Utilization and satisfaction of volunteer law enforcement officers in the office of the American sheriff: an exploratory nationwide study

Abstract

Many government organizations utilize volunteers to enhance services, and volunteers have been used in law enforcement agencies for a variety of functions. However, volunteers in American policing are a largely under-studied part of the criminal justice system. This current paper examines the utilization of volunteer reserves, auxiliaries, and special deputies in the office of the American sheriff. The article also examines the perceived organizational characteristics of those agencies that treat volunteers the same as regular full-time sworn deputies by allowing them full power of arrest and the authority to carry a weapon on and off duty. The results generally show that volunteer deputies that are treated the same as their full-time counterparts in regard to authority and responsibility are generally more satisfied with their role within the organization and report greater satisfaction with the organization in terms of communication, leadership, and professionalism.

Keywords:

• volunteer
• reserve
• auxiliary
• special deputy
• police
• authority

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Louisville, Kentucky Sheriff, Colonel John Aubrey, for his assistance with disseminating the survey nationwide. Additional thanks to Sheriff (Retired) Al Lamberti of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, and Lt. Colonel (Retired) David Rayburn of the Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary for their determined, continued interest in understanding volunteer policing in the United States.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The term ‘volunteer’ is difficult to define. Generally, it is accepted to mean ‘non-salaried’ service, but can be defined as giving of time or talents without reward or obligation (Cnaan, Handy, & Wadsworth, 1996).

2. There are some law enforcement agencies that ‘pay’ their volunteers in the form of allowances, or stipends to offset costs. For the purposes of this paper, these are still considered volunteers because their rate of pay is far below the rate of a full-time equivalent.

3. Note: The New York model is generally more restrictive than most other departments in terms of volunteer officers. Volunteer officers in New York are unarmed, have no arrest power, and are generally considered to serve as a visible deterrent to crime. In Los Angeles (and in California generally), police volunteers have the full power of arrest and work in armed patrol assignments based on their level of training.

4. Although volunteers are not considered ‘employees’ in many organizations, law enforcement volunteers must go through a formal employment process to serve in their role. Some agencies require that law enforcement volunteers are considered employees in order to offer them legal protections or to fall within statutory guidelines to have arrest authority or the authority to carry a firearm. Some states require that agencies pay their volunteers some small amount of money (such as $1/year) to have them meet statutory requirements as employees.

5. There are numerous countries throughout the world where police volunteers are utilized. Volunteer police are utilized in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Hungary, Canada, Germany, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, and many others.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) and the NSA Reserve Law Enforcement Committee. The opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSA.

Funding

NSA Reserve Law Enforcement Committee