A team effort that's estimated to have saved the City of Arlington time and money is being recognized in a special way this month.

Jude Plauche, Danielle Wallace and Cheryl Fisher are December Volunteers of the Month.

The project they recently completed for the Arlington Police Department also resulted in recognition at a recent APD Manager's meeting and a luncheon in their honor.

Jude, Danielle and Cheryl are volunteers in the Alarm Unit of the Arlington Police Department. This year, the team dedicated eight months and 727 hours to separating, filing, scanning and renaming more than 25,000 paper documents, according to Alarm Administrator Don Dillman.

The effort was led by Jude whose background in information technology laid the groundwork for the execution of this project. The estimated cost savings to the city is between $200,000 and $300,000.

"With his experience in information technology, Jude gave us ideas on how to be more efficient and reduce the need for filing cabinets and large stacks of files," Dillman said. "With thousands of residential and commercial alarm permits and each one requiring renewal every year, we had an opportunity to eliminate processes. We can now dedicate more time to serving our customers."

Danielle says the eight-month assignment was rewarding. Before coming to the Ott Cribbs Public Safety Building, she volunteered at the Life Shelter.

"It feels good to know that I can help make a positive difference anywhere in my community," she said.

Cheryl serves the Arlington Police Department as a volunteer in many capacities, completing administrative projects and serving as a member of Citizens on Patrol.

Jude enjoys photography and coaching Little Leagues sports. He was attending a Neighborhood Watch Meeting near his home when he first heard about the City's volunteer program. He contacted APD to inquire about opportunities.

"We got lucky with these guys," Dillman said. "There's no way we could have done this without them."