Protecting and serving Lodi at 88
Pat Freeman continues to give her time to help Lodi community
It’s National Volunteer appreciation week, a time to acknowledge the efforts of those who freely give their time to make a difference in the community every day.
Lodi Police Partner Patricia Freeman is one of those people.
For more than two decades, Freeman has been committed to assisting the Lodi Police in fighting crime in her community.
With her 88th birthday right around the corner Freeman still remains a very active member of the police Partners, and is one of two people left from the first ever training group.
Freeman joined the Partners in 1993 in search of a way to fill her time after her first husband passed away.
“When he passed, I was kind of at a loss of what to do and then I saw this ad in the paper, and they said they were looking for volunteers of a certain age and so I went down and I signed up,” Freeman said. “I thought it would be fun and interesting and I love Lodi.”
After signing up and completing a background check, Freeman officially became a member of the partners.
Freeman said she has continued to devote her time to the police department over the years because she enjoys the work and is very proud of what she does.
As a member of the Partners, she has been responsible recruiting other partners and has been in charge of hosting receptions for new officers. She is also a member of the honor guard.
The camaraderie is what Freeman said she enjoys them most about being a police volunteer.
“I like my association with people, the partners as well as the public. I work patrol and so I’m out with the public and I do enjoy talking to people and meeting with them.”
She recalled the support she got from her fellow partners when her second husband died.
“It just gave me a reason to come back to work and be active,” she said.
For Freeman, fighting crime in her community hasn’t always been easy. She recalls one occasion where she and her partner were accosted by angry men in an alley while trying to tow a vehicle. She has also had people call her names, ask her why doesn’t she get job, or tell her she’s too old to be a partner. Freeman doesn’t let that stop her. Despite these challenges, Freeman remains determined to keep her city safe.
“You just kind of take it and smile and just kind of walk away,” Freeman said.
On a typical day you can find Freeman working patrol 3. Her day usually starts around 8:30 a.m. or earlier. She works until about 3 p.m. doing various tasks such as checking abandoned vehicles, performing vacation house checks, making runs for the police department, directing traffic and towing vehicles with expired registration.
“It’s just depends on the day. There is no set routine of what we do,” she said.
One of her most memorable moments while being a Partner was when she was awarded the volunteer of the year award. She also recalled the time she was recognized for volunteering more than 9,000 hours, but she said her biggest accomplishment has been her recruitment of new Partners.
Freeman plans to continue being a Partner for as long she is able.
“The police have so much to do and we are lifting from their shoulders things that need to be done but aren’t really that important,” Freeman said. “We have a shortage of police officers and we’re helping them as much as we can so everybody can get their work done.”
In her spare time outside of being a partner, Freeman reads, bakes, goes out to dinner and to the movies, works in her garden and swims daily.
She has been married twice. Her first husband passed in 1992 and her second passed in 2012.
Freeman is also a mother of seven, and has 10 grandchildren and one greatgrandchild.