Community Services Unit looking to add to its volunteer ranks

A volunteer unit with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office is looking to beef up staffing levels in 2025.

The Community Services Unit is aiming to add five or six more people to its ranks, which currently stand at around 10 members. There is no timeline for the recruitment period.

“The ultimate candidate would be one who doesn’t have any other obligations,” said Jim Newton, a sergeant with the Community Services Unit, in an interview earlier this week with The JOLT News.

The position calls for about 16 hours of volunteer work each month or four hours per week. The county provides a black and white patrol vehicle, as well as uniforms for unit members.

The unit provides a number of services, including traffic control at various events in the county and ensuring vehicles located in disabled parking spaces have the proper placards. Community Services Unit volunteers are authorized to write tickets in the event they come across a disabled parking law violation.

Newton said it can be difficult to recruit people for the unit, but he does have some applications in the pipeline. Candidates must submit to a background check and fingerprinting, as well have a good driving record and be in good health.

For more information or to fill out a volunteer application, visit https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/community-services-unit-volunteer-opportunity.