Volunteers back up deputies

HARRISON, Idaho – They wear uniforms like deputies, drive patrol cars and carry radios on their belts.

They direct traffic during community events and get called out to assist in searches.

But they aren’t deputies and don’t carry guns – they’re volunteer COPs, or Citizens On Patrol.

Armed with brochures and Junior Deputy stickers for kids, they clearly get to enjoy the happy side of law enforcement.

“You walk around town and see a kid and deputize them on the spot,” said COP Don Sherfey with a belly laugh. “We don’t have a light bar. We obey the speed limit. We don’t chase anybody. … We’re the PR part of the Sheriff’s Department.”

The Harrison Citizens On Patrol unit – the first in Kootenai County – formed a year ago. Last week, a second unit formed when seven volunteers from the Bayview and Athol areas were sworn in by Sheriff Rocky Watson after a four-month course on how to be a COP.

The seven graduates held up their hands and repeated the oath, pledging to uphold the constitution and laws of the state of Idaho while on duty. After the oath’s “so help me God” closing, Watson jokingly had them add: “And I will not get you sued.”

After the oath, they left to get their official IDs and uniforms. They also were issued a patrol car with the sheriff’s shield and stripes to use while they patrol their communities.

The citizen volunteers are eyes and ears for the Sheriff’s Department and free up district deputies from some time-consuming duties, such as checking vehicle identification numbers and visiting vacant summer cabins to check for break-ins.

“If they come across a suspicious vehicle, they can let us know about it,” said Joe Jovick, deputy for the Bayview and Athol area. “Unfortunately, we need more deputies. They’ll help.”

Watson got the idea for the citizen patrols from Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk as a way to “stretch our resources,” explained Kootenai Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

So far, where Sherfey and patrol partner Dawn Pearson patrol along the east shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene, the program appears to be a hit. As they drove down winding country roads or through the town of Harrison on Thursday, people out walking dogs or enjoying the mild weather waved to them.

“We walk around Harrison and they shake your hand and say, ‘We’re really glad you have this program.’ That’s the paycheck – the paycheck that Rocky won’t give us,” Sherfey said with a chuckle.

Not far from Harrison, Sherfey steered the Chevrolet Caprice onto a dirt driveway to an old farmhouse with a cluster of bright red poppies and flock of clucking hens.

The home’s 90-year-old occupant lives alone and can no longer drive, but she still splits her own wood for the old wood-fired cook stove that heats her house. She invited Sherfey and Pearson in for chocolate cake, coffee and a friendly chat.

“I’ve always been a tough old bird,” she said, but this is the first summer she hasn’t put in a garden, because it’s simply too much work.

After the coffee and chit-chat, Sherfey and Pearson promised to come again the next time they’re on patrol. They planned to check on another elderly resident in the afternoon, but first they were heading for the Dumpsters up near Wolf Lodge Bay.

Pearson said she never understood how vulnerable the Dumpster sites were until she became a COP volunteer. She and Sherfey usually stop at the Dumpster sites to educate folks on their proper use. Construction waste, abandoned refrigerators and use by non-residents brings up the cost of the garbage service and might result in closure of some Dumpster sites. At Wolf Lodge, they handed a flier to Joe Scheideler, who was dropping off a white garbage bag of household waste.

“Spread the word,” Pearson told Scheideler. “If we don’t do something, we’re going to lose them.”

Pearson said the citizen patrol ethic doesn’t stop with the 16 hours she’s required to put in each month as a volunteer. A couple of weeks ago, she found herself helping out law enforcement while driving to a birthday celebration in her professional Sunrise the Clown costume. The driver in front of her was “all over the road,” so she called the dispatch center. A dispatcher asked her to stay with the car and stop after an Idaho State Police officer pulled over the erratic driver. “The ISP officer talks to me and says, ‘This is the first time I got a call from a clown.’ ”

Being a COP isn’t always fun. The Harrison unit was called out last month to help search for the Groene children, missing from the scene of a triple homicide, and earlier in the year they directed traffic during a bomb scare in Harrison. Such assignments help them appreciate their lighter law enforcement role. “We just spread charm and good will,” Sherfey said.