You want to make your community a better place to live?
The Vista Sheriff’s Volunteer program may be what you are looking for.
Sheriff Volunteers are men and women, 50 years and older, who want to serve. By being involved in a positive Vista-based program, you can fill your spare time while providing a worthwhile service to the community.
You assist deputies with a variety of duties that include patrolling neighborhoods, providing traffic control, monitoring any suspicious activity around our schools and parks, by enforcing handicap parking violations and checking for illegal fires from local hilltops.
A direct and positive impact on homeowners is the Free Vacation Check Program, where residents can request daily checks of their homes while they are away. Vista volunteers check to make sure your home is safe, secure and damage-free while you are on vacation.
Another community service is the You Are Not Alone (YANA) Program for home bound elderly and disabled people. Vista volunteers check on the welfare of each YANA person on a daily basis and conduct routine visits to their homes. There is a mutual bond developed over many months and years with the “YANA’s.”
Requirements to become a Vista Volunteer Sheriff include possessing a valid California Driver’s License and insurance, pass a routine background check, be physically and emotionally able to perform the duties, pass a two-week Volunteer Academy course, and volunteer a minimum of one six-hour patrol per week. Applicants receive training in police radio operation, patrol car operations, patrol observations of critical areas in the city, graffiti reporting, among many others. You will patrol the city with a fellow volunteer, developing friendships and bonds with the community while performing a worthwhile service.
Our city needs more volunteers. Are you ready to step up?
For further information about the free Vacation Checks, the YANA Program or becoming a Vista Volunteer Sheriff on Patrol, contact the Vista Volunteers’ Office at 760-940-4434.
