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Proposed Bill Ensures Training For Reserve Police Officers

Tony Webster
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/diversey/

Proposed legislation moving easily through the General Assembly would ensure reserve police officers throughout the state receive much-needed training.

Reserve police officers are unpaid volunteers. They have the same police powers as regular law enforcement but don’t have to go through the same level of training.

Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington, wants to include reserve officers in the same yearly training courses professional police have to go through on the job.

“There are issues involved with firearms training, evac, emergency vehicle operations, how to handle people with autism, how to handle people with dementia, someone with disabilities, and also continuing education on updates in changes of the law that we do here at the Statehouse each year,” Leonard says.

He says the legislation also helps ensure police departments that use reserve officers aren’t exposed to legal liability.

The bill cleared the House unanimously and is up for passage in the Senate this week.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.