Part time police in non U.K. countries.

[Lust4Life]

As a result of a thread about Special Constables in the U.K.(People with normal jobs who volunteer and get trained as unpaid Police)I became aware that there are equivalents in the U.S. and maybe other countries.

I saw something on the American TV version of The Office" where one of the lead characters was some sort of volunteer Deputy.

Could someone tell me about "Civilian"police in the U.S. or anywhere?

What you do,how much time you put in,the attitude of the regular LEOs to you plus any web sites that would be informative.

I have no hidden agenda for this,I'm too old to join myself but I'm genuinly interested in the subject now that my interest has been piqued.

Thanks for your time.

[IAmNotSpartacus]

In Los Angeles we have Reserve Officers.

They are sworn by the State, just like full time LEOs, and carry full police powers to effect arrests.

They go through the Academy, although I believe depending on the Reserve's "level," the Reserve Academy can be a bit shorter than the full-timers.

I believe they are required to volunteer a minimum of 16 hours per month.

Some argue that Reserves have a leg up on full timers, since they are not exposed to the bottom of the society barrel day in and day out. Others argue the Reserves have a number of cowboys, i.e. those who become cops to go on a power trip with the public interest not at the forefront of their mind.

See here for some more info: http://www.lacp.org/2004-Articles-Main/ReserveOfficer-Initiative051404.html
(note that the article is sourced from LAPD so it will be a bit biased in how "great" the job is)

[Captain Amazing]

Well, a number of communities in the US have auxilliary police, most notably New York City:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYPD_Auxiliary_Police

[An Gadaí]

The Garda Reserve in Ireland is a voluntary unpaid body drawn from the community to assist the existing Service at times when extra personnel are required.

http://www.garda.ie/reserve.html

[Lust4Life]

Thanks guys I genuinly find what you've passed on to me bloody interesting.
We all like to think of ourselves as being good citizens but those blokes match their words with actions.

Any other countries out there apart from the U.S. and the R.O.I. who support the same sort of programmes?

Or maybe non urban parts of America?

Obviously I dont expect any sort of reply from the Canadians because we all know that they're all such bloody good people that they dont need auxillary police except maybe to deal with those crimes arising from the dastardly Americans wandering over their borders. :)

[Leaffan]

I'm actually not aware of any kind of volunteer police service in Canada. There could well be, but I've never heard of it.

[Cerowyn]

I'm actually not aware of any kind of volunteer police service in Canada. There could well be, but I've never heard of it.I'm pretty sure most major Canadian police forces have auxiliaries, such as the Toronto Police Service's (http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/careers/auxiliaries.php).

Edit to add: I may be wrong, actually. A search of Vancouver Police Department's website suggests that they created an Auxiliary force in the 50's, but I can't find any evidence that they still maintain it.

[Wendell Wagner]

Erik Estrada from the TV show _CHiPs_ is a reserve officer in the Muncie, Indiana police departent. He got into this for a short-lived reality program. You can imagine the surprise of some people when they were arrested by Ponch from _CHiPs_.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Some small US communities will supplement their police with reservists, but I've found that these are often technical people, locksmiths, explosives men, etc.

[pkbites]

There is a difference between "part-time" and "reserve" in most communities in the U.S.

In many communities "reserve" officers are not sworn, carry no weapons, and have no arrest powers. They may or may not be paid a wage. They work during special events (fairs, parades, etc..) and are, in effect, like a security guard. Their training is minimal.

"Part-time" officers are just that. They have been through the police academy, have full arrest powers, and carry weapons. They are usually paid, but an hourly wage, not salary. They [usually] don't have benefits or union representation. they do regular police work, just in a part-time manner. Many young people who want to get into police work take part-time patrol gigs, as do many retirees.

After I retired from full time law enforcement I took a job with a different department part-time. I get no benefits (insurance/vacation/sick pay) but I don't need them. I do regular patrol work. I have full arrest powers and I carry weapons. I'm limited to working 1200 hours per year, but I doubt if I'll work more than 800. I get an hourly wage of $21 per hour. This department also has reserve officers. They are not sworn, have no arrest powers, carry no weapons, and get about $9 an hour.

YMMV depending on where you live.

[friedo]

There is a difference between "part-time" and "reserve" in most communities in the U.S.


FWIW, the NYPD Auxiliaries have significantly more power and responsibilities than reserve officers in most departments. They are unpaid volunteers, but are sworn peace officers under New York law, have full arrest powers, carry police radios and even have their own fleet of cruisers. They are not permitted to carry firearms on duty, however, nor are they allowed to respond to calls involving guns or weapons.

