Reserve officers play a vital role

By Staff
Melissa Cason, Franklin County Times
The Franklin County Sheriff's Department has begun training their new recruits for the officer reserve program. The training program is an eight-week training program, which combines test scores with actual performance during training.
At the end of the eight weeks, the new recruits will join the roster as reserve officers.
Reserve officers help patrol the streets with deputies, work in the jail, help with administrative duties, and other duties as needed – all for free.
The reserves are not unique to the sheriff's department. The Rusellville Police Department also has an officer reserve program.
Reserve officers have the same authority as a police officer while on duty with a full-time officer or sheriff's deputy.
Volunteering as a reserve is an important way to give back to the community while gaining additional skills such as self-defense, and useful knowledge of laws.
Reserves can serve as a support system for regular officers, offering them assistance during a time of need.
Reserve officers also help keep the costs down by adding more manpower during special events with no additional cost, which is a major benefit.
While researching the reserve story, I learned the importance of reserve officers for the county. It is amazing to me that an average individual is willing to enter the world of law enforcement without any compensation.
Both the county and city reserves are self- sufficient by raising their money through annual fundraisers, so that the department doesn't have any out-of-pocket cost. And, what's not covered by the money raised comes out of the reserve's pockets.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Reserves and the Russellville Police Reserve work to help make our community a better place, and for that you should all be applauded. Thank you for donating you time and effort by helping the sheriff's department and the police departments.