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<br /> <br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER <br /> <br />January 29, 2009 <br /> <br /> City of Eugene <br />777 Pearl Street, Room 105 <br /> <br /> Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 <br /> (541) 682-5010 <br /> (541) 682-5414 (FAX) <br /> www.eugene-or.gov <br /> <br /> <br />IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION <br />VOLUNTEERS IN POLICING PROGRAM ACHIEVES MILESTONE IN 2008 <br />OREGON READS: AUTHOR LAUREN KESSLER AT PUBLIC LIBRARY <br />2008 LRCS ANNUAL REPORT AND DIVISION VIDEOS AVAILABLE ONLINE <br />PALLET COMPANY RECEIVES FIRE & EMS CORPORATE AWARD <br />GRANT PROMOTES SALVAGE AND RE-USE OF BUILDING MATERIALS <br /> <br />AROUND THE CITY <br />Volunteers in Policing Program Achieves Milestone in 2008 <br />In 2008, 107 Eugene Police volunteers donated 25,116 hours of service to the department and community, with an <br />added value of $490,013. (The national average hourly value of volunteer time is developed by the Independent <br />Sector. The hourly value of volunteer time is based on the average hourly <br />wage for all non-management, non-agriculture workers as determined by the <br />Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 12 percent increase to estimate for fringe <br />benefits. The current hourly wage is $19.51.) This is a milestone for the <br />program; never before have volunteers contributed more than 25,000 hours in <br />a year. Current volunteers range in age from 20 to 84 and include students, <br />citizens who support law enforcement and want to give back to their <br />community, retirees, full-time employees and individuals who have <br />aspirations of ultimately working for the department. Thirty-six volunteers are <br />graduates of the Citizens’ Police Academy. By involving volunteers, EPD is <br />able to provide additional services – services the public wants, but the <br />department is unable to provide or unable to make a priority due to budget <br />and staffing limitations. Examples include home vacation checks and <br />enforcement of disabled parking violations. Volunteers also maximize existing <br />resources. By assisting Crime Prevention Specialists with bicycle registration events, more citizens are able to <br />register their bicycles with EPD. Volunteers provide support at Police Activities <br />League summer camps, Safety Town and the Prevention Convention, assist with <br />administering the Crime Stoppers Program, purge property for the Property <br />Control Unit, participate in a speakers bureau, photograph events, provide <br />chaplain services and role play for disaster preparedness and team training <br />exercises. <br /> <br />Volunteers relieve paid staff of routine duties, better allowing employees to <br />concentrate on other responsibilities. Examples include filing police reports and <br />citations for the Records Section, assisting the Property Crimes Unit by entering <br />transaction data from metal recyclers into a database, preparing certified copies <br />of audio tape records for the Communications/911 Center, filing adult arrest <br />fingerprint cards and entering data for the Forensic Evidence Unit, writing articles <br />for newsletters, providing reception at neighborhood substations, entering details <br />concerning allegations of child abuse and neglect into a spreadsheet for the <br />Violent Crimes Unit and digitally dubbing news stories for the Public Information <br />Office. Seasoned volunteers further relieve paid staff by serving as trainers for <br /> <br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 <br />January 29, 2009 <br />