Services - Senior Volunteer Patrol

The Patrol is staffed entirely by volunteer seniors 50 years and older. It is designed especially for senior citizens who want to serve their community through safety and service programs of fire and crime prevention and education. Volunteers are asked to spend a minimum of six hours a week performing their duties. Volunteers work at public service offices or in the field patrolling communities and shopping centers, checking on homebound persons or other assignments.

A Senior Volunteer Patrol applicant must attend a formal training academy. Academy training includes CPR, first aid, public relations, chain of command, rules and regulations, radio procedures, safe driving, map reading, crime prevention, traffic control and patrol observations. Also covered are procedures for doing security checks of homes and businesses, fingerprinting, report writing, parking enforcement, sexual harassment and the YANA (You Are Not Alone) program.

Because SVP members have access to confidential and sensitive information, all SVP applicants are subject to a background screening process. This includes a computer check of driving and criminal history as well as an oral interview.

The VPP perform vacation home checks while the residents are away. They also participate in the You Are Not Alone (YANA) program by checking on those members of the community who are shut-ins and unable to leave their home, usually because of health reasons. They also assist in a number of other areas including helping the regular deputies at accident scenes and other disasters.

Typical Duties

• Make vacation home security checks.
• Visit the homebound (YANA).
• Enforce handicapped parking regulations.
• Patrol in vehicles clearly marked as part of the SVP program.
• Assist Crime Prevention with public presentations.
• Traffic Radar display.
• Assist in locating Alzheimer's patients.
• Mark abandoned vehicles.
• Staff Storefront Offices.

Since their inception just a few years ago, they have donated over 20,000 hours. It is clear that they are a very valuable resource for both the Sheriff's Department and the City of Imperial Beach. We thank them. Would you like to join their ranks? If you are an Imperial Beach citizen, over the age of 50, and feel that you meet the requirements as stated above, please call 498-2400.