The VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service) program was established in December of 2008. Police VIPS are volunteers who supplement and enhance existing or envisioned functions in a non-hazardous, non-enforcement capacity to support sworn and civilian police department employees. While fulfilling their primary functions, the VIPS often provide services to the community that may not otherwise be offered. They help enhance public safety and services, quality of life, social solidarity and social capital in the community.
VIPS volunteers have undergone extensive training, including a 36-hour VIPS Academy,as well as on-the-job training and on-going monthly training. Some of the areas where VIPS assist the police department include:
- Traffic (disabled vehicles, collisions, road closures, parades & special events, etc.)
- Roadside sobriety checkpoints
- Child fingerprinting
- Patrol District and Beat Coordinator support
- Crime prevention and community outreach
- Animal Safety
- Security camera monitoring
- Administrative functions (phone calls, filing, data entry, etc.)
- Community patrols (Eyes – Ears – Report)
- Crime Free Housing-calls for service statistics & physical property inspections
- Staff community storefronts
- Provide Bi-Lingual Spanish translation during field investigations
- B.I. (Update latent print card files)
- Pawn slips (data entry)
- Homicide investigation support—clerical functions
- Missing persons (assist with searches of critical missing individuals)
- At risk individuals (upgrade book of critical missing individuals and convert book to digital format, update registration forms and provide registrants with identification bracelets for quick identification by field officers)
From the beginning of the Oxnard Police Department VIPS program, the VIPS have given over 5,000 hours of volunteer time to the community and service to the police department. This equates to an estimated economic value of $110,700 (based on the 2013 value of $22.14/hour for volunteer time according to the Independent Sector, a coalition of charities, foundations, corporations, and individuals that publishes research important to the non-profit sector.) There are plans to run future VIPS academies, with the goal of increasing the number of volunteers willing to participate in this rewarding program. The Oxnard Police Department VIPS program is coordinated by Sergeant Brian Woolley.