April is National Volunteer Month. The West Hollywood City Council recognized the volunteers of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station at its April 20 meeting, presenting a formal proclamation to a team whose individual service records run as high as nearly 4,000 lifetime hours.
Mayor John Heilman presented the recognition from the dais.
“We have some very special volunteers with our Sheriff’s Department,” Heilman said. “These individuals support deputies. They support the professional staff through a whole range of services, including traffic control, community engagement. They provide administrative assistance. They work with us on numerous public safety initiatives, and these individuals contribute countless hours of service, enabling the Sheriff’s Department to focus on law enforcement while still delivering high quality service. These volunteers also foster great relationships between law enforcement and the community.
“On behalf of the council, it is my honor to recognize all of the volunteers at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station. Thank them for their outstanding service, their dedication, their commitment, and expressing the gratitude and the appreciation of our whole community.”
Station volunteer Mike King spoke during public comment on behalf of the team.
“On behalf of my teammates, I want all of you to know how deeply all of us appreciate this thoughtful recognition from you,” King said. “Volunteers are a crucial part of the department’s community based policing initiatives. Who else knows the city as well as the residents? Each of us lives and works in West Hollywood, and in the immediate area, and a couple of us even grew up here. We each have a desire to ensure the community continues to be a safe and desirable place to live.
“Although we’re civilians, not sworn peace officers, we work side by side with our West Hollywood deputies and professional staff in a number of ways. We staff the station’s public counter with friendly faces. We utilize our knowledge of the city and City Hall services to better assist citizens in resolving concerns. Our Volunteers on Patrol team travels throughout the city’s residential and business districts, reporting anything out of the ordinary to dispatchers via radio, and team members are also empowered to issue disabled parking citations.
“We staff key positions for the marathon, Pride, including the Dyke March, the AIDS Walk, the Halloween Carnaval, and we provide support for the Rose Bowl. Volunteers assist in station clerical tasks, including organizing and filing department documents. We ferry department vehicles for smog checks and repairs, and because every vehicle carries a fire extinguisher, we periodically deliver those to a central location for required inspection and recertification. These and many more tasks allow our deputies to devote more of their time to patrolling West Hollywood.
“We keep detailed records of time donated by our team members, and our individual lifetime totals range from a few hundred hours for our newest volunteers to nearly 4,000 for the most experienced on the team.”
About the Program
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s volunteer program draws from the communities its stations serve. Participants are held to a higher standard of public trust and are required to pass a criminal background check. The positions are unpaid and unarmed.
County-wide, the program includes roles ranging from front desk and clerical work to mounted patrol, search and rescue, CERT-certified disaster response, and a youth Explorer program for residents between 16 and 20. West Hollywood’s station focuses its volunteer corps on counter service, patrol, administrative support, and major event staffing.
National Volunteer Month
President George H.W. Bush established National Volunteer Month in 1991 as part of his Thousand Points of Light initiative. National Volunteer Week this year runs April 19 through 25.
Anyone interested in volunteering at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station can call (310) 855-8850.
Related Coverage
West Hollywood Crime Report February 2026: What’s Down, What’s Up, and What Changed — The latest numbers from the station the volunteers help keep running.
WeHo Focuses on Community Safety with Fire, Ambassador, and Engagement Updates — A broader look at West Hollywood’s public safety partnerships.
Many, many thanks to Mike King and the rest of these selfless citizens! From a grateful citizen. ❤️
It certainly appears that these selfless volunteers are doing what the City is paying a couple million a year to the Ambassador program to do, except these volunteers are making a difference, paying attention, contributing to our overall community wellbeing and fostering good relations. This is much more than our city gets with the pathetic ambassador program. The very fact that an ambassador was present when that couple and their infant son were ambushed by the “MAGA Patriot” and his crew last Thursday should be enough to STOP the program forever. Why not study the volunteer program and take a… Read more »
Grateful recognition to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s volunteers for the thousands of hours they give to our community. Their efforts enhance public safety, support law enforcement, and strengthen the fabric of West Hollywood.
Volunteer service like this is invaluable and deserves continued appreciation. We owe much gratitude for their assistance.
Thanks to all our neighbors, like Mike King, who selflessly dedicate themselves to making West Hollywood safer. By picking up a lot of the “chores” at the Sheriff’s station, it allows for more deputies to be out on patrol. Two of my late friends, Richie Silverman and Bill Senigram dedicated years to service to the community by being volunteers at our local station.