Shannon Simpson is anything but the Gladys Kravitz-type, intrusive, nosy neighbor from the 60s TV show “Bewitched” one might expect to volunteer to help patrol neighborhood streets. Instead, this mother of two is a technology teacher at Chattahoochee Elementary School, boy scout leader and someone who wanted to find a way to help her community without taking time away from her job or family.
Simpson is one of nine recent graduates of Duluth’s Citizens On Patrol program. Launched in June, the operation provides graduates of Duluth’s Citizens Police Academy a vehicle maintenance course, traffic control preparation and precision driver training. These volunteers patrol city streets, business centers and parks in a specially marked Chevrolet Impala equipped with a police radio and yellow emergency lights.
There are two trained COP members in the vehicle at all times. They are not issued weapons and are discouraged from any attempt at pursuing criminals.
“These citizens serve as an extra set of eyes for our police force,” said Officer Ted Sadowski. “They can help change a flat tire, wait for a tow truck after an arrest, direct traffic at collision scenes and report suspicious activity.”
Simpson is also a member of Duluth’s Virtual Interactive Patrol, a camera-monitoring program that trains volunteers how to recognize possible criminal activity and how to report observations to police dispatch.
A few weeks ago, Simpson’s training helped find a missing person.
Nearing the end of her two-hour volunteer shift monitoring the approximately 75 video cameras spread around the city, Simpson heard a call come into police from a resident whose wife was off her medication and had wandered away from home. Simpson started scanning live video images looking for a woman dressed in red pajama pants, black shirt, hair in a ponytail and no shoes.
A quarter after midnight, Simpson spotted someone matching the woman’s description. Police officers were dispatched and the woman ultimately returned safely back to her home.
Although at least one recent graduate of the Citizens Police Academy has gone on to receive police training and is now a Forsyth County officer, Simpson isn’t longing for a career in law enforcement, or obsessed with criminal TV dramas. Nor is she some kind of vigilante finding an authorized outlet.
When asked why she volunteers this way, Simpson candidly remarked, “Until I went through the Academy after a first exposure with my boy scouts, I didn’t understand how much officers go through. I really appreciate what these men and women do for us.”
WANT TO JOIN?
To participate in the COP or VIP programs volunteers must live within city limits, pass a background check, and first graduate the city's Citizens Police Academy.
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