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First Woodstock Volunteers in Police Service Class Celebrate Graduation

CTV STAFF
Monday, September 15, 2008

 

First Grads in Woodstock Volunteers in Police Service

The first Volunteers in Police Service Civilian Police Academy celebrated their graduation on September 11. They are civilian volunteers who support the department in crowd control, traffic control and other work, and in representing the department at special events and other activities. Back row, from left, are Frank Hollingsead, Sue Anderson, Roger Whitehouse, Jay Dawson, Brenda Whitehouse, Claire Curtis, and Ed Griffis; and front row, Judy Griffin, Dorothy Pudysz, Claudia Griffis, Police Chief Richard Moss, Mary Kay Storrs and Linda Garcia.

The first Volunteers in Police Service Civilian Police Academy celebrated their graduation on September 11.

Volunteers in Police Service are civilian volunteers support of the police department to enhance its services. Volunteers are assigned tasks such as crowd control at concerts and parades, traffic control at motor vehicle checkpoints, representing the department at special events and fingerprinting.

Department leaders are looking at expanding VIPS capabilities so they may aid detectives at crime scenes or collect data to update business databases for use in an emergency, officials say.

“VIPS volunteers bring many talents to the department that will enable us to serve the community better,” said the program coordinator Officer Manny de la Torre.

Woodstock Police Chief Ric Moss presented the graduates with their certificates.

“It was appropriate that the graduation immediately followed the Patriot Day ceremony sponsored by the Woodstock Jaycees and city of Woodstock considering the significant impact September 11, 2001 had on the lives of public safety professionals in the nation,” Moss said.

Any resident of the city of Woodstock interested in learning more about the Volunteers in Police Service program is asked to contact Officer Manny de la Torre, who heads the Neighborhood Services Unit, at (770) 592-6030.