 Well, it's the end of an era in Bemidji as the Volunteer Citizen Patrol comes to an end. Josh Peterson introduces us to its remaining members and shares with us how the city will continue without the loyal volunteers. It was business as usual at Monday's Bemidji City Council meeting, but then came the announcement that a long-standing tradition of a volunteer service would come to an end. The Bemidji Citizen Patrol branch of the Bemidji Police Department will close down its services to the community. Dressed in full uniform, the remaining nine volunteer members of the Citizen Patrol gave a final salute and said farewell, but not without receiving a standing ovation from the City Council. Out of the nine members of the Patrol, four of them have been part of the organization since the inception of the program back in 1997, when they saw the program become part of the law enforcement community. We've got an old police car they gave us with radars, sirens and everything on it, radios. We've got radios that used to belong to railroads, we carry them with us, they do anything. For those who are part of the program since day one, they each had their own reason why they joined. Just retired from BSU, and I thought it would be an interesting sideline. I retired 20 years ago from my job, and it was something that was coming in that was new and it was different, and I didn't want to sit at home. It is bittersweet for these devoted volunteers, they gave so much of their own time, but in return became a big part of the community. All of the people I met and the things I did for the city, I miss a lot of the case that we got with us. With the Bemidji citizens patrol coming to an end, the city of Bemidji is looking for new ways to provide that extra security through use of the police reserves. One of the things that we do as a city is we have a reserve officer program, and so that I think is going to be the emergent solution here. Bemidji police chief Mike Mastin recognized each member of the citizens patrol and thanked them for their service by presenting them each with a certificate and a challenge coin. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. The Bemidji citizens patrol will officially be disbanded on August 31st. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.