Milton turns to volunteers to augment community safety
The Milton Police Department is looking for residents to join a new volunteer patrol aimed at keeping the community safe.
Chief Robert Longo said he hopes the Auxiliary Patrol will be up and running by the end of the year, staffed with observant people interested in helping out with special events and daytime patrols.
“I like to think outside the box and to me, the more eyes I have out there, the safer our community is,” Longo said.
The program will be similar to Milford's Senior Patrol Volunteer Unit, and was inspired by the Volunteers in Police Service, or VIPS, program started two decades ago in Cicero, N.Y., Longo said.
Anyone over 18 is invited to apply for the program. Once applicants pass a background check, they will assist Milton police in nondangerous situations, such as business and residential checks, and traffic control during parades.
“If you can join the military, you can do this program,” Longo said. “Just as long as you have a clean record.”
Longo said a training program will teach volunteers about traffic control and proper techniques to observe and report incidents. An old Crown Victoria patrol car recently replaced thanks to grants from Sussex County will be used by the volunteers.
The Auxiliary Patrol will never respond to crimes in progress, Longo said, and members will not be allowed to carry weapons.
The program is not limited to Milton residents; eight people have already applied. Longo said he'll take all the help he can get.
One prospective volunteer is Lewes resident John Peterson, an active member of the Patriot Guard Riders, a nonprofit organization that assists in processions for fallen members of the military and first responders.
“Volunteerism is probably the most fulfilling thing you can do,” Peterson said.
Lewes resident Robert Doty said joining the volunteer patrol is like coming home.
Doty is an Army veteran who served in the Milton Police Department from 1977 to 1987. As a former police chief once told him, he said, “Once you wear out a pair of shoes doing this, it'll be in your blood forever.”
Doty said other retired military or police should consider joining to strengthen the bond between local law enforcement and the people they serve.
“There's still a percentage of people who don't want to talk to the police, but they might talk to us,” he said.
For more information or to apply, call Longo or Milton Police Department Administrative Assistant Laura Karlik at 302-684-8547.
