The Bellevue Police Department honored its citizen volunteers at an appreciation luncheon for performing a wide range of support assignments throughout the police department.

The event was Oct. 18 at Meydenbauer Center.

There are 43 volunteers in the program who have worked over 6,300 hours (labor dollars equivalent of $137,000) to date in 2011. Their service enables officers to focus on primary law enforcement duties and allows the department to maintain services that it otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to provide.

This year’s honored volunteers receiving service awards are Pat Reams, Don Riggs, Marilyn Campbell, Harry Masters, Bill Donovan, Betsy Gruber, Ann Mattiello, Fred Cacchione, Bill Swanson, Jim Swanson, Shams Shamsuddin, Gerry Katt, Susan Allen, Bob Herschkowitz, Dean Snyder, Bill Pavitt, Ashlie McConnell, Suzi O’Byrne and Don Erickson.

Some of the volunteers’ accomplishments this past year included contacting victims of credit card/bank account fraud to clear a multi-year backlog of several hundred cases that can now be closed, shuttling police vehicles for maintenance and installation of new equipment, issuing nearly 400 disabled parking violations, assisting nearly 6000 citizens at the Crossroads and Factoria Community Stations, and assisting with planning, organizing and staffing several community events throughout the year.

Businesses participate in the event by donating gift certificates that are given as door prizes. This year’s donors included The Bellevue Collection, Target, SeaStar and John Howie Steak restaurants, Argosy Cruises, Top Foods, and Purple Café.

Also in attendance at the luncheon were Deputy Mayor Conrad Lee, City Manager Steve Sarkozy, Police Chief Linda Pillo and several of her command staff.