Winston-Salem Police Officer Jonathan Lewis says volunteers must live, work or attend school in the county to get involved.

"Volunteer opportunities like this will allow us to build relationships with those citizens at the police department or at other city entities," explains Officer Lewis. "They help enhance public safety by allowing us to focus on patrols and they help maximize existing resources that the agency may have. And volunteers will bring with them knowledge and experience and new ideas to the volunteer program and possibly to the agency."

Volunteers also must complete the Winston-Salem's Citizen Police Academy, a 13-week program that explains the various units within the police department and how public services are provided. Most of the positions will have administrative-type responsibilities, such as scanning finger prints into the police department's data base.

This is the first time the Winston-Salem Police Department has organized such a group. It's based on a national effort, Volunteers in Police Service. It was created in 2003 to coordinate to make communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to emergencies.