In an article by reporter Dan Garcia with the Orlando edition of hometown news.com, he notes that volunteer reserve deputies augment the Brevard County (FL) Sheriff's Office, risking their lives for no compensation.
VIERA - The deer poacher who stuck a 12-gauge shotgun in the stomach of Brevard County Sheriff's Lt. Ken Willis and was poised to blow him away did not know that Lt. Willis is actually an executive with the Pepsi Cola Bottling Co.
Motorists who get help fixing a flat on I-95 at night may not be aware that the deputy who helped them performs brain surgery during the day.
You might be stunned to discover that the deputy who pulled you over for speeding is your dentist.
Besides a neurosurgeon, a dentist and a Pepsi Cola executive, the Sheriff's Office patrol unit also includes a local attorney, some engineers, medical personnel and other professionals who are still working actively in their fields.
For several decades, reserves have augmented the Brevard County Sheriff's Office patrol force, helping the Sheriff's Office keep manpower levels from dropping to crisis levels. Thereserve deputies are fully trained, permitted to carry a weapon and make arrests. They are indistinguishable from other deputies who get paid. The reserves work voluntarily, and occasionally put their lives at risk.
Sheriff Jack Parker is grateful for the unpaid work force, saying the volunteers are a boon because his department is 76 deputies below the county's optimum staffing level.
"It's great for us to have these business professionals who want to serve their communities as deputy sheriffs," Sheriff Parker said. "They bring a lot of wisdom and maturity, and they bring the perspective of the citizen as well. Considering how tight budgets are, reserve deputies are a big part of shoring up that weakness," Sheriff Parker said. "They are filling a critical need."
Sheriff Parker said the volunteers range from businessmen earning six-figure incomes who always dreamed of being in law enforcement, to young prospects who hope to be hired full-time, to retired deputies who return because they miss the job.
The first category of reserves includes those who passed a 14-week Field Training Officer course at the Sheriff's Academy, becoming certified in all aspects of law enforcement. They are allowed to patrol alone, make arrests and drive take-home vehicles. The second category are reserves who take a shorter 80-hour course to gain state certification. They can only work alongside fully certified deputies and cannot patrol on their own.
Sheriff Parker said of 500 deputies assigned to patrol and investigations, 40 are reserves - or 8 percent of the workforce. The civilians are required to work at least 40 hours a month to maintain certification. And, they face the same dangers as full-time deputies.
For more, go to the full article at:
http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?rate=5&id=76543&article_rate=Rate%21
