PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Police Department is looking for a few good volunteers.
“We depend so much on our volunteers,” Chief Conner Daily said.
“They help us in a variety of ways, and we are looking to recruit as many as we can.”
Volunteers lend a hand in parking enforcement, moving signs during festivals, checking vacation homes, deliveries between agencies and taking over reception duties at the police station during lunch breaks.
Those with skills that don’t fit into these categories can also help, such as a professional photographer teaching officers how to take a higher quality of crime scene pictures.
“One of the most useful classes I ever took was a photography class,” Daily said.
“Officers can always learn how to take better pictures.”
The most important aspect of the volunteer program is community relations, as a volunteer who learns how the department operates can clear up any misconceptions with the public.
“Volunteers can reach people that we can’t on our own,” Daily said.
“A volunteer can find out what we do and how we do it and tell their friends, which can get the truth out about the department.”
Daily said volunteers outnumber active duty police officers two to one.
The department currently has four staff vacancies.
Daily said that all the current volunteers are retired, but he’d like to recruit some younger people.
A new cadet program for high school students can offer some law enforcement training and help them decide about a law enforcement career, while young adults can provide a different perspective.
“I’d love to get some people in their 20s and 30s,” Daily said.
“They come in here with fresh eyes and see what we are doing and always ask why we are doing it.
“From their questions we might change how we are doing things.”
Each volunteer must undergo a background check, be at least 18 years old, have a current driver’s license or government issued ID and complete an oral and written screening.
Daily said the background check results are weighted on a case-by-case basis.
A criminal conviction could disqualify an applicant, but that depends on the charge and when it occurred, he said.
Each volunteer must commit to at least four hours per week and successfully complete the Port Townsend Police Department Citizen Academy.
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/PDN-ptpolicevolunteers, call or email Sgt. Garin Williams at 360-385-2322 or gwilliams@cityofpt.us, or stop by the Police Department at Mountain View Commons at 1925 Blaine St., for an application.
The front office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
