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Police build up reserve strength
Jason Young, Cass McMillian, Chris Sperry and James Leist pose for a photo on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, in Huntington. All are former participants in the Huntington Police Department's Reserve Unit.
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HUNTINGTON -- Two city councilmen, a doctor, a pastor, an emergency medical technician, a broadcast news reporter, a garage employee and the mayor's secretary soon will become active in a rejuvenated Reserve Unit within the Huntington Police Department.
The volunteers will join three seasoned reserve officers who are credited with keeping the unit active since 1965. Their dedication soon will be rewarded as part of Mayor Kim Wolfe's campaign promise to beef up the Police Department's volunteer force.
Police Chief Skip Holbrook views the unit as an extension of his Police Department's reach into the community. He also believes it provides a friendly face and reminds the community that many police officers are citizens within the community. He is particularly happy with the diverse group of new volunteers.
"There's representation from really all walks of life," he said. "I just think it shows you the interest level that is present, and we're thrilled with it. We hope that encourages other people to take an interest in it, too."
The newest volunteers were sworn in during a ceremony in November and are still awaiting uniforms. Those uniforms can't arrive soon enough for the unit's coordinator, Huntington Police Lt. B.J. Wamsley, whose traffic unit is faced with a full slate of community events beginning in April.
Wolfe, formerly Cabell County sheriff, supported a more active police reserve unit during his 2008 campaign. He views the unit as a way to encourage volunteerism and enhance safety within the community. Similar programs are active across the nation.
Huntington's unit, formed in 1965, provides relief to the city's 105-officer sworn police force. Wamsley said the reserves control crowds at large events, direct traffic at major crash scenes, lead weekend funeral escorts, conduct home checks for vacationing residents and partner with sworn officers when an extra set of eyes are needed. In August 2009, the group directed traffic at the site of a building collapse at Hal Greer Boulevard and 8th Avenue.
Wamsley and Wolfe said that alleviates some of the sworn officers' workload, allowing them to respond to more active police situations.
Candidate Wolfe said a beefed-up reserve unit would resemble the Charleston Police Department's program, which dates back to 1991 and typically boasts a roster of 15 citizens. He is most impressed with the way such programs can help the community buy into a police department's overall mission.
"I think anytime you can educate the community on what goes on in a police officer's life, I think it makes it more vivid and real to the community," he said. "Then it becomes a community effort to reduce crime."
Wolfe said he and Holbrook are still discussing a desired size for the unit, although the mayor said he is more concerned with quality than quantity. Organizers spent year one of Wolfe's administration assessing the Reserve Unit and determining its needs. Wolfe hopes the vision will be put into action this year.
Wamsley said a unit of 12 to 15 reserves would be ideal. That would greatly help a unit currently rotating weekend funeral escorts among its three members, a task assigned to sworn police officers during the week. Wamsley said adding members would make the weekend escorts less demanding and allow for months in between service.
That extra help is welcome news to Huntington Police Reserve Capt. Ronald E. Runnels. He stands as the last remaining member of the 1965 reserve force. Others who were serving as reserve force members before the new volunteers came on board are Don Ballengee and Everett Brown.
Councilmen Nate Randolph and Scott Caserta are among the newest volunteers. Both joined out of a continued desire to serve their community. Randolph, 35, hopes volunteering allows him to be an extra set of hands, while living out a childhood dream.
"There's a lot of young men, and sometimes women, growing up with that thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to be a police officer,'" he said. "It kind of satisfies that little fantasy."
Caserta, 46, already has assisted with funeral escorts.
"This gives me a chance to give back to the community and the Huntington Police Department," Caserta said.
Among the other new reservists are the Rev. Gary Patton, director of EAP and oncology counselor at St. Mary's Medical Center, and Dee DeLancey, a news reporter at WOWK-TV.
The reserve mission
Holbrook wants the Reserve Unit to be actively involved in serving the community, although their participation may go unnoticed by residents because the reserve officers will closely resemble in appearance their sworn counterparts.
Both wear black uniforms and drive city police cruisers. Wamsley said the uniforms include slight differences -- reserve badges are shaped differently and the word "reserve" is stitched into the patch. The vehicle paint scheme and lights are identical, although Holbrook said at times the volunteers drive a cruiser with "reserve" lettering.
