| Subject: Re: Dracut Auxiliary Police? |
Author:
Michael H.
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Date Posted: 15:52:32 03/06/03 Thu
In reply to:
Michael H.
's message, "Dracut Auxiliary Police?" on 15:38:10 02/27/03 Thu
An Auxiliary Police Department can be used in cities and towns in different ways. It all depends on the training that is provided for the participants and what the exact needs of the city or town are. Many local towns and cities do have an Auxiliary Police Department established in their communities and fund them in different ways. Examples would be Lowell, Chelmsford, Westford, Billerica, Worcester, and Groton. The list could go on and on.
What type of training does an Auxiliary Police Officer receive?
An Auxiliary Police Officer must successfully complete a Basic Course of Training for Reserve/Intermittent Police Officers as set forth by the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council in accordance with MGL c.41 / 96B. During this time they are also trained and certified in both CPR and First Responder. An Auxiliary Police Officer is responsible for maintaining their certification in both CPR and First Responder at their expense. They also receive in house training by the department they represent.
What is the role of an Auxiliary Police Officer?
As mentioned earlier, an Auxiliary Police Officer is a volunteer position. The answer I would give to the question would be based on my experience as an Auxiliary Police Officer for ten years. Five of those years I served as a Sgt. and FTO.
· Perform traffic and parking details for town-sponsored events.
· Police town property such as schools, parks, town offices. This would be done as each Auxiliary maintains one weekly cruiser ride with another Auxiliary Officer. Mainly done on the early night shift from 5:00 PM until 11:00 PM. The benefit of this would be adding police presence to town property and the off beaten roads. Having that extra cruiser available to free up full time officers in the event of some type of accident where a road or two may need to be closed. In this time they may also perform house checks for people that may go on vacation and would like to have a few officers come by and check on things while they were gone. (This went over very well for the town I was in.)
· Be on call to respond as a volunteer in the case of a state of emergency where shelters had to be opened. Auxiliary Officers would be present at the shelters for security and assistance, and would allow the full time officers to concentrate on other areas.
· They would be able to do paid traffic details. The detail office must go through the entire detail list of full-time officers before going to the auxiliary list. This would help the department be able to fill details with town officers rather than going to another town or having a one un-filled.
What does an Auxiliary Police Department cost the town?
I honestly could not give you exact figures on that question at this time, but I could give you some examples as to what the town covered, and what the volunteer covered. You may read these examples and say “who would actually volunteer and cough up money for them things?” Believe me when I say many people who are willing to do what it takes to learn and get involved with something that would help the start of their career in law enforcement. The force I was on was at a capacity of 25, with a waiting list of highly qualified candidates.
Town would cover cost of:
Badges, patches, bulletproof vest (depending), cost of psychological evaluation (only after a candidate has been chosen and passes hiring procedures), portable radios.
Auxiliary Officer would cover cost of:
Academy, weapon (depending), uniform, re-certifications in CPR and First Responder, other required misc. gear.
The above mentioned is minimal and there are many ways to even cut the cost of both the town and the individual.
Many people volunteer as an Auxiliary Police Officer. People who want to gain the experience because they are pursuing a career in Law Enforcement. People who just want to give something back to the community. People who like to help out. In my years as an Auxiliary Police Officer I have seen all of these. One’s who were retired or moved on to a different career, but wanted to maintain that type of experience. I myself did because that is what I wanted to do. After the first two years of doing it and learning more about that field, I realized that it was not what I wanted to do 40 or more hours a week for the rest of my working life. I then pursued other things, but stayed on with the Auxiliary because I simply enjoyed helping out others and giving something back to my community.
A town could greatly benefit from such a program. When it comes time to hire full time candidates, they have a group that is already experienced with the town and it’s procedures. Of course they must follow the Civil Service guidelines when doing so. The town I was in currently has 15 men and women on the full-time force that were Auxiliary Police Officers. Three Sergeants, three detectives, and nine Patrol Officers. All of them were on the Auxiliary unit over the past 15 years.
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