The week of April 27 - May 3, 2008 is our nations chance to celebrate its volunteers and give thanks to those who give so much without asking anything in return. National Volunteer Week was created in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order to establish the week as an annual celebration of volunteering. Every year since that time, each U.S. President, along with many governors, mayors and other elected officials, has signed a proclamation promoting National Volunteer Week. For 2008, National Volunteer Week will take place the last week of April into the first week of May 2008 with the actual dates of April 27 - May 3, 2008.
So who are they and how do volunteers play a role in law enforcement and public safety? Remember the old cowboy movies when the town Sheriff said, "Deputy, go round up a posse and let's go catch that horse thief"? Who do you think the posse members were? If you guessed regular town citizens mobilized and deputized for a specific purpose, you'd be correct and thus was the beginning of volunteers in law enforcement within the United States.
As America began to modernize and build large cities, volunteers continued to play a role in their cities by staffing fire prevention patrols such as the "rattle watch". Named after a stick they would carry with a large rattle at the end which when shook would make a loud sound to awaken people letting them know there was a fire. When keeping in mind that all the structures of that time were made of wood, it's easy to see why there was a great concern for the potential of fire which could take out an entire city.
Moving into 1950, the 81st Congress passed the Public Law #920 entitled "The Civil Defense Act of 1950" authorizing a Federal Civil Defense Program. In 1951, the New York State Legislature enacted the "Defense Emergency Act" requiring New York City to recruit, train, and equip volunteer Auxiliary Police, who would then act as a liaison to the NYPD in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. In 1967, a Mayoral Executive Order closed the Civil Defense Headquarters and placed full responsibility of the Auxiliary Police Program with the NYPD making it one of the first police volunteer units in the nation. Today, over 4,000 dedicated men and women continue to work as civilian volunteers within the New York City Police Department contributing over one million hours of service each year as Auxiliary Police Officers. While other large agencies across the nation also utilize civilian volunteers sometimes numbering into the thousands, the majority of volunteer units average in size from 25 to 50 volunteers which at times mirrors the number of sworn officers in their agency.
The Unknown Volunteers
While many in law enforcement are familiar with the common uses of volunteers such as Reserve Officers, Citizens on Patrol or traditional Volunteers in Police Service, which have been around for decades, it's easy to overlook the volunteers who fulfill the roles and perform as the true, well trained and dedicated professionals they are. Take for example your Chaplains. Have you every had to make that late night death notification of a families loved one by yourself wishing there was someone who could do this truly agonizing task for or with you? Many agencies utilize men and women of faith who minister in their local area as Chaplains to help fulfill this role. While many just assume this is "part of their job" or "something that goes with the territory", for many Chaplains it's not the case as they may not know the family members answer the door for that horrible late night knock than you do. However, they still offer to volunteer their time to come out and assist your department with these horrific events. How about dealing with a female who was just raped and is in desperate need of someone to talk to and help start the healing process?
Many of your Rape Crisis Counselors and/or VOCA, "Victims of Crime Advocates" team members are also volunteers who may be awakened at what always seems to be the worse time to respond to your location and help your victim however they can. And how about those highly skilled and professional members of your local Search and Rescue team? The large majority of these SAR teams are made up of all volunteers with perhaps a few people in your department who coordinate their efforts and provide overlay support. Other than that, these tremendous individuals will spend countless hours of their free time training to first become SAR team members, in addition to spending thousands of their own dollars to purchase the necessary equipment just so they can give more of their time to help find missing people. Ever had a translator appear at your crime scene to help get critical information from a non-English speaking witness to track down a suspect or perhaps communicate with a suspect barricaded inside a home or building whom does not speak English?
The fact is, volunteers in law enforcement play a very critical role that in many cases may appear before you throughout your career without you even knowing it. While volunteers in law enforcement have been, continue to and will always play a solid role in assisting public safety, for the most part, the percentage of volunteers who work in our field is far, far less than more traditional areas such as hospitals, churches and education. It's interesting to note that these other fields who rely on volunteers so much also celebrate them so much during National Volunteer Week. The question one has to ask is, which came first, the volunteer or the need and recognition for them? The point being, unless we make an effort to celebrate, thank and recognize our volunteers, if at no other time than during National Volunteer Week, we may find ourselves wanting for these folks with no response because of our lack of recognition and positive acknowledgement. For this year, the week of April 27 - May 3, 2008 is the time to recognize your volunteers and let them know how much you appreciate their efforts.
Finally, for those of you who have members of your agency that also serve our nation in a military reserve or National Guard role, while they do receive a small sum of money during their time of service, I suggest to you there is no amount of money that can make up for being called up to active duty and leave their loved ones behind for sometimes a year or more. As such, I would also consider these very brave and honorable citizens to be "volunteers"” and suggest you take a moment during this upcoming National Volunteer Week to recognize their dedication and service to our nation along with their families also who suffer during their deployment periods.