[pkbites]

FWIW, the NYPD Auxiliaries have significantly more power and responsibilities than reserve officers in most departments.

You're not kidding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYPD_Auxiliary_Police).

[Nava]

No such thing in Spain, the closest is DYA (Detente Y Ayuda, stop to help), which was born as a group dedicated to assisting and preventing road accidents but which also collaborates with Red Cross and police in many other kinds of emergencies. You may find a roadblock into a flooded area manned exclusively by DYA; if someone gets stupid with them they'll call in someone from whichever police corps is coordinating the work.

They don't do police work as in "investigations," nor do they have more power to arrest someone than any other civilian.

[WormTheRed]

No voluntary policemen in Iceland, but the "Rescue Services" is almost entirely manned by volunteers.

Those are the guys who go hunting for renegade tourists lost on glaciers, keep the national parks in a decent shape and assist you with pretty much anything (from a flat tire to calling a chopper) if you stumble upon them when in the highlands. They are also the only ones who are allowed to sell fire-works, which is pretty much the only income the RS has.

But no police, no.

[Lust4Life]

No voluntary policemen in Iceland, but the "Rescue Services" is almost entirely manned by volunteers.

Those are the guys who go hunting for renegade tourists lost on glaciers, keep the national parks in a decent shape and assist you with pretty much anything (from a flat tire to calling a chopper) if you stumble upon them when in the highlands. They are also the only ones who are allowed to sell fire-works, which is pretty much the only income the RS has.

But no police, no.


One of the major maritime rescue organisations in the U.K.The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is funded entirely by charitable donations and as far as I know receives no government funding.
It performs mostly offshore sea rescues and is manned by volunteers who usually have normal jobs(Traditionally fishermen though things might be changing there with the downsizing of the Fishing Industry).


There are also I believe various other rescue organisations covering a broad spectrum of functions,mountain,cave and inshore rescue, amongst others.


On the official but part time volunteer theme we also have Firemen who are paid when they are actually called out.

I believe that they have volunteer firemen in the U.S. but I must admit that this is only what I have gleaned from American movies so whether this is still/ever was true I dont honestly know.

[Wendell Wagner]

Yes, a lot of the smaller fire departments are staffed entirely or mostly by volunteers in the U.S.

[WormTheRed]

Yes, a lot of the smaller fire departments are staffed entirely or mostly by volunteers in the U.S.

So Hollywood actually has some truth in it - from time to time :)

And same here, sometimes the RS double as voluntary fire brigades.

[Wendell Wagner]

What's the RS? The only thing that I could figure out from context in this thread that it might mean is Rescue Services. Come on, people, when you use an abbreviation in a thread, think about whether most people will understand it. In any case, temporarily assigning people from other organizations to fight fires is not equivalent to volunteer fire departments in the U.S. The members of volunteer fire departments are not on temporary assignments from other organizations. People are volunteers in fire departments for years, sometimes for decades. They are trained (in weekend classes, I guess) to do it. Often the area is so remote that it simply would be impossible to hire paid firemen. In other areas it's easier to use volunteers than set up a paid fire-fighting service. An example of temporarily assigning people to an emergency job in the U.S. would be the use of the National Guard for assistance in emergencies like hurricane relief. (The National Guard are more or less the reserve military units that can be called up to return to military service.)

[WormTheRed]

What's the RS? The only thing that I could figure out from context in this thread that it might mean is Rescue Services. Come on, people, when you use an abbreviation in a thread, think about whether most people will understand it.

Sorry - since I was quoting myself I didn't think about the RS not being understandable.

(and yes, I meant the Icelandic Rescue Service)

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

The majority of small towns in Tennessee are totally dependent on Volunteer Fire Departments. No full-timers, beyond the 9-1--1 dispatchers.

There is an up side to it, though. The firemen compose a local clique, often with a moderate amount of political clout, at the local/county level of government.

[Lust4Life]

"Part-time" officers are just that. They have been through the police academy, have full arrest powers, and carry weapons. They are usually paid, but an hourly wage, not salary. They [usually] don't have benefits or union representation. they do regular police work, just in a part-time manner. Many young people who want to get into police work take part-time patrol gigs, as do many retirees.

After I retired from full time law enforcement I took a job with a different department part-time. I get no benefits (insurance/vacation/sick pay) but I don't need them. I do regular patrol work. I have full arrest powers and I carry weapons. I'm limited to working 1200 hours per year, but I doubt if I'll work more than 800. I get an hourly wage of $21 per hour. This department also has reserve officers. They are not sworn, have no arrest powers, carry no weapons, and get about $9 an hour.

