Residents Report for Duty in Thousand Oaks Police Program : Public safety: Volunteer patrols hit the streets in repainted sheriff’s cruisers to perform routine duties from checking on homes to taking petty-theft reports.

Uniformed volunteers in shiny squad cars rolled onto the streets of Thousand Oaks for the first time Monday, hoping to make the second-safest city in the United States just a little safer.

*

For Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Matson, coordinator of the city’s new Volunteers in Policing program, it was a moment of pride and mild disbelief.

“It took six months for this to happen,” said Matson, as four khaki-clad volunteers checked their radios and hopped into their specially marked Ford LTDs. “They’re finally going out the door and hitting the street.”

Monday’s volunteers are among 23 Thousand Oaks residents who will fan out across the city in shifts, specially trained, uniformed and equipped to act as a sort of auxiliary police force.

They carry no guns or special powers of arrest and cannot chase suspects or collect evidence.

But the work they do will free up patrol officers from such mundane tasks as precautionary fingerprinting of children, writing tickets for handicapped-parking violations and taking petty-theft reports.

“I’ve lived here for 23 years,” said Cathy Miller, 36. “I’d like to keep the Conejo Valley a safe place for my kids to grow up. I’d like to see it stay that way, without [crime] from Los Angeles coming up here.”

Like her fellow volunteers, Miller will donate about six hours per week to cruise the streets of Thousand Oaks looking for trouble.

Like the others, she is trained to use a cellular phone to keep in contact with a sheriff’s watch commander, but to use her police-issued radio to report auto wrecks, crimes and other emergencies directly to dispatchers.

The way volunteer James Frank sees his work, “It’s just [providing] extra eyes and ears for the Police Department.”

Frank, Miller and their fellow volunteers have graduated from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s Citizens Academy, a 12-week course in police work. They learned about first aid, traffic control and personal safety.

They took a driving class to learn how to handle their bulky, powerful police cruisers--old sheriff’s cars that were fitted with amber flashing lights and repainted white with the word “volunteer” prominently displayed.

And they rode for hours alongside sworn deputies, learning how to spot suspicious people and dangerous situations.

On Monday, four volunteers stuffed black nylon satchels with everything they would need on duty: cellular phones, radios, Motor Vehicle Code books, stickers and teddy bears for children they might meet--even evidence tags in case detectives in the field run out.

Volunteers Miller and Steve Slaten cruised the northern end of Thousand Oaks on Monday morning at a slow, deliberate pace. Their assignment was to check four houses for residents who were away on vacation and had requested the special service from police.

Parking on West Sierra Drive, they approached a house cautiously, peering around corners and looking for broken glass or open doors--anything to indicate that the house had been tampered with.

Slaten, a burly 34-year-old security guard by trade, was tailed by Miller, who is working on her black belt in karate.

Slaten stopped for a second: “There’s someone in there,” he murmured warily.

“Oh, it’s the housekeeper,” said Miller, checking a list the homeowner had left behind.

Slaten smiled and waved at the housekeeper.

Frank and partner Betty Horner also checked on houses whose owners were vacationing, then drove to The Oaks mall to introduce themselves to security guards.

“We made a lot of contacts,” Horner said. Shoppers walked up to ask directions, never remarking on the uniforms the duo wore, nor the “Police Volunteer” patches on their chests, she said.

For Frank, the first day was a good one to get acquainted with his duties.

“For the short period of time we were out there, a lot of things are piling up on you,” he said. “There’s the radio you’re trying to listen to, the cellular phone, and you’re trying to look around. Like any job, you’re not as quick on the first day as you are after a month.”