by Bill Westphal
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department completed its Volunteer On Patrol Academy on May 26 2012, with the graduation of Class #21.
The 50 volunteers completed over 36 hours of training which was held at Martin Luther King Medical Center and consisted of several different aspects of what the VOPs need to know including radio codes and procedures, personal safety, patrol tactics and driver training.
The class included eight who will be volunteering at the Altadena Station: Deb Halberstadt, Jackie Sharpe, Andy Morrison, Matthew Shropshire, Sahara Torres, Candy Jesus, Guadalupe Venegas, and Helen Nazaryan.
Volunteers On Patrol will be patrolling Altadena in a marked sheriff's car. They will assist deputies in a variety of tasks, perform vacation checks on residences and patrol schools and parks.
If you see them driving around Altadena please wave and say hi to show your appreciation for what they do. After all, they aren’t paid and they do this as a way of giving back to the community.
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Bill Westphal is a Volunteer on Patrol, operates the Altadena Weathercam, and is the 2011 Citizen of the Year.
