Use of Reserves to help fill shortages

Does anyone know if the standards as set forth for hiring a regular deputy is the same for hiring a reserve?

To become sworn in as a Reserve, you must complete 4 months (360 hours) of High Liabilities Training such as Firearms, Legal, Driving, First Aid (Used to be First Responder) and Defensive Tactics.

4 months, at night 6-10PM Mon-Thurs and all day Saturday. Then 100 hours of FTO with a Full Time Deputy.

Although it's not as intense as the Full time Academy, it can be pretty challenging considering you are holding down a full time job at the time and need to be in class by 6PM.

Go to: http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/reserve_...ty_program.htm

While I do not have access to my SOP's at the time, I question the response regarding the ability of two RII's riding together without direct supervision of a deputy in other than a traffic blitz. Before we take that as gospel, it should be researched and I plan on doing that tomorrow!

What's your concern? You worried about 2 Reserves riding together and taking calls or backing you up? If that's the case, you shouldn't be. If you are, talk to some of the Deputies we've helped out in D3 and D1 for that matter and see what they have to say.

The "Supervision" doesn't have to be direct as far as having a Full time Deputy standing right next to us while we are out there.

If you consider life experience, the hours my Partner and I put in together (about 80 each per month) and the things that we've gotten involved in and successfully handled, you would not be so concerned.

As I mentioned in another post, trust is not just a given it has to be earned and we try to earn and gain the trust of Regular Deputies all the time.

Anybody full timers out there care to elaborate on Reserves riding zone?

My concern, as so should be yours, is liability. The only worry, as you mentioned, is a violation of a Standard Operating Procedure because Sheriff David Gee endorses it.

Please don't take me wrong; if Sheriff Gee endorses two Reserves II's riding together, I do too.

I agree, a regular deputy does not have to be standing right next to you as an FTO should while training a recruit. But, you are suppose to be in close proximity. Having radio access does not qualify or you would obviously have that clear across the county, or at least partially.

Quite simply put, if it hits the fan, you better have the SOP on your side or you are bound to have problems if you get named in a lawsuit.

My suggestion is to have the issue clarified. Please let us know what is decided. If you are allowed to ride in accordance with SOP, we welcome you with welcome arms, for all of the reasons you posted, seriously!

My concern, as so should be yours, is liability. The only worry, as you mentioned, is a violation of a Standard Operating Procedure because Sheriff David Gee endorses it.

Please don't take me wrong; if Sheriff Gee endorses two Reserves II's riding together, I do too.

I agree, a regular deputy does not have to be standing right next to you as an FTO should while training a recruit. But, you are suppose to be in close proximity. Having radio access does not qualify or you would obviously have that clear across the county, or at least partially.

Quite simply put, if it hits the fan, you better have the SOP on your side or you are bound to have problems if you get named in a lawsuit.

My suggestion is to have the issue clarified. Please let us know what is decided. If you are allowed to ride in accordance with SOP, we welcome you with welcome arms, for all of the reasons you posted, seriously!

Thank you! And...point well taken. I have been told by a Lt. that we were in accordance with SOP and riding zone with an RII partner happens not only in D3 but all over Hillsborough County. TPD Reserves aren't allowed to do it yet but they are working on it.

[taserm18]

Two reserve deputies patrolling together can cover more ground instead of just leaving that area of the zones uncovered.

Tell Dr. Skotko,the type of applicant we want, they as police executives know what it takes to be a deputy, not a psychologist. The reason I say this is because a applicant can come in and be a perfect fit for the job, but if the psyhcologist saying well "I" feel this person isn't suited for the position, your agency is going to find itself in the position that every agency in America is going through right now. Shortages!!!

1. I am under the impression that a Reserve II deputy must work with, and under the direction of a regular deputy. If so, you can't send out two Reserve II deputies together to patrol.

Of course Reserve I deputies can work alone - so you need not send them out in twos.

