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Out of Town Reserve Officer PJ Brothers at the recent Prickly Pear Festival. Photo by Cat Brown
The Superior Police Department has eight full-time officers, two of whom are command staff, but they also have the support of out of town reserves officers who help fill shifts. There is a need for out of town reserves because of Superior’s remote location. If the full-time officers on duty need backup, without the reserves, that backup will most likely come from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, but it can take as long as 30 minutes for deputies to reach Superior. Within that 30 minutes, Police Chief David Neuss says, “a fight or a family dispute, or an officer that is in danger” can mean a life and death situation.
The department has run an out of town reserve program for years, but according to Chief Neuss the program was, “dismantled completely in 2014, revamped in 2015, and then when I took office in October of 2015, I revamped it again.” As part of his remodeling, Chief Neuss stated, “We have the reserves pay for the backgrounds, so literally it cost the town no money at all to get a fully licensed, full authority police officer that passes a background just like the full-time officers.” There are 13 out of town reserves currently on the department. Chief Neuss mandates that each Reserve Officer give the department a minimum of 16 hours for free each month. After those first 16 hours, if the department needs the officers to work more hours, those hours are paid.
Some reserves travel as far as two and half hours to work for Superior. Working for the town gives the reserves additional experience that helps them expand their resumes. Bigger city departments have specialized units within the department, but in a small town, a police officer can run the gamut of police duties.
“Here not only are you the field unit, the one that takes the call,” Chief Neuss said, “but you have to do the ID, you have to fingerprint, take pictures, identify the scene, you have to do scene security, you have to do evidence collections, you have to do the follow up because you are the detective, you have to do the grand jury if one is necessary.” They also get the opportunity to follow up with an attorney through prosecution and work with search warrants.
The police department is not the only department in Superior which benefits from volunteer public safety personnel: the Superior Fire Department also has an out of town reserve program. The Fire Department tries to get as many in town reserves as possible, but it’s hard finding qualified personnel within the town limits, and many of those in town reserves work full-time jobs out of town.
Once out of town reserve now full time firefighter David Clinkenbeard. Photo by Todd Pryor
The fire department started its out of town reserve program in 2008. Their program requires 24 hours per month of volunteer time. The volunteers are ”paid on call,” which means they only get paid when they actually go on a call during their shift. Superior Fire currently has 12 out of town reserves on staff. The reserves have to pay for most of their own training.
Fire Chief John Paul Perez stated that all reserve hires have to obtain EMT and Fire 1 and 2 certificates within two years of hire. All out of town reserves have to start with a minimum of an EMT.
Many of the out of town reserves use the experience they gain with Superior Fire as a stepping stone to a bigger department. Chief Perez stated, “If they go on to other departments that’s okay.” The firefighters learn a lot working for Superior. “It gets them well rounded, and it gives them a good idea what the fire service is about.” Chief Perez says working for Superior, “You will get a good opportunity to learn a bit of everything, compared to a bigger department.” At a bigger department, you might have to be on an ambulance for two years before you can start fighting fire.
A few out of town reserves have found full-time homes at the department. Three firefighters of the six full-time positions on the department started out as out of town reserves. The latest full-time hire, David Clinkenbeard, had been a reserve with the department since the program first started and made the transition this summer to a full-time firefighter. Clinkenbeard says in, “A small town like Superior you are trained to do a lot of different jobs.” He has wanted to work full-time for Superior Fire for a long time. “I come from a small town in California, and I’ve always liked working in a small town.” He is very excited he’s finally gotten the opportunity to move into a full-time position and looks forward to working for the department for many years.
The out of town reserve program is a win-win for the both the Police and Fire Departments and the out reserve personnel – the town benefits by getting extra bodies on any given shift and the reserves gain valuable knowledge they can add to their repertoire.
Article by Cat Brown
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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