Thankful for the little things

Whether they’re checking on a person’s home while the homeowner is away on vacation, letting residents know of criminal activity in their area, or dispensing tickets, police department volunteers do the little things necessary so sworn officers can catch the bad guys.

“Costa Mesa is a great community to live in, and the police department does a great job of enforcing the laws,” said 10-year volunteer Dwight Moore. “It’s such a pleasant place to work. It’s a feeling of being a service the community can use.”

Moore is one of 25 volunteers in Costa Mesa’s police department, and was named this year’s Volunteer of the Year on Wednesday. Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments are joining others across the country in recognizing their volunteers as part of National Volunteer Week.

“The Costa Mesa Police Department would not be able to deliver the quality service that we provide without the volunteers,” Capt. Ron Smith said.

Costa Mesa volunteers were treated to a special luncheon at the Costa Mesa Country Club with police and city officials alike thanking them for their service. Newport Beach’s 18 volunteers were treated to a dinner at the Spaghetti Factory restaurant in Newport Beach on Wednesday night.

Not surprisingly, volunteers seem a bit out of place when heaps of praise and thanks are thrown on them.

“It’s nice that they recognize us. But if they didn’t that would be OK too,” Moore said.

The volunteers, most of them retired senior citizens, simply enjoy contributing.

Their responsibilities include issuing parking tickets for handicapped and fire lane violations, removing illegally posted signs and coordinating traffic during major events.

“Every day is absolutely different, nothing is the same,” Newport Beach volunteer Sandy Meadows said.

“There’s always something different to do. It’s a fun place to work, people here love to come to work.”

Police volunteers put in thousands of hours over the last few years for police, saving each department tens of thousands in salary costs, police said.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.