RE: http://www.itemonline.com/local/local_story_111013734.html

Creating a layer of pseudo-police between the real police and the people in the community is a great idea. The benefits are numerous.

• no oversight beyond the Sheriff's office of the pseudo-police, therefore no accountability
  
• the pseudo-police will look and act official enough to fool many in the community into thinking they have real authority
  
• the pseudo-police can be used to "gathering intelligence" on political, environmental, and other groups in the community
  
• letting the pseudo-police volunteer for "clerical work" gives them access to a huge store of knowledge about people in the community which can be used for the benefit of individual members of the pseudo-police or the groups they secretly represent
  
• letting the pseudo-police conduct "minor surveillance operations" relieves the real police from having to worry about pesky inconveniences like civil liberties
  
• since "equipment will be provided as volunteers host various fundraisers in the community" maybe we can get a particular corporation to provide the equipment and the volunteers, thereby creating a sanctioned pseudo-police that will act for the benefit of the corporation.
  

That's just to name a few. David Weeks can work out all the kinks later in court. The important thing for right now is to get those pseudo-police building bridges between the community and the real police by not only conducting surveillance, but by inserting themselves into every non-confrontational situation that would otherwise be a good opportunity for the real police and the community to interact.

Summary: We've got an international organization running the VIPS program.

According to IACP's web site, "The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) manages and implements the VIPS Program in partnership with, and on behalf of, the White House Office of the USA Freedom Corps and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice."

Here are two interesting possible duties for volunteers listed on the VIPS web site:
1. Conduct research using department and regional computer programs
2. Computer programmers can help develop or improve Web sites and record management systems

found here: http://www.policevolunteers.org/volunteer/?fa=volunteer_activities

Here is an example of what the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is trying to do (from their website):

"In developing the Global Policing Executive Database (GPED), the IACP is endeavoring to gather essential information on fellow police professionals from all across the world."



IACP just held it's conference in Istabul, Turkey
http://www.iacp-istanbul.org.tr/
IACP is operating two websites. The first one looks like it has American involvement (mostly military).
http://www.theiacp.org/

The second one does not have an American presence:
http://www.iacpinternational.org/html/index.htm