Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 2, 1993 TAG: 9212310342
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
HE DOES IT FREE
Police Chief Bill Whitsett calls Keith Hale "the epitome of what a community servant is."Hale, 30, walked into Whitsett's office earlier this year and told the chief he wanted to be a police officer. And he would work for free.
Hale, vice president of operations at Commonwealth Bolt in Rich Creek, had worked as a paid police officer in North Carolina after graduating from Narrows High School in 1980.
And he had done volunteer police work for other Giles County law enforcement agencies, such as Rich Creek and Narrows police departments, the Giles County Sheriff's Office and the Commonwealth Attorney's Office.
Whitsett was aware of Hale's work for those departments.
"I've been watching him over the past several years . . . and was impressed with him," the chief said.
But he had to wonder why anyone would want to be in police work - working weekends, night shifts, and for no money.
Hale told Whitsett he just loved police work and it was more than a hobby to him.
"That's just what I like to do," Hale said.
Some people volunteer with rescue squads or fire departments, he said. "I love police work."
Even more puzzling to Whitsett: What wife would agree to have a husband who works a full-time job leave the family three nights a week or so to work another full shift, without pay?
"If I didn't think he really loved it, it would bother me," Hale's wife, Patricia, 25, said.
"It's no different from me singing in the church choir or the Junior Women's Club or playing golf. He just carries a gun and I carry two kids," said Patricia, who runs the preschool at First Presbyterian Church.
The Hales have two children, Amy, 4, and Lori, 18 months.
"He takes time out. He sneaks off from work," Patricia said.
That's easier to do when your dad is the boss. But John Hale said his
son is no slacker. It's OK for Keith to volunteer with the police department, he said, "as long as he keeps his work done."
If he leaves the job to work a police shift, he comes back on the weekend to catch up, John Hale said.
Hale's parents are proud of their son but also are a little worried about him.
"Like all parents, we were concerned about somebody shooting him or something," John Hale said. "We gave him a [bullet-proof] vest last year for Christmas." There's a difference between being an auxiliary officer and a
volunteer officer. Auxiliary officers are more of a citizen's watchdog. Volunteer officers aren't common, Hale said, because you have to go through a police academy and receive all the training a paid officer would.
"Everybody looked at me kind of funny when I first started," Hale said. "I think everybody realizes I do it because I love it." He graduated from
the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy last May. He's gone to radar and Breathalyzer schools, scoring in the high-90s on the breathalyzer-operator test.
He recently made his second Pearisburg arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.
"I really like to get DUIs," he said, because he believes he's keeping family and friends from being hurt or killed by a drunk driver.
Whitsett said Hale maintains a great rapport with the community and enforces the law without being overzealous.
Pearisburg has six full-time uniformed officers and two part-timers. With such a small department, it helps to have someone available to fill in when someone is ill or on vacation, Whitsett said. Otherwise, limited resources for overtime pay would leave a gap in coverage. "Usually when they need me, they don't have anybody" to fill the night's vacancy, Hale said.
He normally works Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, he said.
"And Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Thursday," Patricia Hale added.
"Just whenever they need me," Hale said.
Hale said volunteer work might add up to another career someday. "By
the time I'm 50 or 55, I'd like to get a job full time as a small town police chief."
Town Manager Ken Vittum said "there really weren't any major hoops" Hale had to go through to get clearance from Town Council to work for free. The matter of liability insurance and workers' compensation had to be discussed. Since Hale is not paid, he is not eligible for workers' compensation, Vittum said.
"He's done an excellent job for us and we've been really pleased to have him. We hope the relationship continues for a long time."