SDPD Volunteer, 93, Sets Example for Community

At 93 years old, retiree Pat Justice is the San Diego Police Department’s (SDPD) longest-serving volunteer and an inspiration to her colleagues and police officers. As a Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol (R.S.V.P), Justice performs tasks like checking in on other seniors signed up for a program called You Are Not Alone (YANA) with her partner Stanley Tom.  City Councilmember Calls for Water Department Audit Most of them are younger than Justice.”We’re the only contact a lot of the YANAs have, no one except us,” Justice said. “And that’s why we try to see every one of them, every day. We’ll try to answer all their questions, and talk to them, make sure they’re doing okay.” 4 Injured in Construction Accident near Petco Park Justice has been a R.S.V.P. since the program started in 1992, but her connection to the police department goes back 43 years.She began as a volunteer in crime prevention and wrote for the SDPD news blotter when it was located at the department’s old Headquarters on West Market Street. Arizona Celebrates Arrival of ‘Hamilton’ With Creative Signs “I enjoy it. I thoroughly enjoy it,” said Justice. “I enjoy mingling with the people. I enjoy mingling with the officers and the YANAs.”She’s also involved in other volunteer activities at SDPD, including stints as Mrs. Clause during the department’s annual “Shop With A Cop” event.Her many contributions to the community led the San Diego City Council to proclaim May 31, 2011 as Pat Justice Appreciation Day in the City of San Diego.San Diego Police Officer Mariam Sadri oversees the R.S.V.P. program and said some of the important attributes for the position are a desire to give back to the community and an ability to connect with people.The senior volunteers serve as goodwill ambassadors for the department, work three 8-hour shifts a month and perform house checks for people who are on vacation. “You’re not here enforcing laws, getting into confrontations, arresting people, that’s not it at all,” Sadri said. “You’re like a community relations officer.”SDPD currently has about 300 R.S.V.P.s spread out at all of its neighborhood divisions and needs more people to sign up for the program. Those interested in becoming a R.S.V.P. should contact Officer Mariam Sadri at (619) 446-1016.A R.S.V.P. must be at least 50 years old and semi-retired. They must also be able to drive and work on a computer.A group of people who recently completed the R.S.V.P. academy spent several days training on procedure and safety.The volunteers also learned how to direct traffic. They’ll use that skill to help free up police officers at crash scenes and during special events.Academy graduate Lisa Agbebiyi told NBC 7 she learned about the program through a Coffee With a Cop event.Agbebiyi said she hopes to be an extra set of eyes for police officers, watching for things they may not see. That effort has already led Agbebiyi to see the community with a different set of eyes.”I’m now looking at things I never before would have thought were important.”She added, her work in retail sales is a natural fit for community service.”I’ve had a lot of experience with a lot of different types of people, working with people, I’m interested in what they do and how they behave,” explained Agbebiyi. “I like to talk to people.”Justice, who has no plans to retire, is reminiscent of a time when neighbors spent more time looking out for each other.”The neighborhoods are different,” said Justice. “It used to be you knew your neighbors.” Justice said she’s proud of being able to use her life experience to bring people together. Outside of her work as a R.S.V.P., Justice is also personally involved with the community.She prepares holiday meals at her home for on-duty police officers on Christmas Eve and spearheaded efforts to collect food for needy families in San Diego and Tijuana.Photo Credit: NBC 7
Source: NBC San Diego