Supplemental support

For some members of the law enforcement community protecting and serving the community is all part of the job. But for the auxiliary officers of the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the Town of Orange Police Department and the Town of Gordonsville Police Department, law enforcement duties are volunteer pursuits.
The individuals who serve on the auxiliary force supplement the department's current staff in patrol cars, behind a desk and on foot, among other things. The tasks they carry out are limited by the level of classification they've achieved.
Each locality sets its own requirements and guidelines for auxiliary law enforcement officer programs. Town of Gordonsville Police Chief Christopher Spare operates his program with a three-level classification system-A, B, and C, he explained. "I equate it to a baseball system: you have single A, double A and major leagues."
At the C-level, volunteers are not sworn, nor are they armed. In many ways, Spare said, it's like a ride-along, in which a civilian sits shotgun in a police cruiser while the regular officer performs the everyday duties of his shift. Auxiliary officers with C-level certification assist regular members of the force at community events by maintaining pedestrian and vehicle traffic patterns and keep an eye out for trouble, "but they don't take any action," Spare explained. "They're not allowed to." Auxiliary officers might participate at Gordonsville's annual Cops and Kids friends Day, for example, or at area parades, carnivals and special events.
B-level auxiliary officers have completed defensive tactics training, firearms training and have been trained in policy that deals with use of force. These volunteers are both sworn and armed. They wear a police uniform, and they've trained at facilities like the Central Shenandoah Criminal Justice Training Academy. B-level officers can make arrests. "They can if they have to," Spare said. But that's generally left to the on-duty regular officer with whom they're partnered.
According to police department policy, at the B and C levels, a member of the auxiliary police force must be under the direction of another officer.
At the A-level, auxiliary police volunteers are full-fledged certified officers. They are sworn and armed, and most importantly, "they can act on their own while on duty with another officer."
Orange County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim Murphy said the four auxiliary members of the sheriff's office assist regular deputies with assignments, with the degree of responsibility proportionate to their level of certification.
"They are used to supplement current staff on assignments and occasionally handle things on their own if they are properly trained and equipped for the assignment," Murphy said.
In the Town of Orange, the auxiliary officer program is currently being redeveloped, with updated policies that reflect the needs of the town, and of the department, Orange Police Chief James Fenwick said. The department currently has four auxiliary officers. Fenwick said he expects to add increased duties and possibly new members to his auxiliary force.
Auxiliary members of the force with higher levels of certification are typically getting their feet wet while considering a career in law enforcement, Spare explained.
"They're trying it out, seeing if it's something they like. They're interested in law enforcement," he said.
But sometimes it's the inverse, particularly with A-level auxiliary officers. Ex-cops might make a change to a non-law enforcement vocation, but that doesn't mean they've turned their backs on the force.
"Many times they're people who have changed careers, but they don't want give up their certification," Spare explained.
At the sheriff's office too, retired deputies have continued their careers post-retirement as auxiliary officers, while others join the auxiliary force while working a day job outside law enforcement. "We are able to get trained people that may have gotten out of law enforcement due to retirement or just other career paths but wish to keep up their certification," Murphy said.
Fenwick said inclusion of auxiliary officers into a professional police force can be a low-cost method of augmenting a law enforcement agency.
"The idea is to get extra help beyond the paid positions," Spare said. "The costs are generally fairly low to maintain the auxiliary force, but they add to your force."
"In a lot of cases, it's basically very cost effective for the locality," he said. But for police chiefs and sheriffs, auxiliary programs create on-the-job training and break-in periods for potential new hires. Inclusion and utilization of auxiliary officers creates a mutually beneficial situation within the department, according to Spare.
"Really, both are served by this opportunity," Murphy said.
Gordonsville Auxiliary Officer Kennedy Coleman spends his days as a corrections officer at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women near Zion Crossroads. And at least 20 hours per month, he volunteers as an auxiliary member of the Gordonsville Police Department en route to becoming a professional police officer.
"I've always wanted to be involved with law enforcement," Coleman explained. "I figured I'd get into corrections and get my foot in the door."
Coleman has earned his B-level certification with the Gordonsville Police Department, so he's well on his way to achieving his goal. As an auxiliary officer, he said he's had a chance to learn first-hand what is expected and required of him as a policeman. He's getting in-the-field experience at traffic stops and citizen assistance calls and service visits, and spending volunteer hours visiting and speaking at local elementary schools-that's time and training in an aspect of law enforcement that couldn't be more different from his day job as a corrections officer. Coleman said he's learned that much of his role as a police officer is to "let citizens know we're here to serve and protect."
Coleman pointed at his badge. "I don't use this to intimidate," he said earnestly.
For a law enforcement organization, with the addition of volunteers like Coleman, there's extra manpower when the force needs it. And the volunteer members of the auxiliary program provide a service to their community.
Sometimes, that volunteer service turns into a career for auxiliary officers who eventually apply for positions as professionals at a law enforcement agency. That's where Coleman hopes he's headed. Auxiliary officer Glen Arrington has the same goal in mind. But instead of starting out in corrections, like Coleman, Arrington volunteered as an auxiliary member of the Gordonsville Police Department while he attended police academy right up until he graduated a few weeks ago.
Frequently, the addition of an auxiliary officer to the force comes in the form of fully trained officer who has familiarity with the chief and members of the police department. But perhaps most importantly, a volunteer-turned-cop comes to the department as a paid member with knowledge of the unique characteristics of the community, Spare said.
Spare said his present force of part-time and full-time is comprised of a number of officers who began as auxiliary members before being brought on the payroll as paid policemen. An undeniable advantage to bringing the auxiliary officers onto the force as position become available is that they already have a rapport with the citizens of Gordonsville.
"Community policing isn't always making arrests and writing tickets," he said. "Sometimes it's the community and the government working together."