STANDISH – Started five years ago, the Volunteer in Police Service program in Standish continues to thrive, adding 12 new recruits to this year’s training academy.

“We are constantly getting requests to join,” said Community Relations Deputy Paul Pettengill with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, which administers the program. “The amount of people in the community that are willing to volunteer their time to this has really been incredible.”

The program has close to 40 volunteers and uses them to assist the sheriff’s department in its daily duties, such as surveying traffic, directing traffic during accidents, checking on seasonal and vacation properties in the Standish area, and monitoring traffic speed with radar.

Community service volunteers also run the Senior Neighbor Awareness Program, in which seniors are called at the same time every day to make sure they are all right. If the senior doesn’t answer the phone call, a volunteer is sent to the home for a wellness check.

Community service volunteers are also responsible for searching for lost or missing children, fundraising and safety programs. Most recently, the volunteers have been administering a distracted driver course in which teen drivers are asked to text while driving a golf cart through an obstacle course.

“The volunteers are priceless to the sheriff’s office,” said Pettengill. “They are extraordinarily helpful in everything they do for us. They are also a pleasure to work with.”

Janet Biczak, the volunteer coordinator for the program and member of the original academy in 2007, feels the same way.

“The volunteers are just awesome people,” said Biczak. “I enjoy working with them so much. This program is a great way to meet people and help your community. I just love it.”

Mark Maroon, a new volunteer who is going through the academy with his brother, David, agrees with Biczak.

“If you can make a difference in the community and enjoy it, it’s a double win,” said Maroon, a seasonal Naples resident who also volunteers on the Naples Marine Patrol.

Although volunteers are encouraged to apply throughout the year, the academy is only held once a year in the spring. Volunteers must live in Cumberland County and must also pass a background check before being approved to attend. The academy is intense and covers a wide range of material.

“The training is outstanding,” said Maroon. “They cover everything from evidence collection to traffic patrol. We are not police officers, that is not our job, but we need the training to be aware of when it’s time to call in and let them handle it.”

Maroon recommends the program to people who are looking for ways to volunteer and be involved in the community.

“This is just a great program to join,” said Maroon. “The people I have met so far are phenomenal and Janet and Paul are just amazingly dedicated people. The people involved in this program are the kind of people you want to emulate.”

For more information on the Volunteer in Police Service program, contact biczak@cumberlandcounty.org.

Standish’s Volunteers in Police Service cruiser is used by volunteers who help the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office with routine crime fighting. The program is celebrating five years in existence.