Behind the Badge
Alice Grant began volunteering at the Anaheim Police Department in 1987, when her daughter was a police cadet there.
While her daughter has long since moved on, Grant still is volunteering her time with APD.
Grant volunteers two days per week in the Community Services Division, taking calls from residents wanting vacation checks on their homes and checking in by phone with homebound residents through the department’s You Are Not Alone program.
“It gets me out of the house,” Grant said. “It gets me with people … and it’s just to contribute to the community. I think everybody should volunteer if they have the time.”
Alice Grant with an award she received from the Anaheim Police Association for her years of service.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Grant isn’t telling us her age, but we can say has a daughter in her 60s and a granddaughter. She still lives in the same house where she settled with late husband George when the couple moved here in the 1960s from Concord, Mass.
For years, Grant volunteered for the Anaheim Police Officers’ Honorary Association, helping to raise scholarship funds for Police Explorers.
Grant was recognized recently for her years of service with a plaque awarded to her by the Anaheim Police Association.
The plaque reads: “For her many years of Service and Dedication to the Anaheim Police Officers’ Honorary Association, Chairman 1989-1999 and 2001 – 2006, Member since 1987.”
In 2015, the Anaheim Police Association started awarding a scholarship in Grant’s name to a deserving Police Explorer.
“She has been with the department so long and has done so much,” said Rocio Burress, volunteer coordinator.
Photo courtesy of APD
Grant is always looking for something to do, Burress said.
When she’s not on the phone, Grant reads…and reads…and reads, three books a week to be specific.
She enjoys going to the theater and takes annual vacations with her daughter.
Moving to Anaheim from a small New England town, where everybody knew everybody, was a culture shock, Grant recalls.
“What a change from a little New England town to California,” she said. “This was an eye opener. I was very unhappy at first. It was just such a change.”
But Grant settled in when she went back to school, first to Fullerton College and then Cal State Fullerton, all while raising her daughter.
She’s earned a Ph.D. in Special Education and a degree in Nursing.
Grant’s daughter became a police cadet in Anaheim after earning a criminal justice degree from Chapman University.
That’s when Grant started volunteering with the agency.
“I volunteered because I needed something to do, and volunteering seemed like the thing to do,” Grant said.
She started volunteering under Chief Harold Bastrup, who died in 2013, and has served under every chief since.
Alice Grant with her friend and co-worker Helen Scott.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
“She is kind of a staple,” said fellow volunteer Helen Scott. “You have somebody there who can take care of something if it’s needed and that is what we need in here.”
Grant’s been around to witness the growth of the city and the department.
“It certainly has grown but despite its growth, it has maintained all its integrity,” Grant said. “I think we have a great police department.”
And as long as she can drive to the station, Grant plans on sticking around.
“I guess I’m kind of thankful that I can still do it,” she said.
