Citizens on patrol give ‘cops’ a new meaning

While the President aims to keep illegal immigrants out of the country, local law enforcement is making efforts to bridge the gap.

Palm Desert’s “citizens on patrol”, a group of volunteers that aid the police with non-confrontational patrols. The 15-year-old program, sponsored by the city, provides training, uniforms, a fleet of vehicles and operational facilities. All that in exchange for at least 20 hours a month of patrols, aid, and assistance on traffic stops when needed.

KESQ & CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner met up with Palm Desert’s citizens on patrol, who are looking for bilingual volunteers to help officers when stopping people who don’t speak English.

“The problem is a lot of times an officer will stop a person and the person doesn’t speak Spanish- only Spanish, not English,” says Captain Saul Roisentul. “So they call dispatch and dispatch reaches us and we come out to wherever they are and we translate for them, and it is very important because there’s a very large population of Spanish out here.”

The Spanish-speaking community agrees.

“It’s very important for us because a lot of us don’t speak English. and sometimes the police pull you over but you don’t know why, and if you don’t speak the language it’s worse you don’t know what to say, nor why they have you, said local resident Elsa Sanchez

“It’s really good because a lot of people don’t speak English and there’s no way of defending yourself and that would be a way that people could defend themselves by telling their story,” said local resident Mario Romero.

If you’d like to volunteer, you can sign up online on the special programs section at the city of Palm Desert’s website. The program is open to anyone over 18 with a valid driver’s license and who can dedicate a minimum of 20 hours per month.