Rancho Bernardo Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol has new leadership

Two relative newcomers to Rancho Bernardo’s Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol have recently begun leading the organization that helps protect the community.

Tim Belanger, who joined at the beginning of this year, is the new administrator. He succeeded Richard Van Overmeiren, a 22-year member who retired this spring after more than four years in the top post. Shelby Long, a RSVP member since 2013, is the new assistant administrator. She succeeded Jerry Goldstein.

Rancho Bernardo’s RSVP unit was the first formed with San Diego Police Department 23 years ago. Officials said its success inspired similar units to form across the city, county and country. Several SDPD chiefs have said RSVP is a crucial asset to the department due to the many services it provides and its role as extra eyes and ears in the community.

RSVP members’ duties include patrolling school, bank and business parking lots to deter crime; providing free vacation house checks; issuing handicap parking violation tickets; checking vehicle license plates to identify stolen vehicles; operating speed surveys so drivers slow down; and conducting You Are Not Alone (YANA) visits. The latter are where housebound elderly residents are checked on throughout the week to make sure they are OK.

Members also staff the police storefront on Rancho Bernardo Library’s second floor and staff booths at community events so they can distribute free child safety information and fingerprint youngsters so parents have that information in case the children are ever lost. They also often provide traffic control at accident scenes, which frees officers to do other tasks, like investigations.

Belanger, a Rancho Bernardan for 26 years, said he joined because he is recently retired. His job as a vice president for marketing and sales in the nutraceuticals industry often required travel, but now he has the time to get more active in the community.

Long and her husband, Fritz, moved to Rancho Bernardo in 2000 after she retired from her job as an administrative assistant at a steel import/export company in Portland, Oregon. Fritz joined the city’s RSVP Traffic Division about a year after Shelby joined the RB RSVP. Long said she has always been the active type, and after her many years with the Bernardo Heights Country Club’s ladies group — which she chaired — and being the club’s website administrator for seven years, she was looking for other ways to give back to the community.

Together, they share the administrative duties that come with overseeing the 45-plus member team.

Belanger said one of his favorite activities is the YANA program, while Long said her favorites include helping people who call or stop by the storefront. While their requests might not fall within the services RSVP provides, she said members try to direct them to someone who can help.

“I like the camaraderie of the organization and like the people involved here,” Belanger said. “Aside from providing service to the community, it is also a social outlet. It is fun work and rewarding visiting with the YANAs. There is immediate feedback and they are grateful we visit as frequently as we do.”

“They depend on us a lot,” Long added.

There are around 20 Rancho Bernardo seniors enrolled in the YANA program. Both said they would like to see the number increase since more seniors could benefit from the free service, but have not heard about it.

Another service more residents of all ages could use is the free vacation house checks, but again, many Rancho Bernardans have not heard about it either.

RSVP members are 50 years or older. Belanger said they must have “a pristine background and burning desire to serve the community.” They must also pass a police background check plus other requirements. Two or three times a year the police department offers the free week-long training course required before volunteers can go out on patrol.

They commit to volunteering for three six-hour patrols per month, though people like Belanger and Long often work longer hours than they would at a full-time job. For details, call the RB storefront on weekdays at 858-538-8146.