YMMV depending on where you live.



As an ex regular LEO it obviously wouldn't apply to you as such but what was the attitude of the regulars about the part timers?

Did they think that they were enthusiastic say but lacked street cred,or thought they did a good job/not very good job or that they were extra useful maybe because of their indepth knowledge of their neighborhood community and that their neighbours were more likely/less likely to give them off the record information then they would "Normal "officers?

Also what sort of backgrounds do the majority of volunteers come from?(U.K. police can chip in with this if they like)

Are any proffessions more heavily represented then others,do most people come from the middle classes or are the working/upper classes involved as well?

I honstly find the mind set of these people unusual though I respect and admire them for what they do which is why I am so curious.

[Mr. Skinny]

I worked as a volunteer/auxilary police officer about 20 years ago.

In my case, I attended the state Peace Officers Training Academy for training. Once that was completed I rode for a few nights with a full time officer, then was sent out on my own.

We wore the same uniforms and carried the same equipment as the full time officers. I had my own patrol vehicle and rode alone. Essentially we were indistinguisable from the full time folks.

I didn't get paid anything, though somewhere on the township books it probably said I got paid $1 per year (for insurance liability purposes).

I think the full time officers treated the volunteers very well. They were anxious to train us cause, after all, we were often their only back up at a given call/dispatch. In fact, I once had a full time guy say he'd rather have me as a back-up than anyone else on the force. :)

Oh, and it's nice to be back at the SDMB. They went to the pay system shortly after I joined and so I never really got a chance to interact with y'all.

[pkbites]

As an ex regular LEO it obviously wouldn't apply to you as such but what was the attitude of the regulars about the part timers?


Over the past 25+ years I've worked for several departments on a part-time basis, even when I was also working in law enforcement full time. It's cheaper for some departments to hire off duty cops from other departments for part-time gigs than to pay their full timers overtime. Many of the part-time jobs I worked were lake patrol positions during the summer months, snowmobile patrol in the winter. These were temporary, seasonal positions. But they were actual law enforcement positions (sworn, armed, full arrest powers, etc..) I also worked for a small village part-time on a regular patrol job. When my shift at my full time job changed I had to quit. In the late 80's/early 90's, for 4 years (two terms X 2) I was elected as constable for a small township. Full arrest powers, sworn, armed, etc.. on that too. But with only 2 exceptions all of my arrests (actually just tickets) were for burning garbage or leaves without a permit. The two exceptions were for cattle at large (that's a real charge, I'm not shitting you) and a drunk driving accident the county sheriff department was too busy to handle. I was not provided with a squad car for that position and had to use a personal vehicle equipped with magnetic red and blue lights that plugged into the cigarette lighter and sat on the roof of my car.

As far as my old department, my current one, or any of the other ones I worked for part-time, I never ran into a problem or saw any problem between the full timers and part-timers. Even the department I eventually retired from had some part-timers. Part-timers usually have no chance for advancement to higher rank, but are ahead of the curve if a full time position becomes available.

[Ignatz]

In one state, they allow "private police". Enjoy.

http://www.inter-pol.com/command.htm

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20070211/NEWS/702110389

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20061216/NEWS/612160351

[Raguleader]

The State of Texas has a military auxiliary called the State Guard. Most of the personnel there are trained as Military Police (hence, kinda relevant to the OP), Medical staff, or communications specialists. I think they only pay you for it if you get called up for duty, and State Guard members can not be called up by the Federal Government since they are not members of the actual US Military. Generally they are for situations like a natural disaster in a major Texas city or rioting or something like that. I'm not aware if they've ever been used for anything or not.

Not volunteer police, but at Texas A&M, the paramedics are all unpaid student workers. They get the training free of charge, and they are supervised by an experienced professional paramedic, but the guys in the ambulance and the dispatcher are all full-time students required to maintain a passing GPA and work 12 hour shifts (when someone has a class, usually they park the ambulance outside the building he has class in, and he just attends in his uniform. They radio if they need him to run out of class and back into the ambulance.

[Siam Sam]

In the town of Pattaya, which is Sin City here in Thailand, the Tourist Police have bizarrely recruited some farang (Western) "volunteer Tourist Police." Theoretically, they are auxiliaries who can be called upon to mediate in disputes between bars and customers, report if they see any underage prostitutes, that sort of thing. In reality, they've gotten a bad reputation as police wannabes strutting around in their special T-shirts and bossing drunks. I've heard of at least at least a couple getting a thimping as a result.