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Certified reserve officer/deputy program
In the 1990s, Department of Public Safety and Standards
(DPSST) was given an unfounded mandate to implement a
Certified Reserve Officer Program.
Earlier this year (2004) the new director of DPSST,
John Minnis, stated that he would like to see implementation
of a certification process for Reserve Peace Officers.
To that end, the Oregon Association of Reserve Peace
Officers has drafted a general outline of the requirements
that would be anticipated of a Reserve Peace Officer
seeking certification.
This is included within the attached draft description
and has been modified as a result of input from the Oregon
Association of Chiefs of Police.
The Certified Reserve Peace Officer status is to be looked
at as a goal and not a requirement.
Nothing within the drafting of the program would require
any agency to implement such a program.
It would be merely an opportunity for those Reserve
Officers meeting the described criteria to apply for,
with endorsement from their department, certification
as described in the eventual policy of DPSST.
As listed within the draft proposal,
one of the criteria for such an individual would be
completion of an "accredited reserve academy."
At this time the definition of an accredited academy has
not been determined. This would be left up to DPSST in
the formal development of the program.
However, based on information received from various
reserve agencies throughout Oregon, as of this writing
such an academy would use a curriculum that is primarily
based on the academy that is operated by DPSST for newly hired,
full-time officers, but structured in a way to accommodate
the individuals that work in a full-time job.
Typically, this is on several evenings a week with some
Saturdays and would be expected to last approximately 300 hours.
Obviously, this time element and the specifics of the
curriculum would be subject to change based on new legislation
and requirements or expanded needs for training that may
develop at a future time.
It is for this reason that in this draft phase,
some of these descriptions are left in general terms.
This generalized description also applies to the completion
of the field training program as well as what would constitute
advanced officer training requirements above and beyond the reserve academy.
Reserve Peace Officers seeking certification would have
maintained and continued to maintain all of the current
state standards that apply to full-time peace officers in
order to receive and maintain certification as a Reserve Peace Officer.
The proposal also tries to be flexible in recognizing a need
for certification of those individuals who have been functioning
as Reserve Peace Officers prior to the implementation of this
certification process.
This "grandfathering" in would require the Certified
Reserve Officer applicant to document training comparable
to that which is outlined above.
There is also a section in the proposal that recognizes
that some agencies by virtue of cost or location may utilize
reserve peace officers who would not necessarily be able to
partake in an accredited academy.
These individuals would not be prevented from seeking certification,
but each application would be viewed on a case-by-case basis
reviewing what training has been accomplished and providing
detailed information back to the applicant about where
deficiencies (if any) may exist and what steps they could
take in order to meet the certification criteria.
As an added component of an incentive to participate
in the Certified Reserve Reace officer program,
it is also proposed that an individual who attains
the status as a Certified Reserve Peace Officer would
be eligible to complete a modified DPSST academy should
they be hired on a full-time basis.
The modified academy could be the current two-week
course of education for officers certified by other
states taking positions within Oregon or some other
similar time-modification to the regular academy.
This option would be based on the premise that the
individual has already gone through a number of training
hours comparable to the complete academy and been able
to apply them over at least a two-year period.
This would also prove beneficial for agencies in that
a Certified Reserve Peace Officer hired to a full-time
basis would be able to be utilized in the field in a
faster time in that they would only be required to
attend a few weeks of DPSST training as opposed to four months.
As with any organization that provides certification,
a decertification process would be developed.
It would be anticipated that a committee or panel
of representatives of reserve organizations,
departments, and DPSST be part of such a panel that
would review criteria for certification as well as
the decertification process.
Again, the specific details of this would be worked
out by DPSST in conjunction with the various stakeholder
organizations such as the Oregon State Sheriff's Association,
the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police,
the Oregon Peace Officers' Association,
the Oregon Association of Reserve Peace Officers,
the Oregon Council of Police Associations, DPSST,
and those that would have an interest in the development,
operation, and function of such a program.
25 Oct 2004
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