COUPLES GO ON PATROL TO DETER CRIMINAL ACTS : HOW TO HELP.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

For the first nine months that volunteers Linda and Jerry Swim have been on patrol for the Sheriff's Department, they never had to make that call.

But one Sunday night patrolling along Palmdale Boulevard, they spotted a broken store window at 17th Street East.

``There was glass shattered all over the place,'' said Jerry Swim. ``We had a feeling it had just happened.''

Suspecting a burglary was in progress, the Quartz Hill couple called the sheriff's station from their cellular phone and told deputies what they had seen.

Standing back away from the business, the Swims watched as deputies arrived, drew their guns and entered the building.

``It was pretty intense,'' Jerry Swim said. ``You didn't know what they were going to find.''

The burglars had already left in this particular case, but the Swims were sure one day they would catch someone in the act. They proved correct: Since joining the Volunteers Organized to Improve the Community Environment program in 1993, they have been responsible for 10 arrests.

The Swims - their nickname, of course, is ``the Swim team'' - are one of 10 couples among the 130 volunteers who help sheriff's deputies patrol Palmdale, Lancaster, Lake Los Angeles and Quartz Hill. They are part of the sheriff's 4-year-old VOICE program, serving as extra eyes and ears for the department.

Besides their regular patrols of business districts, neighborhoods and parks, VOICE volunteers help in other ways, including watching children taken into protective custody until county children's services workers arrive, directing traffic, conducting surveys and searching for missing children.

The volunteers don't apprehend lawbreakers themselves, but call deputies when they see something wrong.

Husband and wife teams are encouraged, Deputy Paul Ullman said.

``I find it works pretty well,'' Ullman said. ``They're finding that when they're out together they have more time to talk to each other.''

The Swims decided to get involved after they had a car stolen from the Antelope Valley Mall. Their 1980 Chevy Impala was later found stripped and dumped in Los Angeles.

``We figured we could sit around and complain or we can get involved and do something about it,'' said Jerry Swim, an auditor at Air Force Plant 42.

``I can't imagine not doing it,'' added Linda Swim, a biology student at Antelope Valley College. ``It's a part of our life now.''

After nearly four years on the team, the couple spends 80 to 100 hours a month on patrol, equipped with a cellular phone and a pair of binoculars. They get to drive in a white pickup truck, with city of Palmdale, Sheriff's Department and VOICE markings on the sides.

``The first year was learning,'' said Jerry Swim. ``Now they've come to rely on us. We do anything they ask us to do. We're a glutton for punishment.''

One of their highlights was catching illegal dumpers in the act.

During a regular patrol, the Swims saw a truck loaded with trash driving east on Palmdale Boulevard.

``We figured it to be suspicious,'' said Jerry Swim. ``The dump was west and they were heading east.''

The Swims followed, staying a good distance away and watching through binoculars as the truck drove into the desert. The Swims parked behind a well pumphouse as the truck stopped, two men got out and began tossing out trash bags.

``Bag after bag, they kept throwing their trash out,'' said Jerry Swim. ``At that point we called the deputies.''

The men were still there when deputies arrived, their truck stuck in mud.

``We had caught them red-handed,'' said Jerry Swim. ``They tried to deny it, but you could see their footprints that led directly to the trash.''

The two men, who had tossed out oil and chemicals among their trash, were arrested on suspicion of felony illegal dumping.

``The first year or so we wondered if we made an impact,'' said Jerry Swim. ``But than we learned that maybe something was going to happen but didn't because we drove by.''

``The incidents are far and few between,'' said Linda Swim. ``But when they do happen they're good.''

People interested in becoming VOICE volunteers can contact Deputy Paul Ullman at [phone].

Applicants must go through a background check and interview process before being accepted. Once accepted, volunteers will go through 12 hours of training, which includes four hours in the classroom and an eight-hour ride-along with a sheriff's deputy.

New volunteers will also go out with veteran volunteers before being assigned to work alone. Volunteers will always work in teams, officials said.

Volunteers who work in the Lake Los Angeles or Quartz Hill areas are expected to pay for their own uniforms - at an approximate cost of $60 to $70 - while uniforms for volunteers who work in Lancaster and Palmdale are paid for by the cities.

CAPTION(S):

Photo: (1--Ran in SAC and AV) Jerry and Linda Swim help deputies pat rol the streets of Palmdale as Volunteers Organized to Improve the Community Environment.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News