The Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office Reserve Division is made up of 190 people who volunteer at least 16 hours per

month functioning as Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office deputies. According to Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel, The Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office Reserve Division is an important function of the Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office. These men and women serve their community by volunteering in all aspects of law enforcement. The reserves are highly trained and the Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office depends on them to protect and serve the citizens of Oklahoma County. For more information regarding the OCSO Reserve Division or information on how you can apply to become a reserve deputy check out the following link: http://www.oklahomacounty.org/sheriff/fieldservices/reserves.asp Recently the Oklahoma County Reserves Division released their annual report from 2010 detailing what the division accomplished:

August 18, 2011 To: Sheriff Whetsel Undersheriff Taylor Major Barrow Mark Myers

From: Captain Snyder Sirs, I would like to inform you of the status of the Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office Reserve Division. I know you are aware of most of the obligations and responsibilities of the reserves; however I felt I would give you some resource information in case you need it. The reserves have turned in over 47,500 hours for 2010. We have different teams and team assignments in the Reserve Division and I would like to share some of their duties. ATV TEAM: The members of this team furnish their own equipment and are very active. They have been used on several searches in and out of our county. Other agencies and civic organizations have specifically requested the ATV s because of there mobility and unique ability to enter certain areas or terrain. BIKE TEAM: This team is a highly sought after team. Oklahoma City Police Bike Team is always glad to see our Bike Team assist them in the Brick town area especially on the weekends. Each member of the Bike Team must go through a nationally recognized PEMBA Training Course.

This training is recognized by CLEET and is nationally accepted training for any emergency response agency. MOUNTED PATROL: This is an unusual team; the citizen s love to be around them and yet they are capable of handing large unruly crowds. The Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office furnishes some equipment for the team; however the majority of the equipment is provided by each individual reserve deputy. This works well because the reserve deputy is able to ride their own horse. The reserve deputy does not just see his/her horse partner once in a while, but he/she has the responsibility of for the caring for their animals. This creates a bond somewhat like that of deputies who train their K-9 partners. The training the mounted reserve deputy and their horse undergo has been approved by Center on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) and has been adopted from the National Training Group. This means our mounted patrol deputies and their horses can work with other mounted patrol groups nationally. Several years ago our unit placed 5th nationally in the Post Mardi Gras competition held in New Orleans. The Mounted unit was also awarded Mounted Unit of the year in 1995 by the National Mounted Training Group. In 2007 we had three of our mounted patrol deputies attend training in Nashville, Tennessee. Our deputies placed in the top five out of over 100 mounted officers from agencies from around the country. The Mounted Patrol Unit attends several family events each year and they also patrol parking lots as well as perform field searches for lost children or the elderly. This group has been involved in field searches for suspects and stolen property as well as riding along I-35 looking for the license plate off of Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh s car after the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing. They also provided traffic control around the Murrah federal building during recovery efforts. FINGER PRINT TEAM: This is one of the hardest working reserve teams and is out almost every weekend. This is not a glamorous job or exciting as some of the others, but the team members are hard working and are very popular with the families in our community. In addition to fingerprinting children, they also take time to visit and teach parents how to gather DNA information and what to do if a child is missing. The Finger Print Team is one of the best ambassadors that our agency has established. DIVE TEAM: This team is well known around the country. They are ranked internationally because of their training and abilities. They are certified in underwater evidence recovery as well as underwater explosives removal. They have been requested by different agencies of the federal government as well as local and state to help recover items that were used in a crime. Some of our dive team members have even been called on to travel to different countries and train dive teams. They also conduct the first aid and CPR training each year for the Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office. F.A.S.T. TEAM: FAST ACTING SUPPORT TEAM responds when more man power is needed for large scaled first responder events like manhunts, natural disasters, or crowd control. In 2007

FAST received additional training in crowd control and how to extract someone out of a crowd. This year we are looking at incorporating more training through our Homeland Security Section. BOMB SQUAD: The Bomb Squad is led by full time deputies who are bomb technicians, but most of the squad is made up of reserve deputies. The reserves have to pass training requirements of the squad and be re-certified each year to remain on the squad. The reserves must know how to operate highly technical bomb equipment. The reserves volunteer for this dangerous squad to help insure the safety of the community. EVENT TEAM: The Event Team is very much involved in community policing. Where there are crowds of citizens walking around at a community function the Event Team will be there. Events include: school carnivals, sporting events, or traffic control for a parade. The Event Team enjoys the aspect of working directly with our citizen s. This attitude provides our citizen s direct contact with law enforcement and facilitates a stronger bond between our citizens and the deputies by providing high visibility at community functions we help make the event safer. RESERVE PATROL: The patrol is a very active part of the reserves. It has been said by officers of other agencies that our reserve patrol deputies receive more training than a lot of full time officers. The training the patrol reserve deputies receive is very detailed and required to stay on this team. These reserve deputies are not just there for back up, they are very often the primary unit and have to maintain control over whatever situation they are dispatched to, or initiate. OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES: Reserves also work in every area of the Oklahoma County Sheriff s Office. They help the Judicial Services Division with serving papers and transporting inmates. Reserve deputies pick up inmates within other counties and help transport to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. They also supplement the Protective Services Unit at times and help with high profile court cases or the Prep Program. The reserves provide security at the Oklahoma County Detention Center and secure county inmates who are temporarily housed at hospitals. TECHNOLOGY SERVICE: Reserves also work behind the scenes. Several reserve deputies have significant technology training and abilities and provide service in installing and maintaining the latest in technology knowledge. Reserve deputies help maintain some of the sheriff s office mobile data computer system and keep two way radios working. This may not sound exciting, but if you were the one hanging off the top of a 150 foot or higher antenna tower, you might want to rethink things. The Oklahoma County Reserve Deputies are the only reserves that I am aware of who are allowed to participate when guarding the President of the United States. They have guarded foreign dignitaries and have escorted high profile celebrities like Air Force s Blue Angles. Individual reserves as well as the entire division have been recognized by civic groups for the outstanding service they provide. Our Deputies have received great reviews not only in The Oklahoman but also in other papers like the Dallas Morning Star.