In a law enforcement environment, distinctions between sworn and civilian personnel are deeply felt. Officers may think of volunteers as untrained, inexperienced and uncommitted. Attitudes change slowly, so expecting officers to eagerly supervise volunteers may be unrealistic.
We have successfully broken down attitude barriers by creating a volunteer council. It consists of all those who supervise volunteers--both sworn and civilian paid staff--who take on a sense of ownership of the volunteer program and really care about its results. They help me plan our volunteer recognition banquet, formulate volunteer performance evaluations and have helped with advertising ideas for recruiting new volunteers. When problems arise involving volunteer supervision, we have an open, supportive forum in which to discuss possible solutions. Members of the council have come to recognize how fortunate we are to have so many wonderful volunteers and they have come to understand that volunteers are motivated by the same desires as paid staff: the desire to be a part of something they believe in, a sense of personal gratification, and acknowledgment that their contributions matter. Council members carry these ideas back to their various divisions throughout the department, and in doing this they have helped our whole organization learn to appreciate and welcome volunteer involvement.