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Volunteer Policing in the News
VLEOA Featured Articles and Videos
January 12, 2020
Featured Video
Could finding volunteer cops make the streets safer?
According to a recent Department of Justice study the number of cops per capita in Albuquerque has declined 27 percent in 20 years. Could volunteer police officers make a difference? "As far as putting our life on the line without compensation, the gratitude we get to help the community, that is something,” he said. “You have to love what we do."
December 24, 2019
Featured Video
Reserve Officers Help DC With Community Policing
D.C.’s police department says it’s committed to community policing, but it lacks the resources to do it day-in and day-out. This news story reports about a large group of volunteers who continue to step in and provide a valuable resource to the city.
January 01, 2020
Featured Article
Reserve Police Officers — A Timely Resource For Combating Crime
While the figure of 850,000 law enforcement officers may seem large to the average citizen, if you ask any officer “on the street,” regardless of whether he or she serves in an urban or rural area, they are almost certain to tell you that needs remain unmet, in both manpower and equipment. Unfortunately, the number of sworn law enforcement officers is decreasing, even as rates of violent crime are rising. One tried and proven step that law enforcement agencies can take to address the shortages of sworn, career law enforcement officers, is to implement — and continue — reserve officer programs.
May 08, 2019
Featured Article
Police Chief Magazine: The Modernization of Volunteer Police around the World
While some policing agencies choose to limit volunteers to the peripheral of policing, many agencies throughout the world have embraced citizen volunteer police (and part-time police) as an effective model to meet sudden planned or unplanned needs for an increase in personnel and as a way to create a bond with the communities they serve. Read the entire article by clicking the button, below.
March 05, 2019
Featured Article
Milestone for women in police force: Volunteer Special Constabulary
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) celebrated its 70th anniversary of hiring women officers into its ranks this March. The Straits Times speaks to two of them, including Sergeant Siti Zuraily Zainal from the Voluntary Special Constabulary (VSC). Five years ago, women volunteer officers made up about 20 per cent of the VSC. Today, about 30 per cent of the 1,000-strong VSC are women.
September 24, 2019
Featured Article
My 8-hour ridealong with a volunteer police officer in Orlando
Dr. Laura Knight spent some time in Orlando to present at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference and, during the trip, she was invited to join a volunteer police officer for a ridealong during his evening shift in the tourism area of Orange County.
January 10, 2019
Featured Links
UK Citizens in Policing eMagazines
Check out the newest and back editions of "Special Impact" featuring great stories about volunteer policing. Special Impact is focused on the UK, but stories about the USA and from around the world are often featured. Check out "Volunteering Matters" to learn more about the great things that volunteers are doing for their communities in the UK.
February 18, 2019
Featured Video
2018 IACP/BodyWorn by Utility Leadership in Volunteer Police Service Programs Award Winners
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) Reserve Deputy Program, developed in 1964, has demonstrated exemplary leadership in law enforcement, volunteering a collective 26,303 hours in 2017 and was awarded the 2018 Leadership in Volunteer Programs in the Reserve Police category. Also recognized is the The Denver Police Department Volunteers in Police Service Program in the Volunteers in Policing category. Watch the IACP video with the button, below. Or, learn more about these agencies by clicking here.
October 26, 2018
Featured Video
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
Meet trauma surgeon Dr. Kenji Inaba, director of surgical ICU at USC Medical Center. Dr. Inaba talks about how he swaps scrubs for a training uniform and a scalpel for a Glock as a reserve with the LAPD. Use the "click here for video" button below for the Lester Holt interview, or read his story in the USC News by clicking here.
