LAKEPORT, Calif. – In 2014 a group of dedicated police volunteers gave thousands of hours of free support to the Lakeport Police Department, a contribution which officials said last week has helped the agency carry on even when short-staffed.

Lakeport Police Lt. Jason Ferguson presented to the Lakeport City Council at its first meeting of the year on Jan. 6 the annual report on the volunteers' contributions.

“This very dedicated group of volunteers work year round for us,” he said.

They carry out a wide variety of projects – from traffic control during parades and other community events, to handling evidence in-house, transporting evidence to agencies outside of the county and patrol vehicle maintenance.

One volunteer is assigned to the Lakeport Unified School District's schools in the morning and afternoon, and Ferguson said school officials have expressed their appreciation for having him there.

He called the contributions of the police department's volunteers “phenomenal.”

“They are hugely beneficial to us and we just couldn't function without them,” he said.

By taking on the jobs they do – especially when the agency is short-staffed – it allows officers and paid personnel to focus on their duties, Ferguson said.

In 2014, Lakeport Police's seven volunteers and two reserve officers donated approximately 2,473.5 hours of volunteer time. Ferguson said that penciled out to a savings to the department of $49,470.

That 2,400 hours of time last year is up from the 1,360 hours put in by volunteers in 2013 and the 1,950 hours for 2012, based on previous Lakeport Police Department reports.

Also in 2014, the department hired Tyler Trouette as a level one reserve officer, Ferguson said.

Trouette, without financial backing, went through police training and at the same time provided the agency with 720 volunteer hours of policing at a time when they weren't at full staff, according to Ferguson.

Trouette has since been hired as a regular officer by the department.

Ferguson said reserve Officer Michael Williams also has taken on patrol shifts, and gave 100 hours of volunteer time to the city in 2014.

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