POLICE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

The OPD Police Community Programs Bureau coordinates a range of activities that give citizens meaningful opportunities to take an active role in their own public safety.

Volunteers are the “community” part of community policing and an essential element of "policing the Olympia way."   Programs like Speed Watch, Block Watch, Fingerprinting, Downtown Ambassadors, Special Event Staff, Harbor Patrol, Crime Reduction Multi-Housing and Alarm Appeals Officers are hands-on, practical and direct contributions to the overall safety of the community.  The Department encourages its volunteers to suggest new and better ways to involve citizens in preventing and resisting crime.  Together, the Department and the volunteers turn those good ideas into realities that benefit the whole City.

To learn more about Police Community Programs and how you can get involved, call the Bureau office at 753-8049.  Because our volunteers represent the Department in the community, and because of legal requirements related to police facility security, we require all volunteers to be fingerprinted and complete a background check prior to being accepted into the program.

The Police Community Programs Bureau is a participant in Volunteers In Police Service (VIPS), a USA Freedom Corps program.

Note:  Although volunteering for OPD can certainly give a person insights into police careers, OPD volunteer activities are not designed to provide either a career exploration experience or pre-professional training for participants.  If you are interested in a career in law enforcement, please see the "Employment" section for information about the policing profession.

Photo credit:  Amy Stull


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