CLER is proud to announce completion of its 2009 national census of reserve law enforcement officers (RLEOs). Collecting the data has yielded some interesting information about the state of reserve law enforcement in the United States. Information was collected from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
There have been a lot of “best guess” numbers about RLEOs that have been proffered. Featured elsewhere on our site (in the NEWS area) is a 2006 article from FBI Magazine about reserve law enforcement that cites a figure of 400,000 RLEOs. As our census has revealed, the actual number is far lower: 71,676. In fact, this is far lower than many have estimated. At the Ventura County Police and Sheriff Reserve Officer Academy website (found in our recommended links section, within the LINKS area), they state that 15,000 RLEOs are serving in California. The 2009 number reported by the State of California is only 5,601. Something has happened in Reserve Country.
In talking with senior RLEOs, agency executives, and state agency personnel across the nation, a complex picture emerges. The general consensus is that new training requirements that now equal those required for full time law enforcement officers are too arduous a commitment for reservists, who already have full time jobs. Across the nation, syllabus creep has produced many basic law enforcement academies with lengths varying from 700 to 1100 hours. For full time cadets, this is a four to six month-long program. For RLEOs with professions and careers, taking this much time off from work is mostly undoable.
Another problem emerges from new regulations and statutes that severely restrict capabilities of, or eliminate, the RLEO category. This has happened in Rhode Island, which has legislatively zeroed-out reserve programs as an option for law enforcement agencies in that State. Many senior RLEOs opine a similar theme: full time law enforcement executives and officers see reserves as a threat to full time billets, as well as unwelcome competition for off-duty, paid, security jobs. This is a red herring proven by the existence of so many long-lived, operational reserve programs that successfully co-exist within full service law enforcement agencies. Many of the nation’s largest agencies have particularly successful full-service reserve programs, including LAPD, LASD, Phoenix PD, Washington DC PD, Dallas PD, Harris County’s Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
Another side of this is that many small agencies, and especially rural law enforcement, rely heavily on RLEOs as a critical manpower resource. It is a fact that in most jurisdictions, the demand for cops far exceeds the available budget. Society can’t afford the cost for all of the police services that society demands. Volunteer law enforcement officers provide a practical and affordable way to fill this gap. This can be especially critical when sudden incidents or natural disasters require a surge in local law enforcement manpower. In Rhode Island, the current approach is to hire other local agency LEOs on a part-time basis to fill these gaps, in effect robbing Peter to pay Paul. This works until a large regional or state-wide incident occurs and all LEOs are committed within their own jurisdictions. The practical answer is a vibrant, well-manned, trained and ready reserve program.
The U.S. military figured this out a century ago. State militias became formally organized into the National Guard, and service reserve programs followed. Beginning in the 1980s, part-time warriors began to carry increasingly heavy operational requirements. This has provided a significant political benefit by removing the need to reinstate a national draft. If reserves work for the military, then maybe it’s time for the federal government to promote and standardize reserve law enforcement as a national policy. Creating a federal credentialing process – a federal RLEO basic course – would level the playing field, create standards, and promote interoperability nationwide for reserve officers. During national emergencies, RLEOs could be called in from distant jurisdictions, and be able to seamlessly integrate with their local counterparts. Local training for RLEOs could then focus on state requirements and local legal, policy, and FTO training.
Recruiting and retention have been identified by the Council’s polling as the greatest challenges facing reserve programs. As with the National Guard, military reserves, and with many volunteer firefighter programs, there should be a retirement and benefits program. This would provide certain assurance to RLEOs that they and their families will be cared for should the officer become disabled or killed while serving in the line of duty. Volunteer Law Enforcement’s entitlement to this protection is not clearly defined, and most RLEOs remain unaware of the DOJ programs that do exist. There’s been little to no outreach by DOJ to the RLEO community.
Society, our political leadership, and agency executives need to understand that the reserve community consists of three basic types of members: the entry-level cop, who is seeking a full time law enforcement career; the retired or ex-cop who wants to stay involved in law enforcement; and, the mature professional, grounded in the community, who wants to also be in law enforcement and is satisfied with a reserve career. All three of these motivations benefit an agency. For the new RLEO beginning a long-term law enforcement career, reserve programs provide a way to see if the fit is good. For the agency, it’s a low-to-no cost chance to observe the RLEO, indoctrinate the officer into the agency’s policies and procedures, and qualify the officer for full-time employment. If recruited, the agency gets a known, proven, and already trained asset. For LEOs who make a career change and leave law enforcement (or retire), reserve programs provide a practical way to retain these talented and experienced officers. The mature professional who lives within the community and is willing to serve as a reserve is perhaps the ideal RLEO. Often, these officers bring unaffordable talent into an agency. Across the nation, RLEOs include helicopter pilots, physicians and nurses, engineers, lawyers, CPAs, master tradesmen and a plethora of other disciplines who can provide free subject matter expertise to the agency. And a police presence becomes socially established in neighborhoods and within groups who might otherwise never know a cop.
Our nation was built by volunteers, and citizens of the United States of America are known as the most giving population on the planet. For decades, volunteerism has been pushed as a national policy. Why has reserve law enforcement been neglected and forgotten? A massive 80% decline in reserve law enforcement officers nationwide is a troubling fact facing our public’s safety...and our nation’s security. The numbers are telling and the trend continues downward.
The Council for Law Enforcement Reserves (CLER / pronounced “clear”) provides a national network for volunteer law enforcement officers and programs. CLER provides social networking tools, conducts polling and surveys, provides professional services and support to its members, and to law enforcement agencies. Hundreds of reserve programs are linked by CLER’s website at www.reservecop.com. Membership is free to all reserve law enforcement officers, as well as to other members of the law enforcement community. Administrative staff and LEOs assigned to support reserve programs, law enforcement agency volunteers and former RLEOs are all encouraged to join and participate, as are government executives, policy and judicial officials and law makers.
