CYPRESS : Police Help Him Realize His Dream

As a young man, Woodie Woodruff dreamed about being a police officer, wearing a uniform, walking a daily beat and helping people in trouble. But when the day came for him to sign up, he fell short, about an inch short.

At 5 feet, 8 inches tall, Woodruff was below the minimum height requirement and was disqualified. He opted for a Navy career instead, yet he never lost his desire for police work.

Half a century later, Woodruff is getting his chance, complete with uniform and badge, at the Cypress Police Department, where he has volunteered some time every week in an unusual program to recruit senior citizens.

“One day I saw this guy wearing a badge, and I thought, ‘Hey, I want one of those,’ ” said Woodruff, 71, a retired chief petty officer. “It is like a second childhood.”

For five years, Cypress has been giving senior citizens a crack at police duty through its Retired Senior Volunteers Program, modeled after a similar program in San Clemente.

“We wanted to keep up with burglaries, so we found a guy to help with pin maps,” Lt. John Schaefer said. “He loved it, so we thought we ought to have a program.”

Since then, about 10 senior citizens have worked anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days a week on the force. The cost is minimal, only a few hundred dollars to provide uniforms. But what the volunteers have given back can’t be counted, said Pam Kelch a community service officer.

“It is really beneficial to us . . . they are extra manpower,” said Kelch, who helps coordinate the program. “They are so good about anything we ask them to do. They never say they are too old.”

Typical assignments range from running errands to checking homes of people who are on vacation. They also help with community events such as the annual Cypress Festival and bicycle rodeos to teach traffic and bike safety to children.

Although the real thing might not be as glamorous as what he dreamed of as a boy, Woodruff does not complain.

Clad in a blue uniform, complete with badge, shiny black shoes and sunglasses, he has spent the day preparing for a special task. His assignment--driving around wives of high-ranking officers when the annual police chiefs convention comes to Anaheim in October.

“The job is no problem,” says Woodruff, standing next to the bus he has been practicing in for the past few days. “Just as long as they let me know where we are going the night before.”

The sightseeing tour is expected to last five days. Several Orange County points of interest are listed on the itinerary, such as the Nixon Library and Balboa Pier in Newport Beach.

While Woodruff spent the morning at the Department of Motor Vehicles trying to get a license to drive the bus, fellow volunteer Leon Scott, 75, checked homes of people who are on vacation.

“This is the house where I found the sliding glass door open last year,” Scott said as he took a quick look in the bushes.

During his last three years as a volunteer on the force, it was definitely one of his best finds. After discovering the open door, Scott, a retired tool and die maker, used his portable police radio to call the station.

Without entering the house, he went out front, paid close attention to nearby cars and waited for officers to arrive. Luckily, nothing was stolen, he said. The family had forgotten to lock the door, leaving it wide open.

But this year they remembered.

After giving all of the doors and windows a quick tug, a satisfied Scott moved on to the next house.

“It gives you a little bit of goodness in your heart,” Scott said. “I enjoy it.”