SIERRA VISTA �” With more than three decades of police work under his belt, Steve Ziegler was no stranger to law enforcement when he got onboard with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Assist Team.

Steve Ziegler, operations officer for the Cochise County Sheriff's Assist Team, received the volunteer of the year award Thursday

“I had a whole career in law enforcement, so when we came out here I was looking around for something to do to basically help the community,” Ziegler said.

It was then that the assist team caught his attention.

“It looked like a good outfit,” he said.

Ziegler, the former chief at the Littleton Police Department in Littleton, Mass., joined the Sheriff’s Assist Team in 2007.

He was recognized for his service on Thursday at the team’s annual awards luncheon when he was named Volunteer of the Year.

“Frankly I’m shocked,” said Ziegler, who is operations officer for the Sheriff’s Assist Team.

“I never expected such a thing.”

Other than being the one in charge of scheduling duties for the assist team, Ziegler also recently worked with local fire and law enforcement officials to provide CPR and first aid training.

The work of Ziegler and the dozen or so other assist team members was recognized at the luncheon by both agency and county leaders.

Sheriff Larry Dever said he was “deeply appreciative” of the assist team and the work they do backing up his deputies and alleviating them of the more mundane aspects of their line of work so that they can do the most good.

“You have evolved to become such an important and integral part of the basic services of public safety that we provide,” Dever said.

The work of the all-
volunteer team is particularly helpful in light of state and local budget issues, said Pat Call, of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors.

“As our budget shrinks and we’re doing more with less, your organization, which initially formed to help the sheriff’s office and it’s sworn officers, is becoming more and more important,” Call said.

According to the assist team, their members contributed 5,850 volunteer hours in 2009.

That amounts to nearly three full-time deputy positions, saving the county upwards of $225,000, said County Administrator Michael Ortega.

Others recognized at the annual luncheon included volunteer Bob Birnbaum, for recently completing his first year with the assist team, and former volunteers Dennis Harrington and Tom Pickering.

Harrington served about seven years with the assist team before retiring last year, while Pickering, one of the original team members, retired two years ago after also serving about seven years with the team.

Career lawman from Massachusetts earns praise and Cochise County Sheriff’s Assist Team’s Volunteer of the Year award for invaluable service freeing up deputies from more mundane duties of the job.