POUGHKEEPSIE – The “Safe Passages Home” meeting scheduled for Thursday evening has been canceled out of an abundance of caution according to Poughkeepsie Police Detective Karen Zirbel. Zirbel serves as the School Resource Officer (SRO) in the city’s middle and high schools. The detective has indicated that most of the required organizational details can be sorted out via email communications and a website has been established for the purpose.
The Sage Passages program relies on volunteer participants to be an adult presence and be helpful if children need assistance or guidance as they make their way home from school. Zirbel, with the assistance of Police Chief Tom Pape and Captain Rich Wilson have been working to revive the program that has been dormant for several years now.
The program relies on volunteers to observe the children and strive to provide a trouble-free environment in which to travel home. The volunteers are not members of law enforcement and are not get involved in any issues that arrive but rather they are to contact the authorities. “What is most important to remember is that this initiative is solely for helping children get home safely. If there are children or adults who want to be involved in negative activities, they are going to find another area to do so. This is to help the kids who do not wish to participate and are just looking to get home after school,” said Detective Zirbel.
- Fox Terrace/ South White Street **will be covered by SNUG
- May Street (between Forbus and Arterial)
- Forbus Street/ Gray Street
- South Cherry Street/ Fox Terrace
- Main Street/ South White Street (Dollar General Area)
- Forbus Street/ Hammersley Avenue
- Forbus Street/ Manitou Ave
In the event that the “hot spots” get enough manpower, a list of secondary ” hot spots” consisting of Montgomery Street, Garden Street, Winnikee Avenue, and Bartlett Park will be staffed by volunteers.
Zirbel is also seeking churches and other groups, including those needing community service hours to volunteer for the program. “We can never have enough people willing to protect our children,” said Zibel.
Volunteers are required to pass a brief background check to ensure that no volunteers have any history of child-related offenses. Those interested in becoming part of the Safe Passages program are required to email their name, date of birth, and phone number to kzirbel@cityofpoughkeepsie.com.
The police department has set up a volunteer sign-up portal at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044ca8a623a3fe3-safe1.
After volunteers have been approved and logged onto the website, the instructions are as follows:
Scroll to the very bottom of the page and on the right corner click on “Find a Sign Up”.
Search by Creator’s email: Zirbel25@gmail.com
Safe Passage Poughkeepsie will come up.
There will be a calendar view of dates. If you press “Click more” all locations will show up for available slots. Volunteers can then enter their time and location selections.
