City seeks to add up to 50 officers to police reserve

The department is revamping its reserve police officer program, where the commissioned officers perform the same duties as their full-time counterparts - without pay or city benefits.

The department wants to add to its reserve ranks with retired police officers who are already trained and certified, said Lt. Ron Stiso, who oversees the community-events section of the police department. That would reduce costs and time for any additional training they may need before hitting the streets, he said.

Police officials want the program to reflect its former glory, when it had 100 reserve officers.

Stiso would like the program to grow to 50 within the next few years, he said.

The department had 1,053 full-time officers as of Oct. 25. It is authorized 1,113 officers.

It would cost about $5 million to train 50 officers, which includes salary, training, weapons and equipment, said Lt. Quinn McCarthy, commander of the department's recruiting and background section. The average starting salary for a police officer is $45,510, McCarthy said.

There are 12 reserve officers who now work in different capacities, ranging from responding to burglary and auto theft calls to serving as tactical officers for police helicopters, said Sgt. Jeffrey McCarthy, a reserve officer who supervises the program.

One reserve officer teaches safety classes at high schools, and another is a firearms instructor at the police academy, Sgt. McCarthy said.

The officers usually don't respond to calls that are in progress, but Sgt. McCarthy said they are capable of being sent to those incidents.

Reserve officers come from various backgrounds, working as teachers, engineers and business owners in their regular jobs. When they put on the uniform, however, they have the same arresting authority as other officers.

And they have the same expectations.

"Either you demonstrate you can do the job or you don't make it through the program," Sgt. McCarthy said.

They receive workers' compensation if they are injured while on duty and undergo the same investigation procedures as full-time officers if they are involved in an officer-involved shooting, Stiso said.

The Police Department provides uniforms, firearms and other equipment for the reserve officers.

The officers are required to volunteer for at least 20 hours each month, although some officers put in more hours.

A variety of factors contributed to the decline of the program, officials said.

A lot of reserve officers switched to become full-time police officers with the department, said Officer Richard Bluth, who has been a reserve officer for about 20 years.

Also, the the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board, known as AZPOST, which certifies police officers, started requiring all reserve officers to have the same amount of training as full-time officers, Stiso said.

The Tucson Police Department incurs all costs for training police officers.

Before, the volunteers had the option of attending a limited reserve academy, which required fewer training hours, Sgt. McCarthy said.

However, limited reserve officers could not go on patrol unless they rode with another full-time officer, he said.

Once AZPOST made the changes, becoming a limited reserve officer was no longer an option.

"Now, you're either a commissioned officer or you're not," he said.

The department is reaching out to retired officers because an academy for reserve police officers would last for almost a year, Stiso said.

Retired officers already have been trained and certified, reducing those costs to the city.

Officials say there could be numerous positives if the reserve officer program gains momentum.

The program would increase the number of officers on the street and allow full-time officers to respond to high-priority calls, Sgt. McCarthy said.

That could increase officer response times, he said.

Stiso pointed out other advantages.

"There's certainly the cost savings and the commitment to volunteerism," Stiso said. "We're also able to keep the knowledge with the Tucson Police Department as opposed to just retiring."

Larry Lopez, president of the Tucson Police Officers Association, also sees the benefits in having the program.

"It gives regular folks out there a chance to be a part of something special," Lopez said.

The biggest risks for reserve officers are connected to the legal battles reserve officers would face if they're involved in a shooting or other serious incident, he said.

The police officers union provides legal representation to full-time officers who need an attorney for those incidents, he said. The association does not provide the same services for reserves.

"When the officers are out there on an island, who will take care of them?" he said.

Despite the risks, police departments in other cities have benefited from beefing up their reserve-officer ranks.

Phoenix saved almost $2.5 million in fiscal year 2008-09 by using reserve police officers, said Sgt. Joshua Clark, supervisor of the Phoenix Police Department reserve-officer division. The Police Department has 150 reserve officers.

Those officers contributed 39,374 hours of service during that time, Clark said.

The department had 24 officers as recently as five years ago, he said.

Phoenix's program received a boost after the City Council, mayor and former police chief set a goal to increase the reserve force to 300 officers, he said.

The city government assisted the Police Department in early 2008 in asking Phoenix business leaders to create a foundation that would raise money for the reserve-officer program, he said.

In September, the foundation donated five new Chevrolet Tahoes, fully stocked with police equipment, to the program, he said.

Stiso said the Tucson department could take an approach similar to Phoenix's and use private money to pay for the program.

Right now, the department will focus on reaching out to the retired officers who still have a desire for police work. Program officials have already recruited five retired officers within the last six months, he said.

"We'll take baby steps in order to build up," he said.