Reserve Officer Essay: Being A Police Officer

Can you imagine being a police officer? Risking your life almost every day, always holding the power of the law in your hands? Perhaps carrying a gun and having to decide when to use it? Knowing that your actions could have a huge impact on someone's life? Knowing that the general populace depends on you for their safety?

Now imagine doing this for free. Reserve police officers volunteer their time to work as police officers. They have the same duties in many cases as regular officers, but they work for free to benefit their community. Reserve officers can be many different people with busy, complex lives of their own: from law enforcement trainees, completing their requirements for training; to retired police-people who want to contribute to their community part-time; to regular people who want to volunteer their time to make their world a better place (“How”). Throughout history, reserve police officers have had many duties concerning the public's safety worldwide.

Before going into what a reserve officer does in a day's work, a definition is required. What is a reserve officer? One definition is that officers of this type are volunteers who undergoes training before performing certain law-enforcement duties for a certain amount of hours each month. Sometimes reserve officers are paid, but if they are it is usually on a per-diem basis. They often don't receive retirement benefits or health insurance in addition to their salary (“How”).

A reserve officer can be called many names. These most likely differ depending on where they work. Some of these names for reserve officers include auxiliary, intermittent, special and supernumerary (Weinblatt). These officers, no matter what their title, have to go through certain training an...

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... and Switzerland, as well as several other countries (“A History”).

Reserve police officers have been working for their community's safety for hundreds of years, though not many people know who they are and what they do. These types of police officers are found all over the world and have been around since humans began to form societies. They help address that basic human need for security. Reserve officers are the behind-the-scenes officers, taking care of basic tasks that make the population's life safer. They go through training, background checks and exams to be able to volunteer as law enforcers. Although their training, duties, background and history may vary, these officers work toward the same goal. Reserve police officers, worldwide and through our human history, have worked to complete their duties concerning public safety, which they continue to do today.