Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden welcomed 11 new volunteers to the Volunteers In Sheriff’s Community Programs (VISCOMP) at the Monmouth County Police Academy in February.
All of the volunteers are graduates of the Sheriff’s Office Citizen Police Academy. They join 25 current members of the program, bringing the total volunteer force to 36.
The new volunteers are Jennifer White, Wall Township; Herman Pfiefer, Wall Township; Lynn DeRocco, Manalapan; Leonid Galler, Manalapan; Chelsea Richard, Old Bridge; Ashley Hosea, Neptune; Bruce Hershcopf, Manalapan; James Kelly, Howell; Jamie Ventriglio, Freehold; Rudolph Palermo, Eatontown; and Raj Dixit, Marlboro.
Since the inception of VISCOMP on Feb. 13, 2009, volunteers have donated more than 2,300 hours of service to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, according to a press release. The volunteers assist in various programs which include Ident Adult, Special Persons and Youth ID programs, and the SEEK 911 (Sheriff’s Emergency Education for Kids) program that teaches first-graders the proper use of the 911 emergency number.
In addition, they volunteer at Sheriff’s Office programs at community fairs, the Sheriff Youth Week program each July, Clean Community projects, and they assist with data processing in the Sheriff’s Office.
Many of the VISCOMP volunteers also help in various roles with the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management and served during superstorm Sandy, according to the press release.
All VISCOMP volunteers are required to attend and graduate from the sheriff’s Citizen Police Academy held every autumn at the Monmouth County Police Academy, Freehold Township.