LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The North Las Vegas Police Department has extra eyes and ears on the streets thanks to a program that allows citizens to volunteer for the department.
Citizen Patrol Program Volunteers have donated over 3,000 hours to the department so far this year, according to NVLPD’s Community Services Program Manager, Julie Walker.
“If the volunteers weren’t able to do those hours, then officers would be mandated overtime,” Walkers says.
The volunteers don’t carry weapons, or have the power to make an arrest. However, they have special training on how to control a traffic scene and can use police radios to contact dispatch directly.
“Citizens patrol will come onto a scene and relieve an officer, so that officer can go somewhere else on that same scene or they can go back to answering calls in the city,” Walker says.
Dan Laurino has volunteered for the department for more than nine years. He says while on patrol he’s looking for anything suspicious.
If he sees something, he says he doesn’t get involved. He calls dispatch, explains what he is seeing, and asks them to send a unit.
He’ll stay on patrol until he’s called to a scene to help control traffic, like a serious crash, which he says he’s seen his fair share of.
“Those are the ones that kind of stick with you,” Laurino says.
He says he joined to be a part of something bigger than himself but has stayed for nine years because he cares.
“You’ll feel proud about your community, you’re assisting the police, your additional eyes and ears,” Laurino says.
Laurino is one of 26 volunteers apart of the program. The group is made up of men and women with ages ranging from 20 to 76.
Each volunteer is required to work at least 16 hours each month but can choose their own schedule.
To qualify, Walker says you must be a U.S. Citizen or have the right to work in the U.S., be 18 years or older, and have a valid Nevada driver’s license. There’s no requirement to live in North Las Vegas, although Walker says most volunteers do.
The number of volunteers has more than doubled since the program started in 2012, but Walker says they’re always on the lookout for more members.
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