started my training a few weeks ago.  I love it.  the hiring process is the same for reserve and full time guys.

Thanks for the help.  It takes some dedication to do the job for free.  

I've been a reserve for three years.  My only regret is that I didn't start sooner.  I don't know if your uniform patches are like ours, but our's say "Reserve Deputy" on them.  Be prepared for the "I want a real cop" comment.  I usually assure them that my handcuffs are just as real as the paid guy's.

Congrats.  I find it very rewarding.

the only way to tell the difference with us in uniform is by the badge color.  Full time, gold.  Reserve, silver.  The public usually doesn't notice.

I worked as a reserve for two years before going fulltime.  I disagree with "reserve" designated patches on many fronts however.

our only difference is that is says reserve on the badge, but they are the same color as the real cops badge.

Congratulations. How long is your academy? Ours was Tues. and Thurs.. from 6pm-1pm and sat. 8am-5pm for 46 weeks. It was long but we all had a good time.

The only way to tell us from our paid counterparts is our badge says aux officer instead of officer. I have never heard anyone say anything and I don't think the general public even notices. At least the guy I searched last night didn't*L* Three of us were on our way from a in-service class to our detail for the city Christmas parade when a call came out for assault in progress. It was about a minute away and on our route so we hit the lights and were the second car on scene. The first responding officer had the guy in custody when we got there and she asked me to do a secondary search of her male prisoner. He treated me the same way as her.

Wish we had reserve positions around here. In northern Illannoys such things are frowned on - as an example the RSD's up here are actually an offshoot of an old CB monitoring club that used to roll out to aid motorists (like REACT) that the county board wanted to control.

Speaking of the Board, they're the same ones who decided that RSD's couldn't carry - even if they were academy trained sworn LEO's.

We ran into problems several years ago with Auxiliaries, P/T & Reserves (official story is that it's due to a few bad apple officers) and the state LE training board set the standards to be the same as the full timers.

Of course, another reason was the outcry over "Democrat CCW". The great state of Illannoys has no provision for CW unless you're LE. So a few Democratic Machine folks in power realized that they could "thank" benefactors for their "dedication to public safety" (campaign contributions) by appointing them "special" (or reserve/auxiliary) officers of the SD or park district police. They got a shiny gold badge and the OK to CCW.

Of course, after a few big dollar donors were found to actually be convicted felons, there was a leetle problem. The cracked down on the non full-timers hard.

Of course, it's fine if your state board director has a Ph. D (and writes books like "Enduring, Surviving, and Thriving As a Law Enforcement Executive"), your bio offers:

With 30 years of experience in the criminal justice field...

but no reference to actual street time, and quotes like this (about HR 218):

Still, most former officers have no desire for a concealed weapon, said the executive director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, which is responsible for overseeing Illinois police officers who want concealed-carry permits. "There are some police officers who've figured they've carried a gun long enough, and they don't want to be around guns anymore," he said.

you're a fine fit in Cali East Taxachussets West  Illannoys...

Sorry - /rant  /hijack

I'm a reserve deputy  Only difference in uniform in a reserve rocker above the shouloder patch, and reserve deputy on the badge (same color badge as deputy).  Hopefully in a year and a half I will not have the rocker anymore

BenWa

I'm a reserve, have been for 11 years, no difference between our guys and the full-time officers.  Matter of fact we are classified as full-time, non-paid officers which allows us full carry and arrest privileges off-duty.  Probably would have gone full-time, but I can't afford to quit my day job.

Congrats, I started out as a reserve too...  the only designation difference was the word "Reserve" on the badge.  Everything else was identical.

We had t-shirts made up, I'm sure you've probably seen one or two at some point...

"Most people wouldn't do the job for a million bucks...

Cops do it for a lot less...

a RESERVE does it for FREE!!"

and you can have a screen print of some picture that would show police related work, whether it be a badge, or a felony traffic stop, or whatever (But no, not the dunkin donuts logo  )

When I was a reserve I got to participate in a whole bunch of fun stuff, like swat training, neighborhood concentration patrols, gang enforcement, and prostitution stings... it was a LOT of fun.

Made me leave my other job and get into LE full time, even WITH the huge cut in pay.