But Wamsley and Wolfe stressed the reserves' roles are very different from those of sworn officers. The reserves do not have traditional police powers, and they cannot arrest people and they do not carry guns.
The reserves are trained to use pepper spray to protect themselves, Wamsley said.
The volunteers also face other requirements and training, in some ways mirroring that of their paid counterparts. Holbrook said they must be of good moral and ethical character. They also undergo extensive criminal and psychological background checks. Wamsley explained those checks are necessary because a chance exists that the volunteer may come in contact with sensitive information. She said it's important for each volunteer to serve in a professional manner as their conduct reflects on the Police Department and its members as a whole.
"I don't think the community even sees the difference," Wamsley said. "That's what concerns me sometimes. How they act is just like how we act. If they act bad, then the community is going to perceive the whole Police Department as bad."
Much of the training is conducted by veteran reserve officers such as Runnels. He explained each volunteer rides along with seasoned reserves. The rookies learn by observing the methods used to move traffic, block streets and set barricades.
Up-and-down history
Volunteer police units have experienced ups and downs in both cities with varying emphasis between different mayoral and police administrations.
Wolfe became accustomed to the Reserve Unit during his 26-year stint on the Huntington Police Department. He had wanted to create a similar program at the county level as sheriff, but Wolfe said the proposal wasn't adopted by county commissioners. He credits the continued existence of Huntington's volunteer unit to its dedicated and committed members, such as Runnels.
The 71-year-old stands as the last member of the original reserve force, which was formed on Sept. 2, 1965. The unfulfilled passion to be a police officer attracted Runnels to volunteer. Low salaries at the time kept Runnels from joining as an actual police officer. In the 1960s, he could never justify trading his railroad salary for $394 in monthly earnings behind the badge.
Runnels estimates he worked with 14 police chiefs during his 45-year stint. He attributes his lasting participation with the volunteer unit to camaraderie he shares with the men and women currently working to serve and protect the city.
"It gives me something to do, and I really enjoy it," he said.
Huntington's current emphasis looks to rebuild a Reserve Unit that became less active and lost participation due to police layoffs early last decade. Wamsley said the volunteers understood the department's financial plight and shied away from high visibility so their service would not be perceived as taking the place of sworn officers.
Nearly eight years later, the Police Department's budget has grown so that its sworn roster surpasses that of before the layoffs.
"That's neither here nor there now," Wamsley said. "We're finally getting up to where we should be, and that is why we're adding to them."
Charleston Police Lt. Valerie Strege coordinates a similar volunteer unit for her Police Department. She said she occasionally hears similar complaints, but the belief is not pervasive. She and Wamsley said most police officers recognize and appreciate the value of their volunteers counterparts.
"Especially when it is cold and blowing snow, and they're the ones up on the Interstate or anywhere directing traffic," Wamsley said. "To think that they're out there doing that and risking life and limb just the same as we are for no pay."
Impact on recruitment
Volunteer programs such as Huntington's Reserve Unit are not designed to become recruiting instruments, but sometimes they have that effect. For instance, Huntington Police Detectives Chris Sperry, Cass McMillian and Jason Young and Patrolman James Leist are all former reserves.
Leist, 37, served as a reserve for a couple years in the 1990s. His interest in police work led him to volunteer. He believed doing so would give him a taste of the law enforcement profession. He enjoyed the experience and learned much.
"It makes you respect a lot of things," he said. "You do look upon things differently, just life in general. You have more respect for the way you treat people."
Holbrook said the recruiting aspect of the Reserve Unit is similar to that of the Police Department's Law Enforcement Explorer Post, which introduces high school freshmen through 21-year-olds to police operations. Three graduates of the explorer program were employed as sworn officers as of September 2009.
In Charleston, Strege credits the Academy and NAO programs with producing approximately six officers later hired by her Police Department or the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office.
The Huntington Police Department always welcomes applications for the Reserve Unit, but Wamsley said administrators are not currently looking to fill positions. Those interested in submitting an application can do so at the Police Department's 10th Street headquarters.
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