Reserve Police Officer

[LD550]

Any thoughts on reserve police officers? Working only 1 weekend a month, can a reserve officer [with no previous LE experience] develop and maintain a level of police skills and situational awareness that make them an asset, or are they likely to become more of a liability and risk to themselves and the full-time officers?

Our local Sheriff's department has a reserve unit. Officers are certified as a LEO after a 13 month/520 hour reserve academy, then they volunteer about 16 hours a month. From what I know, reserve cops are always riding with a full-time officer.

 

[Kamp]

Rsserves can be great assets, especially for smaller departments. An officer taht normally might patrol alone ends up with a partner.

Some reserves are more locked on than some officers I know. The reserves that are worth a s*&t most likely will end up working a ton more hours than the minimum.

Reserve academies in some states mirror the full time academyas far as length and content. I started out as a reserve and you could worknyour way up to solo status. The FTEP requirements were the same as full time officers.

However there are some horror stories as well. I managed the right way it is a great way to find good canidates and the agency can "try bevofe they buy"

Lets face it, There are some full time officers that cant/dont keep up their "cop" skills.

 

[K.O.A.M.]

I was formerly full time, now a reserve. Florida has two types of officers: auxiliaries, who have a reduced curriculum and are prohibited from taking law enforcement action unless under direct supervision and full standards.

Reserves are like anything else. Some are great, some have no business being there, and most fall somewhere in between. Our auxiliaries have a reduced field training program and can't do anything without a full standards officer. Full standards reserves have the same field training as full time deputies and can take independent action. Our field training program is 49 shifts for full time deputies. Accomplishing that at the minimum level of activity would take one approximately 3.5 years.

The ones that are worth a shit find a way to get it done in 6 months to a year. You get credit for a field training shift if you work 6 hours as a reserve. We have reserve deputies that have been in the program 20 years and have not finished field training. Some of that is on them, some of it is on us. We are in the process of changing the reserve program over the next six months. We will no longer allow auxiliaries to join the program. Any reserve deputy that has not completed field training is in the process of being reassigned to the training division and given a deadline to complete field training. Failure to do so will require them to write a memo to the Sheriff as to why they should be retained as a deputy.

It's not all slackers and malcontents. We have reserves that serve on the EOD team, work the airboats, aerial observers, and yours truly is a firearms instructor. The new changes will give our reserve program a set of standards and put reserve leadership in charge of meeting them.

 

[Dr. No]

"The reserves that are worth a s*&t most likely will end up working a ton more hours than the minimum. "

That is absolutely the truth.

I was a reserve for 3 years before I went full time. I had a good job and I wasn't sure if LE was really right for me. I ended up loving it and put myself through FTO while I was working. I was training guys by the time I left the unit. I worked where the Sgt needed me, most of the time in a sector close to where I lived. I never wanted a hand out and I never shied away from work. When I got hired on full time they basically gave me a different badge and said 'enjoy the paycheck'. Interestingly, all the former reserves who went full time have gone on to be very successful in our department. Several LT's, a Captain, many in specialized units. I think if you're one of those successful driven people, you will excel no matter what you do. You can usually tell who those guys are by how they work. We had a LT in our reserve unit who was a CFO of a huge company. Dude worked harder than most of the rookies I knew.

We also had morons in our unit. We had guys who I think just wanted to dress up and play cop. They didn't last long. We usually ran off the true squirrels.

As someone else said, on smaller departments they really are a good asset. If you have an agency with 6 dudes, having someone who will come out when you're busy is priceless.

 

[hooahmedic]

I"ve been both full time and active. I'm now a reserve. We are under utilized and our expertise is rarely tapped into. It seems that there hasn't been any real forethought into how a reserve program could actually work and benefit the department.
Reserves can be great department enhancement but it takes management and planning. If I was to become a Chief or Sheriff somewhere, I'd work our reserve program where it was a benefit to the department and the full time officers who are run ragged and very little to no backup available on the streets.

 

[Seth Thompson]

Another positive aspect of a well-run reserve program is the ability to give people new to the profession some real-life experience, so they can decide if police work is for them, or not.

We've all seen new full-time cops who spend a year-plus applying, being vetted, training, etc... and then decide a year later that police work wasn't like TV, and they leave to go sell pressure washers or aluminum siding. Reserve training and street time can help these folks (and the department) decide whether the job is a good fit for them.

 

[PM07]

Reserve Officer Requirements vary from not only state to state but dept. to dept. In the past, in my state, a sheriff or Chief could just swear his buddies in and bam ,you have full LE powers. Thankfully, a big fucking thankfully, POST changed that so now to carry as a reserve , you have to be POST certified as a Peace Officer. Unfortunately, some states don't require POST, or the equivalent training. My previous agency had Reserve Officers. They had to be POST certified, meet all our hiring requirements, complete FTO etc. It worked well but we only had a few. My current agency makes no provisions for a reserve officer, good or bad. I've seen really great Reserves and rally shitty ones. Just like full time officers.

 

[MrMurphy]

My agency does not have reserves. State does require the same standards, though usually the academy is a night/weekend thing so it runs a bit longer.

That said I spent nearly 10 years being around auxiliaries for the LASD (in CA) as both my dad and brother were involved. Uniformed, non sworn, non armed guys who still contributed, in their case communications for disasters, etc.

I've seen enough reservists with other agencies to agree. The ones worth a shit will be there way more than the minimum. The others.....well....you're gonna figure out pretty quick. No different than when we hire new kids, some last, some don't, either from it's not what they thought it was, or they're incompetent/have a death wish.