We are working men and women in your community who have taken an oath to serve as law enforcement officers. We all have full-time jobs working in a wide variety of businesses. But when it comes to the time we dedicate to the sheriff’s department, we donate our time for free. Say what? That’s right, we go through training required by the state of Arkansas, purchase our own equipment, and donate our time to the sheriff’s department all to help make our community a safer place to live. So why would anyone want to take a position in law enforcement and not be compensated for what they do? That’s a great question. It takes special people. People that love law enforcement and have a deep respect for the badge. People that see the value in giving back to the community they live and are willing to risk their own lives to make it happen. It’s not a hobby. A hobby is an activity that you enjoy that you do when you want to (like golf or fishing for example). We have nothing against having hobbies, we as reserve officers all have hobbies. But being a reserve officer is a job and a commitment. You are on call 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. It takes special people that are willing to respond no matter what the hour of the day to serve the sheriff with whatever needs to be done.

So, what exactly are the responsibilities of a reserve officer? I’m pretty certain that you’ve seen us around. Working security at events such as the county fair and the water melon festival or local sporting events. Or perhaps you’ve seen us working traffic for local bicycle and running events keeping the athletes safe. Or maybe you’ve seen us assisting with traffic at one of the many graduations that occur every year throughout the county. But there are many places and activities that you may not be aware of. A critical piece to our service is working to assist full-time officers. Helping to protect crime scenes, working countless hours providing patrol on our streets at all hours of the day and night, or guarding and transporting prisoners.

So just how much time does all that involve? Would you believe that we have given (on average) over 5,500 hours of service annually to the sheriff’s department for the last 8 years in a row? That’s an impressive number of man hours to our county with no compensation. The Sheriff’s department is dependent on our unit because without us, it would be impossible to get it all done. And the requests and demands for law enforcement presence continues to grow.

So that is who we are and what we do. You may not always see us out there, but we are always there working to make this county a safer place to be. We are proud of our service and commitment to the sheriff, it’s officers, and to the residents and visitors of Independence County.