Burlington police establishes reserve office program
By Andy Hoffman, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"I think a reserve officer program can greatly supplement our full-time officers and what we are trying to do within the department for our community," Beaird said in a recent interview. "The city has some financial constraints, and we believe this is a great way to put more officers on the street."
It's a long-term project, though. Beaird doesn't expect to have all 10 reserves on board for at least three years. And while the department will begin taking applications in late September, the soonest a reserve officer will be on the streets is at least six months away.
Maj.
"I think it will be the end of September before we begin the application process," he said. "Then there is a long process involving training and certification before the reserves will be in uniform and on the street."
The police department had a reserve unit, but it was eliminated in the mid-2000s. Beaird and Grimshaw declined to say why the original unit was disbanded.
Beaird became police chief in 2012.
Initially, Beaird expects to approve six reserve officers for training, then eventually grow it to 10 officers. Each will be paid
Certified and armed
Once certified, reserve officers will be armed and allowed to make arrests, Beaird said. He said each officer will be required to serve "eight hours on the street a month," not including meetings and on-going training sessions. They may be allowed to work up to 16 hours a month, he said.
"Each certified officer shall be vested with the same rights, privileges, obligations and duties of a peace officer in
Beaird said those accepted into the program must meet stringent requirements. Those requirements include:
*â Being between 21 and 55 years of age;
*â Have a high school diploma or GED;
*â Must pass background, fingerprint and drug tests;
*â Take the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test used to screen job candidates during the personnel selection process;
*â Have a valid
*â Pass eye, hearing and physical endurance tests, including a mile-and-a-half run.
Beaird said disqualifications would include a felony conviction; a consistent pattern of unexplained failures to meet debt obligations; false statements during the application process; or a history of extensive alcohol or illegal drug use.
He said the reserve officer program could be "a stepping stone" to becoming a full-time officer with the police department.
"I think we are going to go about establishing the reserve office program with the same attitude we do with our hiring process for our full-time officers," he said. "We are going to look for the absolute best-qualified candidates we can get."
A chance to move up
Beaird also said it will give individuals wanting to become full-time officers an opportunity to demonstrate their judgments and abilities as a law enforcement officer while a reserve.
Grimshaw agreed.
"We have several full-time officers on the department right now that were
"It gives us and them an opportunity to see how they act and what we expect from our officers. We get to see them at work on the street. They can get their foot in the door and learn our policies and procedures. It's a win-win situation for both," he said.
He said there are 586 law enforcement departments in
Ciechanowski said there are 186 police and sheriff's departments in the state with reserve officer programs.
In this area, sheriff's departments in
"My ultimate goal would be to get 10 reserve officers in our program," Beaird said. "I think to sustain itself, that would be the ideal number we need. I think it will take about
Private donations
The program will be funded through private donations and fundraising activities by various civic organizations, including the
"We need our community's support with this safety initiative," he said. "The police department cannot and has not been able to budget for a reserve program. Reserve officers are unpaid volunteers, yet they do come with a cost. The
In the past, the department had as many as 46 full-time officers, Beaird said. It now has 40 full-time officers.
Beaird said reserves will be used to help full-time officers in a variety of ways, including crime scene security, traffic direction, routine calls for service, special-event support and providing support for full-time officers during critical incidents.
Beaird said an important aspect to the reserve squad is to allow some patrol units to have two officers assigned to one car during peak crime hours.
"I think it will be important to be able to have a reserve officer in the car with a full-time officer," he said. "By doing that, we will be able to send one car on a call, instead of two cars. And when you only have four or five patrol cars on the street at one time, that's a big deal."
Key is active members
Beaird also said the key to maintaining a quality reserve program is to allow the reserves to be active members of the department.
"We, as police administrators, have to realize these people are coming down here to volunteer and to help," he said. "They are not just coming down here to be part of a 'ride-along program.' Once they are trained, they will become a fully trained member of our department."
Beaird said he will not ask reserves to sign on for a specific amount of time.
"There are other departments who make their reserves sign a contract indicating how long they must stay a reserve officer," he said. "We will not do that. Our attitude is this: About the only thing we are going to get back if they decide to leave is the equipment we provide them.
"Obviously, we want some type of commitment from them, but through the interview process, the background process and getting to know people ... I am confident we will be able to determine who will make a commitment."
Although reserves initially will not participate directly in the criminal investigation division or narcotics task force, they will be fully certified as police officers.
Four to six months
Training will be extensive and thorough, Beaird said. However, they will not be required to attend the
Grimshaw agreed.
"I'm going to say it's going to take four to six months from application to certification before they will be able to be in uniform on the streets," he said. "There will be some ride-along observation before that. They will be required to complete 80 hours of training and 40 hours of supervised time."
Grimshaw said the certification process will be handled internally.
"The 80 hours of training involve a number of categories they will be instructed on by our own staff that have been certified by the
"No one will have to go to the academy. We have officers in our department who are certified to instruct our reserve officers on all aspects of the certification process. We also will have members of the
Grimshaw said there will be two parts to their training:
Chief Beaird will make a decision who to appoint," he said. "Then, before they go into uniform, they will have to complete their 40 hours of ride-along observation. Simultaneous to that, they will be going through their training modules on a number of categories.
"To complete the 80 hours of academy certification, involving weapons, Tasers, pepper spray. They will have to complete that. Once they complete that portion, they will go into uniform."
Beaird said the training will include the department's field training officer program.
"That's going to entail things such as how to do a felony traffic stop," he said. "How to properly do a traffic stop. The training officer will actually have them go through the process with them. The reserve officer will have to show the training officer they are proficient at what we are asking them to do."
Beaird wants the public to know the reserve officers he places on the street will have the necessary training to meet the demands required of all officers within his department.
"I promise the community, we are going to get the best-qualified candidates possible," he said. "And these reserve officers are going to know how and what to do when patrolling the streets of our community."
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