Progress Report on Park Patrol June 2013Progress
Report on the Police-Park Patrol
July 10, 2013
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Process for prospective applicant
1. Fill out volunteer application, approval takes approx. 2 weeks.
2. If approved, come in to Meridian Police Dept. for fingerprinting. Approval from Idaho State Police takes approx.
2 to 4 more weeks.
If prints come back inconclusive we try one more round of fingerprints and another 2 to 4 weeks.
3. Orientation has been streamlined to a hands-on training seminar
for polices and procedures while viewing the park amenities for the first time.
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Where I have recruited-
Word of mouth appears most effective
Valley Times & Meridian Press Article
Write up in Idaho Statesman, Anna Webb Non-Profit column
Speaking engagements: Meridian Sr. Center, Meadow
Lake Village, Kiwanis Club & Lions Club.
Boise Weekly & VolunteerMatch.com website
Facebook pages of Police & Parks Dept.
RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) newsletter
Speaking
at nearby Neighborhood Homeowners’ Assoc. meeting in Red Feather subdivision tomorrow
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Coverage of Julius M. Kleiner Park
Volunteers cover park in 3 hr shifts, 12 hours a day x 7 days a week = 84 hours a week.
56 slots per week to fill when a volunteer signs up one shift per week, which is standard.
8 slots
per day x 30 days = 240 (3 hr) slots to fill to cover
720 hours per month.
Police dept. require volunteers work in pairs or I must cancel any shifts where only one volunteer is signed
up.
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Stats for first 60 days-
May schedule: 285 hours of coverage or 38.3% of goal
June schedule: 266 hours of coverage or 36.9% of goal
29 volunteers covered shifts in June. We have processed 57 applicants.
If
using 2 people for 4 shifts a day x 7 days a week = 720 volunteer hours per month for full coverage.
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Snapshot of one week of coverage-
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Boise’s Supervised Program has 2 paid
part-time rangers who oversee
2 volunteers per day or 14 per week
Our program is without onsite supervision and requires 8 volunteers per day or 56 per week.
Our program is modeled after the Green belt patrol
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Success story in the first 2 hours of program-
A senior arriving for lunch at the Senior Center fell in the parking lot and was wedged between her front tire and the curb. Our patrol was able to safely move her into the center for
further care.
Our patrol came upon the kids throwing broken chunks of asphalt at the band shell wall and stopped them from putting any more holes in the brick wall.
On 4th of July we
were asked to find a 4 yr. old missing child in the park, child was found in splash pad.
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Room for improvement - Scheduling
Currently we are using an Excel spreadsheet. The schedule is posted in the maintenance garage.
Volunteers fill in the slots as they return for another shift. They are hesitant to make
a commitment for fear that they will have to cancel and so never commit to a shift.
We are researching software that allows the volunteer to schedule their shifts from home & tracks
hours, but not all volunteers have a computer.
Currently I must make trips to the park to see handwritten schedule & update my schedule through use of my personal laptop or I do not
know the coverage.
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We’re lacking any reward program to retain Volunteers, which is crucial for a successful program-
The Commitment Equation of a Volunteer-
(Reward – Cost) –Alternatives + Investment = Commitment
They need occasional rewards to show that we value their time or they simply do not return
after awhile.
We do not offer this crucial component
with the city’s current budget.
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