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u By ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Anyone in Hopewellmost likely has seen thePolice Volunteers. They areout at funeral escorts, helpdirect traffic, patrol the cityand set up the city's com-mand center.

"We support the missionof the police department,"said Susan Temple, secretaryof the Police Volunteers.

They also need more vol-unteers.

The four-year-old pro-gram hopes to expand itsmanpower to better serve thecity and give some relief topolice officers.

"This is an investmentand we free up the policeforce to do what they need todo," said Vanessa Justice,former mayor of Hopewell.

The Police Volunteer

program began in 2005 as anidea of Rex Marks, the for-mer chief of police. DotCarter, who was instrumen-tal in setting up the program,took it upon herself to godoor-to-door in severalneighborhoods to garner theinitial batch of volunteers.

"We didn't have any-thing like that round here,"Carter said.

Before heading out intothe field, volunteers undergotraining, said Officer KevinJohnson, who is the super- vising officer for the volun-teers.

"We're not training peo-ple to be police," he said. "We just want them to do thingsas safely as possible."

Duties include providingup to four cars for funeralescorts for all of the funeral

homes in the city. If that duty

was left solely to HopewellPolice, only one car would beavailable for the escort,Johnson said.

"They can do an escort way better than we can," hesaid.

The Police Volunteers alsodirect traffic for parades andother events, patrol the streetsfor noncompliant vehicles. bring McGruff to schools andthey even patrolled HopewellHigh School for two weeksafter December's bomb threat.

"Officers have remarkedon their willingness to workand the professionalismthey've shown," Johnson saidin a press release. "These uni-formed volunteers provide areal presence and some much-needed eyes and ears as they goabout their duties throughoutthe city."

Additionally, they hold

u By ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Forty-four years ago, theRev. Curtis Harris Sr. helpedmake history as he marchedalong U.S. Route 80 with theRev. Dr. Martin Luther KingJr. between Selma andMontgomery, Ala. OnTuesday, he sat on the frigidNational Mall, witnessing

history as Barack Obama wassworn in as the nation's firstminority president.

"It was a historic experi-ence and I was thrilled,despite the cold weather Iwas wrapped up well I wasable to observe the swearingin of the president and thevice president," Harris, ward2 councilor and national vice

chairman of the board of theSouthern ChristianLeadership Council, said.

Harris set out to Washington, D.C., Mondayafternoon after participatingin a breakfast in honor ofKing in Chesterfield County. As he looked back at hisexperience with King and hisbattles for equality in the Tri-

Cities, the inauguration helda special significance to him.

"I was excited about thismatter, and I did not expectthis to happen in my lifetime but it happened, and I'mthrilled."

Throughout his lifetimeas a civil rights leader, Harrisendured the violent attackson peaceful protests in the

1960s, threats on his life andan unsuccessful bombing ofhis home in Hopewell.Harris, 84, was born in SurryCounty and has lived in thecity for 80 years. He has beena member of City Councilsince 1986 and has thelongest tenure of any othercouncilor.

Like many of the millions

The Hopewell NewsThe Hopewell NewsYOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER IN HOPEWELL, PRINCE GEORGE AND ENON SINCE 1925

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009 WEEKEND EDITION 75 CENTSwww.hopewellnews.com

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Neighbors

Helping

neighbors

cut crimeu By ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Statistics can be deceiv-ing, said Hopewell PoliceChief Steven Martin duringhis monthly citywide neigh- borhood watch meeting.Overall, the city saw a 2 per-cent drop in crime in 2008 buta change in how breaking andentering is recorded drovethose numbers significantlyhigher.

In what may have come toa surprise to some in the city,Martin said that most of theinstances of breaking andentering occurred in broaddaylight between 10 a.m. and4 p.m., when most people areworking and not at home.

As not all people on a par-ticular street are guaranteedto be at work during thosehours, having neighbors look-ing out for each other's housesis particularly important, saidCapt. Gabriel Costanzo.

"If you see someone walk-ing down the street with a TVin the middle of the day, callus," Costanzo said.

Recently, some arrests inthe city had been made thanksto the watchful eye of someresidents who alerted police.One burglary suspect wasapprehended when a neighbornoticed a strange manunscrewing a light bulb at ahouse.

"Encourage [neighbors]to call us up," he said during aslideshow of significantarrests. "If you get a lot of peo-

ple involved, you'll see a lotmore people put up here being arrested," Costanzosaid.

Also at the meeting,Martin said, a helpful thing todo is fill out a inventory sheetthat lists a description andserial number of every big-ticket item in a home. Once anobject is reported stolen, theserial number goes into a

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STAFF PHOTO

The Rev.Cur tis Harris Sr. stands across from his church wearing Barack Obama clothing. He traveled to Washington, D.C.Tuesday to witness Obamas inauguration.

PHOTO BY ELLIOTT ROBINSON

Capt. Gabriel Costanzo, left, and Chief Steven Martin discuss police incidents in Hopewell during the city-wide Neighborhood Watch meeting Thursday evening.

Volunteer police seek out members

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2005 American Profile Hometown Content Service

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OBAMA INAUGURATED

Civil rights leader, councilor witnessed the event firsthand

Curtis Harris: I did not expect

this to happen in my lifetime

Obi

tuaries

Womans Club meeting: page 3Hopewell boys basketball win: page 7Koutniks Classics 30 years ago: page 5Governer Kaines budget cuts; page 12

Local Church listings: page 6

Inside today

s edi

tion: