BREA : 10 Police Volunteers to Begin Patrol Duty

During this time of municipal budget crunches and heightened concern about public safety, volunteers with the new Community Action Patrol are taking to the streets as “extra eyes and ears” for the Brea Police Department.

Ten volunteers, ranging in age from 20 to 70, recently graduated from a 10-week training program organized by Officer Kenneth J. Bradshaw, a background investigator for the Police Department. Although the program does not officially get underway until the Fourth of July weekend, volunteer Robert Rush has already been pressed into duty.

Rush performed traffic control for six hours during the Carbon Canyon brush fire that scorched more than 800 acres and threatened the Olinda Village community Saturday. The 66-year-old Hughes Aircraft Company retiree, who has a background in hazardous waste management, said he “came running” when he heard applications were being accepted for the patrol.

“I just felt it was time for me to volunteer,” said Rush, who served as a combat medic during the Korean War.

Another patrol member is Sal Gambina, 65, who served on the Brea City Council for eight years starting in 1974. Gambina said that with the city facing budget cuts, it’s time for residents to come forward to help.

“When I left the council, I told the Police Department I’d support them in anything they do,” Gambina said. “So we all do our part. They have always done a good job. It’s time the citizens did their part too.”

The Community Action Patrol is similar to a volunteer program the department began last year in neighboring Yorba Linda, which contracts police services from Brea. Based on the success of this initial program, City Manager Frank Benest and then-Police Chief Donald L. Forkus asked Bradshaw to start a patrol in Brea.

Mayor Glenn G. Parker said it’s exciting “to see so many willing to volunteer so much time.” Action Patrol members must perform at least 16 hours of service each month.

“We have so many volunteers within Brea, and this is just one more extension of that,” Parker said. “It will give us better (police) service, not eliminate positions.

“It’s worked real well in Yorba Linda for the last year,” Parker added. “Our Police Department has just been very innovative.”

Bradshaw originally received 44 applications for Brea’s Community Action Patrol. He then began a series of background checks--which were “just a few clicks below what I would have done for a police officer,” he said--and began the monthly training sessions.

The 10 volunteers who completed the program are now certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, have gone on ride-alongs with city police officers and have completed “sit-alongs” in the police dispatch center. They have also learned about graffiti, gangs, traffic control, emergency preparedness and even bomb identification.

Volunteers will assist the department by checking homes and businesses to assure they are locked, help with traffic and crowd control, and take on clerical and front-counter duties at the police station. Bradshaw, who also trained the 12 Yorba Linda patrol members, said volunteers’ responsibilities will be expanded over time.

“I see in the future they will be a very formidable part of the department,” said Bradshaw, who continues to train the volunteers on a monthly basis. The next session will focus on suspicious activity in fire-hazard areas, a timely topic given the “extremely high” fire danger in the brush-covered hills near Brea.

“I think it’s going to be an excellent, excellent program,” Bradshaw said.