In an outstanding article by PoliceOne Senior Editor Doug Wyllie, the PPD's Reserve Division and it's Charitable Foundation are highlighted. The article provides an excellent insight into the potential inherent in Reserve Law Enforcement Programs and their RLEOs. Doug writes:
"It’s safe to say that a substantial number of police departments in the United States have about 135-145 sworn officers. In fact, according to data from the DOJ Office of Justice Programs, there are 770 agencies in the U.S. “with 100 or more sworn officers and 50 or more uniformed officers assigned to respond to calls for service.”
Recruits train hard at the Phoenix Police Reserve Academy, which requires study and training two nights a week and one weekend day for about eight months. (Image courtesy of Assistant Chief Scott Finical)
In Phoenix, that’s not even the size of the Reserve Division.
Phoenix PD now has 135 fully-sworn, Arizona-POST Certified, Reserve Officers and at a graduation ceremony slated to be held tomorrow evening, that number grows to 145. An academy class of 20 more reserves will begin in November. The department and the city’s political leadership have set the goal to have a total of 300 Reserve Officers. Phoenix Reserve Officers did about 39,300 hours of service to their community last year alone, donating an estimated $2.4 million in police work that the city would not otherwise have been able to obtain.
Scott Finical, who serves as Assistant Chief for the Reserve Division, told PoliceOne in an exclusive interview that the his officers perform all the same duties as the city’s full time officers. “All of our guys have the same certification that the career officers have,” Finical says."
For more, go to the article at policeone.com:
