Civilians increasingly handling police duties

[kazz]

So CA people, just how real is all this??? :eek:

By Mario Gomez
USA TODAY

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Facing tighter budgets, law enforcement agencies across the country are increasingly turning to civilians to respond to some calls that sworn officers and deputies are usually responsible for.

That means people calling 911 to report a traffic accident, a burglarized home or a stolen car may be greeted by a civilian in a polo shirt instead of a gun-toting officer.

“It hasn’t been universally adopted throughout the country. But most areas have at least thought about the alternative and are more open to it now because of the economy,” said Richard Brady, president of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Matrix Consulting Group that has worked with more than 250 law enforcement agencies.

The idea of using civilians, who require less training and are less expensive than sworn officers, to respond to minor police calls has been around since the late 1980s.

Brady said the practice died off for years as the economy improved and departments were augmented after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

As the economy slows again and state and local governments face major cuts, many have turned back to the old practice. Among them:

— The Orange County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office plans to hire 18 civilian “field service officers” in the coming months.

— The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department hopes to add a dozen civilian report takers.

— The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will resume hiring for its civilian officer program this summer, hoping to add five.

Civilians have long been used to handle tasks such as dispatching and other administrative duties in the office — but sending them into the field for even routine calls that have little chance of becoming dangerous has been a contentious issue.

Lynne Jantz, director of selection for the Las Vegas police department, said civilians working for the police don’t respond to accidents where alcohol or injuries are involved.

Since the unit was created in 2003, Jantz said, no civilian officers have been injured.

“Maybe a paper cut,” she said.

Capt. Mark Strobridge, who oversees Orange County’s implementation of the civilian program, said civilians will be deployed only during daylight hours and will not work in high-crime areas.

The benefit, according to Jantz and Strobridge, is that civilians can free up sworn officers from filling out mundane reports to concentrate on higher-priority crimes. The civilians concentrate on property damage, lost and stolen property and other things that require a police report for insurance purposes but don’t require a sworn officer.

The civilians also come much cheaper. In Las Vegas, a sworn officer who has cleared his initial probation period makes at least $54,000. Starting salary for civilian responders is $32,000.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, said civilians have worked well in some administrative office duties, but there’s a “bright line” between what civilians can do and what sworn officers carrying guns can do.

Pasco said that even the most simple-looking traffic accident can escalate into road rage or worse, putting the civilian officer in danger.

“If it’s a routine fender bender, there is no way of knowing whether the person involved is (fleeing) from a bank robbery or a drug deal or just taking the kids home,” he said.

When any basic investigation is required, Pasco said, civilians are far more likely to make mistakes that can help accused criminals escape a conviction. In Orange County, sworn officers receive 10 months of training, compared with three months for civilians.

“There’s a tremendous potential for a gap, and that gap will be filled by a defense attorney,” Pasco said. “You get what you pay for.”

[Samuel]

We have CSO (community service officers) who are civilian employees out on the street. They wear a different colored uniform than sworn personnel and typically drive different vehicles. Their duties can vary from station to station but they are typically capable of handling such calls as property damage only traffic collision reports, non-workable burglary reports, non-workable vandalism reports, parking citations/towing vehicles, non-workable stolen vehicle reports, traffic control, minor translation services, etc.

There is a lot of "low level" police work that we do that could easily be handled by non-sworn employees. If such a situation/call for service can be handled by a CSO, it keeps me "in circulation".

Btw, IMO, re: 911 for traffic accidents, burglaries, stolen cars - only if you think there are injuries, the burglars are still there or you see them leaving, if the car is in the process of being stolen or you are seeing it being driven away...

[gringoscott]

The practice seems to be very common where I'm from. All "cold calls" were handled by CSO's (unarmed non-sworn) and the jail (muni lockup) was attended to by an MSO (armed non-sworn). It was like that for a number of cities in my county. I know that where I'm at now, CSO's are around, but I'm not sure what their scope is.

[Curt581]

These positions are nothing more than a back-door pay cut.

This year:
"Yeah, they're CSO's, but they need to wear a ballistic vest to protect them".

Next year:
"They're handling prisoner transport, so they need to be armed".

Three years from now:
"Hell, they do everything else, they're armed, so we might as well swear 'em in".

Voila.

Congratulations, Chief. You've cut the police department payroll by 30%, without a loss of manpower. Maybe we can hire some people who will agree to work without health insurance benefits!

[cntryboy0531]

We have them. They work theft complaints with no suspect information, vehicle thefts with no suspect information, civil disputes, etc. We love them. we're not hammered with so many BS calls.

[normal1]

Read this and the comments below that article.

[Samuel]

Read this and the comments below that article.

umm ok, what about it? :confused:

[shugs]

I think I see what Normal1 meant. As was stated, great way to cut the budget without cutting manpower. Where CSO's are used the number of needed (and retained) sworn officers will dwindle. If they are not laid off outright.

[Samuel]

Did we read the same article? The one I saw via the link was about a CSO who committed suicide. Where in that article was there a reference to manpower? :confused:

I would agree that sworn positions should not be cut to make room for or switched to CSO spots.

[normal1]

I was trying to point out the potential result of having civilians cover the work normally done by sworn trained officers. Based on that article the question still remains how that CSO obtained a weapon and whether or not he was allowed to carry one by policy (or if his superiors looked the other way because of the work he did).

[Samuel]

I was trying to point out the potential result of having civilians cover the work normally done by sworn trained officers. Based on that article the question still remains how that CSO obtained a weapon and whether or not he was allowed to carry one by policy (or if his superiors looked the other way because of the work he did).

IMO, you are jumping Way far ahead...

Well, for one, do we know if that particular department's "community service officer" is a non-sworn position? Titles and duties will vary.

Two, are you suggesting that 17 years worth of carrying out "routine law enforcement duties, such as towing cars, directing traffic and writing reports" is going to lead a non-sworn person (assuming it was a non-sworn position) to attempt to commit suicide? How do you know the reason for the attempted suicide was job-related? :confused:

Three, I'm not sure what you're trying to say, that sworn LEOs are somehow less susceptible to the stresses of the job than a non-sworn person - that we are either less-human or supra-human? As much as I hate to refer to Statistics, they would certainly show otherwise. Behind the badge and under all the equipment, we are still human.

Four, a person working in his capacity for an LE agency Probably doesn't have any felony convictions and can purchase and own his own firearms. How do you know that the firearm he shot himself with was departmentally issued? How do you know that (especially in this day and age) his superiors were somehow knowingly allowing him to carry a firearm (!!!) against department policy?