HEMET: Newest volunteers welcomed to Hemet Police Department

Deputy Chief Robb Webb swears in Hemet Police Department’s newest 13 volunteers. Hemet PD photo

HEMET – Hemet Police Department officials welcomed 13 new volunteers into their ranks Wednesday, Nov. 16. The new volunteers recently graduated from the 44th Hemet Police Department’s Volunteer Academy.

The new volunteers were sworn in by Deputy Chief Rob Webb during a ceremony in front of Council Members elect Karlee Meyer and Michael Perciful; City Manger Alex Meyerhoff; other officers and volunteers; as well as family and friends.

“What a great night to welcome 13 new members to the Hemet PD family,” a Hemet police official wrote on a Facebook post. “Welcome aboard class 44!”

Hemet PD Volunteers – A proud tradition of serving the community

The Hemet Police Department Volunteer Program was created in 1993 as a way for citizens to assist and supplement the Hemet Police Department’s sworn police officers. The program is intended for volunteers to perform certain tasks that would otherwise have to be performed by sworn police officers.

By having a fully staffed department of volunteers, sworn police officers are able to spend more time proactively patrolling the streets and handling priority calls for service.

The volunteers bring decades of experience to the Hemet Police Department and there are currently over 80 active volunteers in the Hemet Police Department’s Volunteer program.

The Hemet Police Department’s Volunteer Academy is a training program during which volunteers attend 3-hour classes once a week, over the course of six weeks.

After graduating from the Volunteer Academy, volunteers are assigned to veteran volunteers for further training and education. Volunteers can choose from a number of different assignments suited to their personal interests, abilities, and availability.

Hemet PD volunteers provide a multitude of services 

After graduation, Hemet PD volunteers can be assigned to the department’s main police station or sub-stations, where they interact with and assist other citizens with a variety of responsibilities for the department and the City of Hemet, such as Livescan fingerprinting, processing and working in records filing police reports, and assisting with Alzheimer’s registration.

Volunteers also offer other services to the department, such as patrolling neighborhoods, shopping centers and parks; performing traffic enforcement on city streets and shopping centers; helping to form and start Neighborhood Watch programs; assisting with vehicle maintenance; performing traffic control at collisions, fires, crime scene call outs, emergencies, and during natural disasters; speaking to civic groups; providing extra patrol and property checks while other citizens are on vacation; babysitting lost children until their parents can be located; and helping Alzheimer’s patients who have become separated from their families.

Additionally, Hemet PD volunteers have become staples at events such as The Ramona Play, Hemet’s Annual Christmas Parade, Public Safety Fairs, Harvest Festival, Special Olympics Relay, Veterans Day Celebration, and much more.

With so many assignments available, Hemet Police Volunteers are able to sign up to work in the fields that interest them most and that they are most comfortable in.

Volunteers are never asked or forced to take part in any duties they are uncomfortable with and with so many different assignments, there are assignments that fit the needs of just about anyone.

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The volunteer program is coordinated by Victor Varia, a Hemet PD volunteer himself. The program is overseen and supervised by Hemet Police Sergeant Nate Miller.

 

 

 

 

Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.

Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.