Sheriff’s office eyes and ears

Ed Persch answers phones at a west Spokane Valley community policing office. He used to walk a beat doing citizen’s patrol for the Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort, known as SCOPE, but age has taken a toll on his body.

Persch wouldn’t give his age, just that he joined Edgecliff SCOPE in 1998 after being retired for 25 years.

“I originally joined because I wanted to make a difference in the crime rate,” said Persch, regarding his lower-income and drug-ridden neighborhood. “And we did. I still like to help keep the neighborhood clean.”

Persch said he enjoys volunteering at his neighborhood SCOPE office because it offers several community activities, such as a spaghetti feed, the Walk for Success, and a Community Clean-up.

Persch is one of hundreds of volunteers in Spokane County with SCOPE, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Jones, who now oversees the program.

Under Jones’ command, the program will be going through a bit of restructuring. Jones took over the program this fall after Sheriff Mark Sterk decided he wanted a commissioned officer to lead it. He relieved Bonnie Abernathy, a civilian.

The program began in 1995 with 50 volunteers and two stations, Edgecliff and North . SCOPE now has 15 stations throughout the county, and the volunteer numbers have grown to about 650, of which 400 actively participate.

Jones is trying to increase the numbers of those who contribute.

“What has happened in the last four years is that the number of people who are active in volunteering has dropped,” Jones said. “I’m trying to get to as many meetings as possible, try to get some of those people back to the table.”

Lyle Domrese, who volunteers for University SCOPE, has asked those signed up to volunteer why they didn’t follow through.

“They join SCOPE and then a lot of times that’s as far as they go,” Domrese said. “Some people say they aren’t interested anymore. A lot of people say they don’t like to come to meetings. Some say they just don’t know what’s going on.”

People who want to volunteer go through a background check and a basic training program. Volunteers then meet once a month to discuss what’s happening and what volunteer activities are available. There are a variety of programs they can participate in, including patrolling school zones, doing checks at homes where people are on vacation, traffic control for crashes, crime scenes or a major event, helping citizens at the Sheriff’s Office and citing people illegally parked in handicapped zones.

One change Jones is considering is requiring 10 volunteer hours a year.

“We have never required a minimum of hours. Our mantra has always been to give what you can,” Jones said. “I think it might get people up and participating.

“The key is finding the right fit: What do they really want to do?” Jones said. “Find the right niche and they excel.”

For many volunteers like Persch, the interest in SCOPE starts with wanting to get involved in their community. And some volunteers have already found programs that click for them.

Domrese volunteers for University SCOPE.

“When I worked, I didn’t really have time to volunteer,” Domrese said. “This is a way to give back to the community.”

Domrese and his wife give about 30 hours a month. He said they like to walk, so during the nicer months they patrol the Centennial Trail.

“Our presence, the knowledge that we were out there, and the fact we can communicate with the sheriff’s office at a moment’s notice, deters crime,” Domrese said. “We know who to call and how to get to the right person quickly.”

Jerry and Luann Rhoads are co-presidents of the North Spokane SCOPE.

“My husband and I enjoy doing the Operation Family ID, for when Amber Alerts are needed,” Luann Rhoads, 51, said. “We take pictures and fingerprints for kids, and parents fill out the vital information. We put it in a file so we can just hand that over to the first-responder.

“We like to do whatever we can to keep the kids safe and aid in their recovery,” she said.

The duties performed by SCOPE volunteers are ones that might have otherwise fallen by the wayside due to public safety budget problems.

“The taxpayers could not afford to have the kind of law enforcement that we really need to have all the time,” Domrese said. “I think the SCOPE volunteers and Neighborhood Watch can be the eyes and ears to help law enforcement get the job done. We are essentially a support group for the Sheriff’s Office.”

Spokane Valley police detective Don Manning considers the SCOPE volunteers highly valuable. Manning investigates traffic crashes.

SCOPE handles roadblocks and directs traffic around the scene, Manning said. “They allow us to do our job without worrying about getting run over. Every major collision they are there for us.

“If we didn’t have them, we could lose evidence and we’d be taking four or five patrol officers off the streets, when that might be all we have out there.”