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Show dud TCeTsIiSERpa,Flder mgfellow, Dwayne Merrill, Dennis tl.irinigttlhi If ntfoircemoirafl: fowM by te By Merle Young Express Feature Editor There are times in Uintah County when the Sheriff's men are spread so thin that one deputy must cover the entire county. People have complained complain-ed periodically that it takes an officer a half hour to an hour to arrive after they have asked for assistance. However, in emergencies a backup of officers can be dispatched right away., Because of situations like this, establishment of a Sheriff's Reserve makes very good sense. The idea of developing a reserve program was originally proposed in 1978 but due to the lack of funding the idea was shelved. In the spring of 1985, a reserve program pro-gram proposal was written by John Laursen and Gary Debonis, both experienced ex-perienced officers, and submitted through the Uintah County Sheriff to the Uintah County Commissioners. The plan received approval and the reserve was instigated July 1 of 1985. There are ten members of the reserve presently working for the county who have undergone 120 classroom hours of approved Police Officers Standards Training (POST) covering all aspect of law enforcement. enforce-ment. They have studied the same i i WEIGHTLIFTERS Dennis Glines and Ron Gipson get a word of advice on physical fitness from Commander John Laursen. U : RESERVISTS PREPARE for a body search of Dave Wagner. Officers Of-ficers with guns on the suspect are Dennis Glines and Dwayne Merrill. V y V Unda"' si"' ffi"' Glines, Jeri ' curriculum and participated in the same field activities as regular law officers. Classes as mundane as vehicle preparation and maintenance to the critical classes on the aspects of making an arrest have all been completed com-pleted by ten reserve officers. The roster includes: Terry Shiner, Pat Eden, Linda Stringfellow, Dwayne Merrill, Dennis Glines, Jeri Cantu, secretary; Jim Allen, Ron Gipson, Ben Scholes and John Laursen, the group's commander. The reserve officers have donated 2,049 hours of community service to Uintah County so far amounting to more than a $22,000 savings; to the;: county. v , ' They have performed such services ser-vices as security at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo, assisted the Fish ' and Game with road blocks, backed up the regular Sheriff's deputies and jailers on a regular basis, assisted Uintah County Search and Rescue, secured crime scenes pending investigations in-vestigations and much more. They receive forty hours of training train-ing each year and are presently receiving eight hours of training per week. When patroling with regular officers they give all the necessary assistance as directed. This includes J- f 1 - r- 1 1 " - 'I s i v1 V I . A r - ' v GiPSn' SCh'eS taking witness statements, burglary and theft investigations and giving first aid in accidents. The reserve officers serve with no pay. The sheriff is authorized, however, to give the reserves $20 per month as a uniform allowance for each 16 hours of reserve work in that period. Regular meetings are held by the reserves in the Sheriff's Department , squad room. They have flexible working hours and are dispatched at a regular officers request. They have become a very valuable asset to the patrol officers as it doubles the force covering the county. "They (the officers) of-ficers) don't have to wait for backup to be dispatched," noted Commander v v. r. fA v F SHERIFF ARDEN STEWART demonstrates handcuffing techniques techni-ques to the class with Pat Eden as his mock suspect. i- . i '1 : -A ... KEEPING FIREARMS in tcp condition demands perfection in cleaning antf assembly, as the reservists have learned in eef-Dses eef-Dses I ke this one. Jim AHen and Dayne Merrill tac!e the tedious task. S THE RESERVE group gets ,nstruct,on on a vehicle stop as part of their required field training, ' - Laursen. "The backup is already right there." Members of the reserves have been instrumental in alcohol and drug arrests ar-rests and one of the officers captured a suspect at a burglary in progress incident. Their visibility as uniformed uniform-ed officers is a tremendous boost to the strength of the county officers especially in incidents involving large crowds or emergencies. "The families of the reservists have made some great sacrifices that allow their fathers, mothers or spouses to be in the reserves. They give up family members at all kinds of odd-ball hours and without this cooperation, the reserves just wouldn't work," said reserve officer 1 Ia'- m; if. . . - I- 1 Wedrmtdoy, Jeri Cantu whose husband is a detective detec-tive with the Uintah County Sheriff's Department. Although they are reserve officers, it does not excuse them from tedious paper work. When a regular officer writes a report on an incident where the reserve officer is assisting, the reserve officer is also required to write a report. If the regular officer is called to court to testify on a case where the reserve officer was assisting, then the reserve officers goes to court too. The local reserve is unique in the fact that it has its own training academy which may become Basin-wide Basin-wide in the future. Uintah County has the biggest and best reserve unit in the area and has the only POST approved ap-proved academy in rural area of Utah. All of their instructors are professionals pro-fessionals in their field or POST certified cer-tified officers. Volunteer instructors have come from the local Social Service office, from law agencies and other businesses. Judges and lawyers have also given instruction to the reserves. Training costs are very low. It amounts to approximately $200 per officer as compared to the thousands it costs to train a regular officer. SUMMER The storm stalked angrily Down the valley On jagged legs of lightning, Grumbling and muttering as it moved along. In its wake, The scent of rain-washed sage and pine Drifted on the cool breeze. The sly sun painted a brilliant rainbow On the storm's receding back. KJ(lppBliliifS Cliarly McClaln In Concrrt Duchesne County Fair & KNEU 8 pm. Duchesne County Fairgrounds Carnival Kingsbury Church 2to8p m. Church Parking Lot Annual Summer Barbecue t'intah Care Center Noon lo2p m. Care Center Ln I invaE- Annual Cwnmunii Barbrque t'infah Care Cen'er N"nn(ilo4p m. SlQSouVhSiiriWest Augurt 13, 1986 Vflmal EffCSt 1 3 I S K E W If III Each of the reservists must be qualified to carry a firearm the same as a regular officer. In essence, the training procedures and requirements re-quirements are basically the same. Reserve officers come from all walks of life and most of them have full-time jobs. As luck would have it, the ten Uintah County reservists come from a wide area of the county. "This was not planned, it just worked out that way," said Laursen. Both Laursen and Cantu agree with their fellow reserve officers that the group takes great pride in their work and have a good working relationship rela-tionship among themselves. You have to look closely to distinguish them from the regular county deputies when they are on duty. Volunteer efforts like the Uintah County Sheriff's Department Reserve Division are the sort of thing the Utah's Governor Norman Bangerter was referring to when he said, "Only by volunteer efforts can we bail out of the budget woes brought on by a sluggish economy." Uintah County is fortunate to have a group of reserve officers who can follow this trend with such remarkable results. STORM By Sherry Hatch Kummace and Ilnkf Sate Am.Lrgion Post 124 10a.m.to4pm. Jensen Legion Hall Annual tlrrf Barbecue 4 Dance Uintah Cattlemen' Assn. Dinner? p m. Program 9 pm, Vernal Rod and Gun Club FlrM Annual I it Hun Muscular Distrophy Association TBA msiiJHx: TrapShmtt Varsity Scouts Vernal IUJ and Gun Club X |