The Citizens Police Academy is a public relations program sponsored by the Midland Police Department, and it's a fun class to go through. There is a speaker on each of the main areas of investigation and law enforcement. It was very educational as well as fun. When I took the course, among other things, we got to visit the police shooting range, and that was a blast!
I'm sure the program generates a lot of goodwill in the community.
Then the next step for those who want to proceed with it is Citizens on Patrol, also known as COPS.
Once a person completes the courses and the training then he/she can volunteer to assist the police department in various capacities. Most of them patrol the streets helping to spot law breakers. Here's an item in these pages about local COPS and the work they do in that regard. And some volunteers do office work.
I completed the training in February, and it seemed like forever before I actually heard from someone. Actually, it wasn't until the first Tuesday in April, and it was in the form of a letter advising me that they had a monthly meeting on the first Tuesday of each month - that very day. So, I attended the meeting and learned of some volunteer opportunities available during the month of April. One was assisting with the Fatal Vision program in which high school kids got to drive a golf cart while wearing drunk goggles. (I wrote about that experience here.) But, mostly I helped out doing office work. And, I ended up working a combined total of 17 hours of volunteer time in April on those two projects.
So, now we get to the part where I start complaining. I've already mentioned that it seemed like an interminable amount of time before I ever heard from someone after completing the training. But, that's okay. People get busy. Then, yesterday was the first Tuesday in May, so I planned to attend the monthly meeting. But, there was only one other person there, and we waited around for several minutes, but it was obvious that the meeting just wasn't going to happen.
I pulled out the letter I had received in April and dialed up the cell phone of the woman who had written it. I asked about the meeting. Nervous laughter. "Well, this is the night we are having our annual banquet." Well, how does a person find out about these things, do you have a website or something? More nervous laughter "uh, no. I uh, we didn't call the new members about it."
Oooookaaaay. I had canceled out of another meeting so I could attend what I thought was their meeting. But, they were partying, instead. And I'm not invited. Not a good feeling. Some of that community goodwill just evaporated.
I've got a friend who has done a tremendous amount of volunteer work for other causes, and she has a one-strike-and-they're-out rule for things like that on the theory that to cause someone to set aside a couple of hours and then cause them to waste it is unforgivable. Just because a volunteer might work for free doesn't mean their time is worthless. But, I'm a softy, so I'll give them another strike. The office work I was doing seemed to be appreciated by the people who benefited from it, and I would hate to leave them high and dry.
And besides, I'm an optimist. Maybe they'll get their kinks worked out and not be so clubish. We'll see. But, I'm not very likely to be attending any of their social functions, even if I'm actually invited.
Update - 5/8/04: I've received some very nice emails from some of the people involved with the organization. And, it turns out that someone who spoke at the April meeting informed those present that the meeting in May would be postponed. I was present at that meeting in April, but I guess I must have been daydreaming. This day and age others might be tempted to claim some sort of attention deficit disorder, but the simple truth is I must not have been paying attention.
However, communicating of information to members might be improved with a website. Typepad hosts this site, and I am very pleased with their service. It's cheap, and users don't have to be tech-sperts. And, if privacy is an issue, it can be password protected. Check out Fire Fighter Frathouse to see what a casual web surfer would encounter upon stumbling onto such a site.
In any event, I've raised a big stink when it was my own lack of attention that caused the problem. Looks like I'll have egg on my face tonight as I dine on a supersized order of chicken fried crow.
Weird, they have volunteers for free labor, and they go out of their way to anger them.
Wow. I'd write a nice resignation latter, and address it to the MRT. But I'm not as nice as you.
Posted by: Allen | May 06, 2004 at 05:26 AM