Volunteers honored
<p>Corky Read, a volunteer with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department’s COPS (Citizens on Patrol) program, describes his experience volunteering for various departments since 1993 during a luncheon to recognize the agency’s citizen officers Tuesday at the police station. Read has logged some 9,600 volunteer hours over the past two decades.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Volunteers were honored Tuesday at Coeur d'Alene Police Department headquarters with a luncheon for their service to the department and the community.
Since 2004, the department has had volunteers who dedicate their time to a wide variety of tasks such as obtaining surveillance footage and watching the streets of Coeur d'Alene for violations of the city's parking ordinances. The event also served as a way for the volunteers to introduce themselves to Chief Lee White.
"I don't draw much of a distinction between you volunteers and those officers out on patrol," Chief Lee White told the attendees. "We are all doing something we love. We are all giving back to the community."
White continued by applauding the efforts of the volunteers, who have donated more than 2,000 hours of their time to the department since the first of the year.
"Thank you for your service," White said.
On top of the countless hours the volunteers have donated, Sgt. Christie Wood added that the city has saved more than $1 million since the inception of the volunteer program in 2004.
"It's pretty impressive," Wood said. "And the savings is all to the taxpayers, since without our volunteers, we would need to hire more full-time employees. So without them we would not be able to provide that same level of service we are currently providing to the community."
Wood said the department has around 20 volunteers and is always looking for new applicants. In order to qualify, you must be older than 18 and pass a criminal background check.
"It's something that is very interesting to do and, at the same time, is also very beneficial to the city," Rob Clifford, Coeur d'Alene Police Department volunteer coordinator, said.
Applications to volunteer with the department are available online at www.cdaid.org/police. For more information on the program, contact Clifford at (208)769-2307.