Wasilla PD's reserve officers get funding

WASILLA -- An amendment passed at the last meeting of Wasilla city council's sessions on the operating budget gives $11,815 to Wasilla Police Department's reserve officer program. Council member Howard O'Neil introduced an amendment, which is earmarked for uniforms and other gear, ammunition for training and an awards program to recognize the reserve officers. Reserve officers are volunteers who enter the program and work in uniform alongside Wasilla police officers.

O'Neil is a self-employed auto mechanic who also works three nights a week as a bouncer at the Wasilla Bar. O'Neil is in his second year of a three-year term on the council. He's generally quiet during meetings, supports Mayor Sarah Palin and once said he first wanted to get involved in city government because of street light glare that comes into his living room. O'Neil still hasn't done anything about that street light, but said his council service has been a good experience in general.

O'Neil said his second job as a bouncer puts him in contact with Wasilla police officers and helps tune him into their needs.

"We have a lot of contact with the police department in general -- you ask questions and you get answers," O'Neil said. The budget amendment includes $3,395 for uniforms, which are important, O'Neil said, because the department hasn't been able to supply all of the reserve officers with winter coats.

"[Reserve officers] volunteer their time. The least the city can do is make sure they're not freezing to death," O'Neil said.

Wasilla Police Chief Don Savage said exact figures for the cost of the reserve officer program aren't available because administrative resources are shared with the department as a whole and because reserve officers use equipment and supplies that are passed to the reserve program but purchased with the department's budget.

"We give them hand-me-down uniforms," Savage said. "Now that has a value, but I don't know how you go about accounting for those types of things. It's the same with vests and other things." The budget amendment earmarks $3,120 for bullet proof vests.

O'Neil believes some of the hand-me-down equipment is simply too old or ill-fitting to do the job -- he's been told that the protective vests don't last forever.

"Supposedly, [the vests] have a shelf-life or a general life span of up to five years," O'Neil said.

Reserve officers log 20 to 40 hours per month. To stay active in the program, each officer is required to log at least 20 hours per month. Reserve officers often show up at large events that generate traffic, such as parades and football games.

"We treat them like employees, but we just don't pay them," Savage said.

Some of the reserve officers are working toward training and employment goals, but others simply want to contribute to their community, according to Savage. Besides volunteering their time, reserve officers often pay for their own ammunition for firing range training. Wasilla Police Department trains at two firing ranges, one is in Palmer and operated by the Palmer Police and the other is in Sutton and operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections.

O'Neil's amendment earmarks $2,000 for ammunition.

"They need to get certified and stay certified," O'Neil said.

Savage said the money is a welcome contribution. The program is set up to handle 12 reserve officers, but currently there are only eight enrolled. Reserve officers have four training meetings scheduled each month and each officer is required to attend two per month to stay in the program. Savage said he may be advertising the four vacant positions this summer to bring the program up to 12. The Wasilla program is the last of its kind in Southcentral Alaska, according to Savage. Police departments in both Palmer and Anchorage used to operate similar programs, but no longer do.

"They require a certain amount of grooming and care," Savage said of the reserve programs.

The council passed O'Neil's amendment unanimously. The amendment also includes $2,000 for the city to spend on recognition and awards for reserve officers. O'Neil intended for most of that money to go toward an annual banquet as a formal thank-you from the city to the reserve officers.

"It's the decent thing to do," O'Neil said.