The Sheriff's Auxiliary Volunteers (SAV) division of the Pima County Sheriff's department has logged nearly a million hours since its inception in 1978 to make Green Valley a better place to enjoy life. Comprised entirely of volunteers, they are a nationally recognized, award-winning organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in our community.
In 1978, the Pima County Sheriff's Department introduced the Citizen Bear to Green Valley. Its purpose was to facilitate the use of Citizen Band radios for communication in search operations and home visits. Although volunteerism was in its infancy at that time, the Pima County Sheriff's Department was recognized as a national leader for its effort.
Capitalizing on the success of this program, Sheriff Dupnik decided to take volunteerism even further, commissioning a group of individuals to develop a larger and more comprehensive group of volunteers. The goal was to develop a program which would model the Citizen Bear group while serving all of unincorporated Pima County.
What became quickly apparent to the Sheriff's Department was that the talent of the volunteers far exceeded their expectations and as a result Citizen Bear evolved in today's SAV. With the evolution came a vastly expanded set of responsibilites including:
- Patrol Division: Provides patrol support in various Pima County Parks and Neighborhood Watch areas; assist Search and Rescue respond to calls for service; and look for signs of graffiti, suspicious or illegal activity and damage to county property. They also manage and assist Neighborhood Watch Organizations as well as provide training to neighborhood leaders on running a successful program and provide patrols in these highly organized neighborhoods.
- Crime Prevention Division: SAV's are responsible for a number of tasks that include teaching safety classes and doing home security checks.
- Field Operations Division: Provides non-law enforcement at major incidents such as traffic control at accident scenes, natural disasters and crime scenes.
- Other divisions include Special Activities and Administrative.
If you are looking for a meaningful way to give back to your community, consider joining this dynamic organization. Click here to learn about qualifying for the Sheriff's Auxiliary Volunteers and the 3 week mandatory training program, as well as the optional training that is available.
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