The Frisco Police Department provides FPVA volunteers with a patrol car and specially designed shirts.[/caption]Chad LaPrelle, Frisco Police Department Community Services officer, calls the members of the Frisco Police Volunteer Association the “eyes and ears” of the FPD.
The FPVA volunteers help fill any police force gaps by helping with patrols, directing traffic, helping with large community events—such as Freedom Fest or Holiday in the Square—or helping the FPD internally in the Community Services and Records divisions, LaPrelle said.
The force of community volunteers generally consists of about 20 men and women with a variety of backgrounds. Current volunteers include retired policemen, a flight attendant, a Fortune 500 company vice president and a computer programmer.
“We’re not a huge organization by any means, but our current volunteers are super high-quality, well-trained—successful in their personal lives, successful in their family lives, successful at work—and a lot of that transitions over,” LaPrelle said. “We have a lot of business-oriented people that you can give them a task, and they can make it happen. We provide a liaison, and it’s a partnership.”
For many years the police department operated a Citizens on Patrol program, which largely consisted of volunteers helping patrol streets and with community events.
In February 2014 the FPVA became a registered nonprofit organization that works in tandem with the Police Department. Patrolling is still a major portion of volunteer duties, but the program was expanded to include opportunities for volunteers to use their skills to help inside the department, LaPrelle said.
After an in-depth screening process including a background check and an interview, FPVA volunteers first must graduate from the Citizens Police Academy, which is generally held twice a year. Volunteers then go through an additional academy, which involves patrol training and a ride-along with a patrol officer.
Volunteers also earn a certificate that allows them to issue handicap parking violation citations—the only ticket volunteers can write—and they are certified to be able to listen to confidential discussions over police radio, LaPrelle said.
Volunteers are outfitted with an FPVA uniform and provided a patrol car by the department marked with “Citizen patrol.”
Most volunteers have full-time jobs and families and often serve one or two evenings a week, LaPrelle said. He said the most common volunteer hours are on Friday and Saturday evenings or during community events.
“It’s not for everybody, but for those guys and girls that are involved, they are highly motivated, highly trained—they help us on the streets,” he said.
In addition to providing patrol and department help, volunteers also provide traffic control at events or emergency situations, conduct speed radar surveys, observe from SkyWatch towers or help with public relations events.
“They aren’t wannabes by any means,” LaPrelle said. “That’s not the case at all. It’s about ownership in your community. What better place to volunteer than in your own neighborhood, your own city?”
David Shilson, FPD Services Bureau deputy chief, said FPVA volunteers do “above and beyond what you’ll find in most cities.”
FPVA volunteer Hal Thomas, for example, was named the city of Frisco 2014 Volunteer of the Year for giving more than 600 hours of his time. Volunteer Lee Wilson won the city’s Gold Award for his 500 hours of service to the FPVA in 2014.
“When we talk about volunteer hours, they are contributing in lots of different ways,” Shilson said. “The fact that a citizen would give us 500 hours, 600 hours of their time in a year, that’s a pretty big commitment. From the standpoint of the volunteers we have working for us right now, we’re very grateful of their service.”