Accordingly, the value of Reserve IIs is to increase the show of force by having two deputies show up at a scene, (Regular LEO + Reserve II or Reserve I + Reserve II) not for increasing zone coverage.

The vast majority of the reserve deputies are Reserve IIs.

2. The psychological testing MUST be the same for reserves as for regular LEOs. You can't set a different standard for reserves. It is a liability issue. If there is a different psychological standard for Reserves then the validity of the standard for regular LEOs is in question.

The level of training can be less for Reserves, but not the psychological requirements.

The psychological testing is NOT about finding a person who "cares about people" to use the phrase in the post from senior leo.

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Why do I feel that the original post was made by someone who applied to be a Reserve II and failed the psychological test and the post by senior leo was actually written by the same person?

:wink:

Do reserve deputies have arrest powers or are they auxilliary leos?

Do reserve deputies have arrest powers or are they auxilliary leos?

Actually...There is very little that we can't do.

I have never had to actually read Miranda Rights to anyone...but if we came across a situation where there was a crime being committed, we can take a suspect into custody. And we have done that already.

What I would do next is simply call in a full time Deputy or Supervisor to the scene and go from there.

We also can do X50's. We've had a few X15s because of that as well.

Do reserve deputies have arrest powers or are they auxiliary leos?

Why do you ask? Are you interested in becoming an RII Deputy? Or are you a full time Dep that's curious what our capabilities are?

For what it's worth we as Reserves we had a busy Month in D1 and D3...We don't stay in one zone.

We go from one corner of the District to the other.

We constantly check queued/stacked calls and will place ourselves on any calls we can. Then, if we are hearing a lot of calls coming in a certain Zone, we'll start working our way over there.

We constantly remind the dispatcher we are out there and want to stay busy. They have been awesome!

If it gets "quiet" (shhh don't mention that!) we do a bunch of X50's mainly looking for S/1s, DWLS/WK or someone with a warrant.

If we get one, we call for either an X-Ray Unit or a Zone Deputy. This works out real well because try to make sure it's a worthwhile, valid reason to call for X94.

Here's some stats from May:

- MY partner and I put in a total of 80 hours each.
- 7 X15 assists
- 51 X50s
- Many X94s, traffic detail on S/3's and S/4's.
- Handled many S/700s, NRE's, Alarm calls, 911's...

I hope that it helps out the full time Deps and that they can trust us to handle calls in their zone.

Although we don't get paid monetarily, we do get "paid" in many different ways. When we get a simple "thank you" from a Supervisor or a Regular Deputy, that's our "pay". Or if we proactively get a X15, that's a paycheck.
for us.

Be Safe

D2 could use about 50 to 100 reserves beween the hours of 1000-2300. This is no joke, it is ridiculous the amount of calls with the current manpower. Hook us up please. Thanks

[fltoddy]

I've been researching the role of the Reserve II's extensively during the past few months and wanted to fill in a few gaps. I am currently a Reserve II and have been for 7 years. Apologies in advance for the long post.

1) Restricting Reserve II's to only riding two up is an administrative restriction, not a FL statute. Having radio contact with a career Deputy satisfies the requirements of the FL state statute. FHP allows (qualified not certified) Reserves to ride solo under their "Limited Scope Patrol" directives.

2) I have been to court several times for arrests I've made and one time in particular my qualifications as a Reserve II were "questioned" by a Defense Attorney in a criminal trial. Several individuals from the State Attorney's office and TPD stopped by to listen and complimented me on my testimony. I'm not tooting my own horn, just offering anecdotal evidence that our arrests and actions are covered under FL state statute and so far have stood up in court.

3) Just like with the career Deputies, and just about any "business" that has employees, Reserve II's come in a wide range of capabilities. In my humble opinion, we fall into two classes.
The first class is the group that are not up to the requirements of patrol (or don't want to be) and are best served doing unpaid details (i.e. parades, S.O.C. duty, community events, etc.), administration, and other activities where there are relatively few discretionary choices required.
The second class is the group that is either waiting to be picked up full-time, retired LEO, or could be a career deputy but is not for a variety of "positive" reasons.
Both classes are of equal worth (in my opinion), they're just different. Part of the bad impressions people have of reserves is when the two classes crossover.

