{"id":27560,"date":"2013-10-24T21:24:34","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T01:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=27560"},"modified":"2013-10-24T21:24:34","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T01:24:34","slug":"v-o-i-c-e-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2013\/10\/v-o-i-c-e-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-do\/","title":{"rendered":"V.O.I.C.E. \u2026.
What Is It and What Does It Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"V.O.I.C.E. \u00a0stands for Volunteer Observer Impacting Community the effort began in 1988 when the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office needed additional deputies but did not have the budget to hire them.<\/p>\n

According Lieutenant Odilia “Dede” Petracca the Ancillary Services Unit Commander, currently we have 170 members in the unit in lee County and last year we saved the citizens of Lee County 1.2 million dollars by volunteering over 55,000 hours.<\/p>\n

“We couldn’t do our jobs without them,” said Petracca,”These guys are out at 6 a.m. and work all day for free. They want to be here. It gives me motivation.”<\/p>\n

V.O.I.C.E. is comprised of concerned citizens who care about their community and are dedicated to helping the Sheriff\u2019s Office provide a higher level of service to its citizens and visitors.\u00a0 Initially, the\u00a0primary function of the volunteers was neighborhood patrol, but over the years those responsibilities\u00a0have greatly expanded. V.O.I.C.E. members continue to patrol as extra eyes and ears in the neighborhoods enabling\u00a0certified law enforcement\u00a0deputies to respond to the more serious calls for service.<\/p>\n

You’ll see these volunteers assisting in traffic control, traffic surveys, business patrols, picking up found property, canvassing neighborhoods, tagging abandoned vehicles, processing visitors at the stockade and many clerical and support service duties.\u00a0\u00a0Members also enjoy assisting\u00a0non-profit organizations and civic groups with\u00a0event traffic control, fingerprinting,\u00a0lost children searches\u00a0and coordination of medical emergencies.<\/p>\n

Currently Bravo district (Lehigh Acres) members of V.O.I.C.E. have worked more than 42,000 hours this year alone.<\/p>\n

So far this year the members have completed the following:<\/p>\n

Ticketed abandoned vehicles –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 333\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Area checks-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20,603<\/p>\n

Construction site checks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2,234\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right of way tickets issued\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 166<\/p>\n

Handicapped tickets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 228\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vacation house checks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8,515<\/p>\n

Warning tickets \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 570\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beach traffic hours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,549.5<\/p>\n

Crime prevention hours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 159\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Child fingerprints \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2,436<\/p>\n

Patrol hours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 27,150\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Special details\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6,015<\/p>\n

Tech services\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 192.5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Traffic control hours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,776.50<\/p>\n

If interested in becoming a member of V.O.I.C.E., applicants need to be at least 18 years old; a high school graduate or possess a G.E.D; have a valid driver’s license; no criminal record; and in good health. Call the sheriff’s volunteer office at 477-1422.<\/p>\n

The Lehigh Acres Gazette would like to personally thank Lieutenant Petracca, Lieutenant King and Sheriff Mike Scott in letting us have access to the great program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

V.O.I.C.E. \u00a0stands for Volunteer Observer Impacting Community the effort began in 1988 when the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office needed additional deputies but did not have the budget to hire them.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":27561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}