Agenda - Council - 02/27/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Anoka County Union Page 2 of 5 two years ago. Johnson, a Brooklyn Park parish business administrator, joined the PSA program to fulfill a desire to get involved and volunteer in Ramsey. Originally, she was going to apply to be a volunteer firefighter, said' Johnson. When the PSA was introduced it intrigued her and it is less physically demanding. Working as a PSA also allows Johnson to be a connection between the community and the police department, she said. 6:11 p.m. Johnson reaches the frrst agenda drop'off point. After leaving the packet by the door, she returns the car and jots the stop and reason down on her activity log, which is filled out by every patrolling unit in the city, both PSAs and police officers. Although she was well prepared for the role of a PSA, wearing the uniform caught her off guard, she said. The light blue uniforms look similar to the dark blue ones worn by the police officers, complete with department patches and shield. When she started, she said her impression was that the PSA group was going to be working on community outreach and youth-related activities. A year after the program was started, the group split to form two volunteer groups, a patrolling police reserve unit and a community outreach group. The original group contained some members that were not as interested in policing and wanted to concentrate on community outreach, like assisting the crime prevention specialist and developing block clubs, said Sgt. Tim Dwyer, PSA coordinator, in a later interview. Community outreach is a non-uniformed group that works at teen nights and dances at the elementary school. The two groups are also involved with the community's Business Expo, Game Fair, Environmental Expo, Community Picnic and community education activities. While anyone 18 years old or older is eligible to join, currently the two groups comprise people ranging from 21 to 41 years old. "It's a pretty diverse group. There are a lot of kids heading for law enforcement, some who work in store security, a Ramsey pastor and someone who works for the post office," said Johnson. "As a PSA, a person will experience some exciting things and things that are not so exciting. "The problem with having something exciting to do means something bad has to happen ... I don't know what I'm going to be doing from one minute to the next." http://www.ecm-inc.com/news/anokaJ2001/February/Sjohnson.html ' 02/13/2001 -7-