4) I consider myself in the second class and consider myself a good RESERVE (emphasis on Reserve) patrol Deputy. I don't think for a minute that I'm as effective as a career Deputy, but the things I do I do to the best of my ability. The group of Reserves I hang out with are very professional, conscientious, and sincerely just want to help the career Deputies out. The biggest thrill for me personally is when I can handle a "garbage" call start to finish without involving a career Deputy. I don't care if that career Deputy was napping, eating a doughnut, or proactively patrolling; the point is that they didn't have to deal with it and that's good enough for me. You all (career Deputies) know the laws, the area, and the SOP better than I do so my goal is just to free you up to do what you do best. I don't even require a "thank you" as I know when I'm helping out.

5) Prior to the past 3-4 months or so, on average my effectiveness sucked. I was ineffective on the road and to be honest I probably owe Sheriff Gee gas money. What's changed? Prior to a few months ago we (reserves) were so administratively neutered (by our own organization) that I was literally afraid to take a call. We were told: "Don't do reports, don't write citations, don't go in bad areas, don't jump calls, don't screw up." repeatedly. The thing that scared me the most is that we were told repeatedly that if we step outside the bounds of the SOP we were on our own if anything ever happened. The worst part is that we are not given copies of the SOP or access to it unless we go sit at the District and read it. I have over 20 years in my career and have worked hard for what I have. The thought of being "on my own" if I violate a list of rules that I've never seen still scares me.
However, in the past few months the shift commanders at all of the districts, but especially D2 and D4 have literally begged us for help. They have also "authorized" us to do more activities and have given us advice and assistance whenever we needed it. Having the support of a career Lt. gave me the confidence I needed to cautiously spread my wings and I've learned more in the past 3 months than in the past 7 years.
So now I've started taking queued 221's, 13V, 13P, 160's, and anything I else I knew I could handle start to finish. Every time I learn something new, that's another signal code I can handle. During my last 5 hour shift I took 7 calls for service; that's 7 less calls (they averaged 18 minutes each) that you guys had to deal with.

6) I don't care about the stats or the kudos and if at all possible I try to give them to the zone unit. It's your career and your income and I want you to get the credit for it. My last 10-50 turned into a 10-15. I called the zone unit for that zone, offered to do the paper (he declined, okay by me), and we transported to ORJ as PT was tied up and it was near end of shift. He got the stat for the cite and arrest, I got to feel useful. That's a win-win in my book.

7) The group I hang with try to be low maintenance. We want to help and we hesitate to ask for help unless we absolutely have to because we don't want to be a burden to the regulars. If you see a pair of reserves in your district and they're out on a regular basis, do all of us a favor. Next call you get that you're sick of dealing with that you think a Reserve could handle, message us and ask us to be 51. Show us the procedure to handle that call and how to do the paperwork, we'll document it and pass the info around among ourselves. I can guarantee the next time that call type comes out you won't have to deal with it if we're around. If you get dispatched to it, message us and we'll call in and jump it for you.
Same thing goes if you get a call that you know we can already handle (sig 13's, 221's, etc.), message us and ask us to take it. It would literally make our night.

I personally think there is a group of Reserve II's that is ready to move into a "limited scope patrol" program like FHP's. After careful screening and testing, I think we could ride solo and handle a wide variety of non-criminal calls to free up the regulars. Riding solo would be great for me as one of the hurdles to me getting more hours is finding someone to work when I can work, in the district I want to work in, for as long as I want to work. Riding solo I could easily log an additional 12-16 hours per week. I'm not asking for a take home car or anything like that, just the ability to do more to help the regulars because I appreciate all that they do and want them to be able to more of it.

I'm not a career Deputy and am admittedly ignorant of a lot of internal politics, but in my opinion the majority of the HCSO are good people doing a job that very few people could do.

And by the way, thank you.