Wednesday afternoon for retired Emporians Jim and Ida Schierling was spent in a Lyon County Sheriff’s Office patrol car — not because they were in trouble, but because they are volunteering their time to help out the community.
The Schierlings are volunteers for the Lyon County Sheriff Senior Patrol, a volunteer program that allows residents ages 55 and over to perform various duties in the county and assist law enforcement by doing vacation home checks and welfare checks. The Senior Patrol is a non-confrontational patrol program that serves all of Lyon County including Emporia. Volunteers are not enforcement officers but serve as “ambassadors.” Teams of two hit the streets of Lyon County in shifts.
Brenda Holmes, director of Lyon County RSVP, said she got the idea of Senior Patrol from another RSVP director who suggested that Lyon County try it. Holmes got into contact with Steve Bayless, former Harvey County under sheriff.
“He did a tremendous job of selling the program to all of us,” Holmes said. “The Lyon County Senior Patrol is modeled after Harvey County’s program.”
Holmes said Pat Stevenson took over the training for the volunteers.
“...(Stevenson) did an amazing job of preparing and educating them for their tasks,” Holmes said.
Since the senior volunteers hit the streets in March, the group of 15 volunteers has logged more than 3,353 hours and driven more than 6,500 miles, said Nancy Morrow, of the Lyon County Department on Aging.
“The volunteers love it,” Morrow said. “It’s been such a wonderful success.”
Holmes said the volunteers compose a group of well-trained, civic-minded people.
“The success of the program goes directly to each and every one of them,” she said. “They made it work. They provide a much-needed service to the community and have such a good time doing it.”
Each Senior Patrol two-member team has a patrol car assigned to them. Holmes said one of her favorite things to do each morning is look out the window and watch the senior patrol members do their vehicle checks on their patrol cars.
“It makes me feel good to know that I played a role in what they do for Lyon County,” Holmes added.
The Schierlings have been a part of the program since it started in Lyon County. They are both retired and decided to sign up for the program.
“I thought it looked interesting and decided to do it,” Ida Schierling said before their scheduled shift Wednesday.
Jim Schierling said he has done volunteer work before, but this is different.
“This was something new,” he said. “I guess it’s like any other volunteer program ... you want to do something to give back to the community.”
Ida Schierling said their shift starts with check-in at the Sheriff’s Office. Then they get their assignments for the day, which include home and welfare checks. Following that, they look over their patrol car and hit the streets. There really is no “typical” day for Senior Patrol members, she said. Checking homes and shut-ins is the priority, Schierling added.
Senior Patrol members also perform other duties such as reporting suspicious activities and checking on stranded cars.
“We’re a couple of extra pairs of eyes in the county,” Ida Schierling said.
Jim Schierling said the pair gets lots of positive comments when they’re out and about.
“The people we do this for have lots of nice comments,” he said.
Since the program in Lyon County has been so successful, it is expanding and organizers are asking for more volunteers.
Mandatory volunteer criteria include:
• Age 55 or over
• Pass background check
• Will be fingerprinted
• Have Kansas Driver’s license
• Be in good physical health
• Attend “Alive @ 55” driver’s training course
• Attend Lyon County Sheriff’s Office training
• Must attend monthly meetings
Anyone wishing to volunteer may visit Lyon County RSVP, 430 Commercial St., to obtain a form or call 342-6119.
cruiser (anonymous) says...
This program may seem wonderful at first glance. However there are many flaws to it. I am speaking specifically towards the safety issue for the participants. 1) They are driving a Marked patrol car which makes them a target! 2). The article indicates that they would be stopping to assist stranded motorists. Bad guys have car trouble too. What happens when they are driving down I-35 and see a car on the side of the road. They stop to assist the stranded motorist. Suppose the motorist is a wanted fugative or perhaps the motorist had just committed some violent crime and broke down. The individual could start firing his/her weapon at the seniors on patrol. At that point besides the tragic events that would have taken place how much will it cost the citizens of Lyon County after the seniors families file their lawsuits against the County?? Bottom line leave Law Enforcement to the Law Enforcement Officers!! This program seems nice but please think of the dangers associated with it.
September 3, 2007 at 12:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cruiser (anonymous) says...
Second comment the seniors will be doing house checks on homes where the owners are out of town. Again what happens when they stumble upon a burglary in progress. These crooks always seem to have a lookout. Suppose the crooks see the Marked Patrol Car drive up to the house. Again this puts the seniors in danger!! Come on wake up and see the issue here! Sheriff Eichorn if you allow this program to continue you sir are ultimately responsible for anything negative that happens to these good hearted people!!! Why can't your Reserve Deputies perform these duties? I suggest that they be re-assigned to possibly assist Court Security in some manner or possibly assist the County Attorneys Office by being witness and victim ambassadors during court proceedings or something a bit less dangerous!!
September 3, 2007 at 12:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jmb232 (anonymous) says...
I have to agree with these posts. There is just too much that can go wrong in a marked patrol car. (30 yr.LEO) When it comes to house checks and vehicle checks and motorist assists all sorts of things can happen not to mention the traffic hazard itself of sitting along the roadway with the red lights on. These fine citizens could be best assigned to visit the elderly or shut-ins in an unmarked car or call them on the phone on a regular basis. They can be used in the office for many very important issues. The bottom line is their safety.
This does not detract from the fine folks that they are. jb
September 4, 2007 at 6:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tumas (anonymous) says...
These posts are an insult to Gary Eichorn and Pat Stevenson. I can imagine that they are all intelligent enough to think out worst case scenarios and think about the safety of the Senior Patrol volunteers....they are after all in Law Enforcement and protecting the public (including the volunteers) is thier job.
September 4, 2007 at 2:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jmb232 (anonymous) says...
These posts in no way insult anyone let alone the Sheriff
or anyone else with this program. These are fine people.
The issue is safety and common sense. For an example
even trained reserve and/or part-time officers might call for a backup if they see something suspicious at a residence. These seniors may not even recognize a threat until it is too late. This is no fault of theirs, they are not trained as law
enforcement officers. Burglars at times will have a person
drop them off to remove items then come back to pick them up. If they are in the residence while the senior patrol
shows up at a house on house watch, these seniors could be hurt or killed while attempting to check the home. Leave the police work to the cops and let these very generous volunteers handle other duties that will not expose them
to a potential deadly force encounter.
September 5, 2007 at 9:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )