stands for. After graduating from the 13 week Orientation Class, Michiye has been doing volunteer work at the Gardena P.D. for the past year. The Orientation Class covers Ethics, Confidentiality, City Familiarity etc. and on completion the graduating members are assigned work as a Community or Internal Volunteer. An Internal Volunteer will typically be involved in helping to shred the mountain of extraneous paperwork that accumulates on a daily basis or, as Michiye was doing, erasing and re-labelling the many video tapes that are used in the departments patrol cars.
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| The Volunteer Office | RSVP Volunteer Michiye Takeyama |
After putting in at least sixteen hours/month all volunteers can request to go on a monthly ride-along in a patrol car. Needless to say, most of them take advantage of this and their pleasure is mutually duplicated by the officers they ride with. It enables them to see what it is like to be "out there".
Community volunteers help in looking for graffiti, abandoned shopping carts and the illegally posted paper signs that seem to go up everywhere. Four volunteers were currently out on patrol as we talked. A typical assignment was helping to put up the street barricades and restricting parade route access during the recent Martin Luther King Day Parade. Volunteers also help by looking out for children who have been left in vehicles at supermarket parking lots (especially during the summer months), as well as noting expired license tags etc. Other tasks involve notification of hazardous items and areas of alley junk to the Public Works Department.
Most of the volunteers exceed the 16 hours/month requirement and it doesn't matter if you are able to walk. If you are unable to walk, it is quite all right for you to stay in the car. As a matter of safety, the wearing of a bullet-proof vest during this ride-along is a department policy. Some of the solo officers say that they would love to have a volunteer ride with them every day as it gives them a chance to act as a teacher as well as having someone to talk to during their time on patrol.
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| RSVP Volunteer Geri Oda | Volunteer Coordinator Virginia Burgos |
As we talked, Geri Oda, another RSVP volunteer came into the office. Geri told me that she had been volunteering at the Department for many years and was originally assigned to cataloging Pawn Slips. Each Pawn Slip has to note any serial numbers that might be on the item being pawned. These are then cataloged and checked against a computer system list to verify ownership. It's worth noting here that everyone should write down all serial numbers attached to any camera or electronic equipment that they may own. A photographic record is also a good idea and really helps get any stolen item back to its rightful owner, apart from probably putting the thief behind bars. Geri also said that she even enjoys taking part in the normally boring task of paper shredding, especially when she "wants to do something that doesn't need brain work".
Virginia stated that some of the regular employees in the department feel that they would never get to retire if it wasn't for the work that their volunteers do! There could never be a more ringing endorsement!
If you are interested in doing something like this, please call the RSVP Office at (310)320-3322
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