September 17, 2019
Featured Article
Police badge is latest achievement for aspiring neuroscientist
USC student and radiation oncology specialist Faisal Rashid recently became the LAPD’s first Bangladeshi sworn officer through its reserve program. The 28-year-old recently completed the Los Angeles Police Department’s rigorous reserve officer program. That’s on top of working a full-time job in radiation oncology. Oh, and he’s also studying for his master’s degree in neuroimaging and informatics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
March 23, 2018
Featured Video
Seminole County (FL) features airline pilot Reserve Deputy in Facebook Video
SCSO reserve deputies come from all walks of life and have some pretty interesting careers all their own. One of them is Freddy Pertuz, whose full-time job takes him all over the world. Freddy answered a personal call to serve after 9-11, and he’s still serving Seminole County today.
February 21, 2018
Featured Video
Orange County (FL) features Reserve Deputies in Facebook Video
One of our most valuable group of volunteers at the OCSO is our Reserve Unit. Reserve deputies are fully sworn law enforcement officers who donate their time and expertise to the Sheriff's Office. Reserve Deputies can work independently or with a partner, depending on their designation, experience, and training.
June 06, 2019
Featured Article
Celebrities who have served as volunteer or full-time police
Some of these stars credit their characters with inspiring them to don the badge. Others left dangerous police work behind to pursue a career in show business. But what all of these celebrities have in common is a respect for law enforcement and a desire to help people..
September 24, 2018
Featured Article
Reserve Policing in the United States: Citizens Volunteering for Public Service
With diminishing resources, shrinking budgets, and the demand for qualified personnel continuing to rise, many police agencies rely on volunteers to help offset their costs. But, beyond the need to do more with less, volunteering in police work can create a positive partnership between members of the community and their local government.
VLEOA Featured Books
Featured Book
Police Reserves and Volunteers: Enhancing Organizational Effectiveness and Public Trust
Using cases from a range of specialists and precincts, this edited volume provides a rare window into police administration from the state legislation that regulates police reserves in California to the local models observed in many counties and cities across the United States. Police Reserves and Volunteers offers volunteers, local elected officials, and law enforcement straightforward guidelines to enhance police goals and build public trust in local communities.
Featured Book
Volunteer Police, Choosing to Serve
Volunteer Police, Choosing to Serve (now in paperback and hardback) provides an in-depth comparison between volunteer policing in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and explores the shared past and similar—yet sometimes divergent—evolution of special constables, auxiliaries, and reserves. A preview of the book is available here.
December 31, 2018
Featured Book
Roadside Survival: Low-Tech Solutions to Automobile Breakdowns
This book is the foundation for a package available to all law enforcement agencies to empower officers to win hearts and minds with safe, simple, quick roadside assists. The package information is available here. Click the link below to visit the book's homepage.
VLEOA Featured Member Posts
Submitted by the FHPA: It’s no secret that the President of the United States is one of the most protected people in the world. With our current president’s frequent travel to his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, there is great coordination with the secret service and local law enforcement. That’s where the Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary comes in. Palm Beach always has had plenty of presidential motorcades during campaigning of all past presidents, but President Trump has made presidential motorcades a routine in Palm Beach since being elected our 45th president. The members of FHPA troop L are always part of that security detail and carry out these duties with diligence and professionalism. Every member of the FHPA takes this role seriously and performs in a presidential way to insure the Commander-in-Chief is always secure on our watch.
Submitted by the Portsmouth (VA) Sheriff's Office Auxiliary: The Portsmouth Auxiliary has 27 members, and in 2017, seven auxiliary deputies provided community services by coming in on a weekend and clearing an elderly man’s yard and house exterior that had been overrun with shrubs, trees, bushes and with climbing ivy. It was a full day of hot back-breaking work. Another team went to a home where the interior was over-packed with boxes and papers stacked to the ceiling and worked on clearing that property. The team was nominated by full-time Lt. Teresa Faesi (pictured in photo on front row, first on left) for a "Team of the Quarter" award and for the first time ever, the Auxiliary Unit was selected. Team award members were presented the award by Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas, city HR representative Courtland Marriner, and Sheriff Michael Moore (front row, third from left). Congratulations to the auxiliary team for winning this award for the first time!