Reserve Officer Program
The purpose of the
South Carolina Reserve Officer Training Program is to provide participating
South Carolina law enforcement agencies with a training delivery system
consisting of accredited instructor support and training content which
conforms with the requirements of the South Carolina Reserve Officer
Law (Chapter 28, Title 23, Code of Laws of South Carolina of 1976 as
amended).
The Reserve Police
Officer Program is comprised of non-paid, volunteer individuals who
are sworn police officers with full arrest powers. Some Reserve Officers
use the program to begin their police career while finishing school
or completing a military commitment and hope to be hired as a full time
officer. Others have no interest in becoming a full time officer but
want to serve their community and have always been interested in law
enforcement. Many former full time officers have moved on to other careers
but remained a reserve officer to maintain their involvement in police
work.
Reserve Police
Officer candidates are subject to the same hiring procedure as a candidate
for a full time position. Reserve Officers, however, are not required
to go to the Criminal Justice Academy for nine weeks of training. Reserve
Officers, after they are hired, attend training at a local agency and
are taught Academy approved classes by certified law enforcement instructors
and local attorneys. The reserve officer class is sixty hours in length
and meets one to two nights a week. After graduation, Reserve Officers
must successfully complete "Field Training" just like their
full time counterparts. After accumulating one hundred hours of duty
time, a Reserve Officer may be assigned to solo patrol if he/she desires.
A minimum of twenty hours a month of on-duty time, or sixty hours a
quarter, must be accumulated for a Reserve Officer to maintain certification.
The Officer also attends a "Legal Update" once a year to maintain
a current understanding of the law.
For a small agency
such as ours, the Reserve Officer Program helps put more officers on
the street at a minimum cost. The Hanahan Police Department is proud
to have these dedicated volunteers who serve this community for no compensation
other than for their own personal satisfaction.
