OT - Question for LEO

[Tycer]

I'd like to help. But I don't know where I'd fit and need suggestions.
Good guy, 46, some college, self employed contractor the past 5 years, still working, CCW, Mason

With the potential for people to act outside their norm during a depression, and my awareness of my surroundings, I feel I could assist in the local scene.

What say you?

[Gobblerforge]

Good question. I'd like to know as well.
Gobbler

[Hobie]

I'd like to help. But I don't know where I'd fit and need suggestions.
Good guy, 46, some college, self employed contractor the past 5 years, still working, CCW, Mason

With the potential for people to act outside their norm during a depression, and my awareness of my surroundings, I feel I could assist in the local scene.

What say you?

Tycer,

Staunton has a reserve officer system. After training they are treated as sworn officers (a term which may not apply outside VA) and are armed. They are not paid but are expected to work a minimum number of hours per month. Our department does as extensive a background check as they do on the regular officers. Ours is an "accredited" department.

[Rusty]

A lot of departments have the kind of situation Hobie refers to. Ask around. In Fla they have the Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary, and the Game Dept has two different levels for you to join. The Sheriff's office reserves and even a posse that rides horseback when needed.

[nemhed]

I just want to add that there are plenty of opportunities out there for a person to volunteer their time and talent, and not just carrying a gun. In the last ten years I've been both a reserve police officer and volunteer firefighter/EMT. Local police, fire, EMS, the Emergency Management Agency, and Red Cross are always looking for help.

[TedH]

Back when I was a police officer for a municipality, I was also a commissioned deputy for the county Sheriff Dept. Reserves as well. As Hobie stated, there was no pay involved with the county job, and I had to work a certain number of hours a month for them. It did make things easier at times with the city job having the county commission as well.

[kimwcook]

As already stated, there are a number of things a person can do to assist their local area.

Being a law enforcement reserve, or any of the other volunteer services, takes a big commitment. Our reserve system is also accredited through the state and requires successfully completing a reserve academy, progressing to solo status, and contributing an average of 16 hours a month performing the duties of a deputy sheriff. Some of the shifts the reserves fulfill are paid, but patrol duties aren't.

If you're serious about it, I'd suggest checking out the requirements of your local programs. Then do some ride alongs to see if it's actually for you. Then there's really nothing lost if you decide to do it or not. But, to figure out after you've put in three months of the academy or worse, you've graduated and then find out it's not for you. Then you've put in a lot of time and effort, on a number of peoples account, for nothing.

Good luck on what ever venue you take.

[Griff]

What Hobie said, additionally Reserves are often utilized in more ways than traffic control. In our dept in CA the Reserves were like a department within the department, providing auxiliary support to the department's resources, ometimes in ways the department couldn't provide, such private pilots in our aero squadron providing air transportation unavailable via commercial craft and a technical division providing photo, computer and other technical skills not otherwise available or affordable.

After retiring from CA, & moving to TX, I volunteered for 12 years, in some ways more rewarding than getting paid!

[AJMD429]

I fear that anyone without 'federal' credentials would be regarded as a potential 'threat' by the feds, and that THEY will soon dominate state and local law enforcement under the guise of whatever 'anti-terrorist' BS the new messiah comes up with. Nobody knowledgeable about history, economics, or firearms is above suspicion by the New World order. I've friends who survived China's "reformation" and it was like that. OTOH, getting to know and work with your local LEO's might mean your family is spared any over-aggressive activity, which is a good thing.

[airedaleman]

As already stated, there are a number of things a person can do to assist their local area.

Being a law enforcement reserve, or any of the other volunteer services, takes a big commitment. Our reserve system is also accredited through the state and requires successfully completing a reserve academy, progressing to solo status, and contributing an average of 16 hours a month performing the duties of a deputy sheriff. Some of the shifts the reserves fulfill are paid, but patrol duties aren't.

If you're serious about it, I'd suggest checking out the requirements of your local programs. Then do some ride alongs to see if it's actually for you. Then there's really nothing lost if you decide to do it or not. But, to figure out after you've put in three months of the academy or worse, you've graduated and then find out it's not for you. Then you've put in a lot of time and effort, on a number of peoples account, for nothing.

Good luck on what ever venue you take.

+1...

[KCSO]

In Nebraska a Reserve Officer is limited to 100 hours a year and must be accompanied by or supervised by a sworn Officer. A Part Time Officer must attent the full NLETC academy and must work at least 40 hours a year and must keep all training and certification up to date. This means that to be of any use to a department you will need 14-16 weeks at the academy and 40 hours a year of classes. Not too many qualified people want to do that.

[Travis Morgan]

Funny I should find this-I just got a reply from the Chief of police about becoming a reserve officer!

[JohndeFresno]

I think that we are all missing the first step here. Survey the field of endeavor!

Ride with some agencies, first. Most municipal law enforcement agencies (city police, county sheriff) permit citizen ridealongs. Many State and Federal agencies don't allow this, but they may have some type of informational program; you have to ask. If they don't allow citizen riders, meet and talk with some of the officers.

You may find that some agencies don't float your boat, or the demands of the job. So why go through all of the training or accreditation, or even commit yourself as a volunteer if you don't know what it's all REALLY about? It's not what Hollyweird portrays; and COPS and its clones does not fairly depict the whole spectrum of being an officer - only the wham-blam fun stuff. Have you ever sat through 15 minutes of a hot call and then sat and watched the 45 minutes of report time that follows each of these calls? At least, that is what happens to the "principal players" who will have to go to court, perhaps a year later!

One example of knowing your endeavor: The Secret Service sounds glamorous, and it is one of the finest agencies of its type in the world. But you don't start out with protecting the President, or with counterfeit operations. You will likely start out protecting some minor dignitary (after some very tough and selective training) and his/her family. You may find out that you hate putting up with the arrogance and unrealistic demands of some of these minor political syncophants who think that they are important and ask you to do demeaning things that go beyond what you are really paid to do. You may not like getting up before everybody else, doing some very rigorous checks of various things that you would not have imagined, and then going to bed after they are asleep. Or standing in the snow for hours, straining to see something that isn't there. Or having your bags always packed for a moment's notice, and not being able to tell your significant other when and where you are going, or for how long. This is some of the stuff that I learned when I looked into the job. They are truly a dedicated breed.

In police and sheriff's work, you may not like responding to accidents where you can hear people screaming when they are burning inside a wreck; or putting up with abusive drunk idiots on one family disturbance after another, or witnessing one abused child after another being returned to the parents because the system has broken down. Or you may find that you don't have the wherewithal to keep your temper when you see a particular crime in progress, such as a drunken parent abusing a child, as mentioned.

Then again, you may fit perfectly into the mold. And there are many law enforcement jobs of different types. For instance, the Horse Racing Board Investigator works on racetrack type offenses; he/she rarely has to deal with homicides, or child abuse as mentioned (one of the things that bothered me the most when I was a deputy sheriff, then as a detective with a sheriff's agency).

Good luck!