Part-time Blues: Volunteer Cops on the Beat

The Los Angeles Police Department, like many police departments across the country, is surprisingly dependent upon a corps of volunteers known as reserve officers.

To pay the bills, they make their living working as attorneys, teachers, or doctors during day. But by night, they are in many ways, the spitting image of a full-time police officer, decked in full uniform, handcuffs, and guns.

Reserve officers go through rigorous training with the LAPD. Depending on the level of training, some reserves are in charge of crowd control, patrolling streets, and working with other officers.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is a big believer in the reserve program. Beck began his career as a reserve officer back in 1975 at the age of 21. "Reserves give us this big connection to the community. Even though a reserve may only work two times a month, they are a constant representative of the police department," said Beck.

In 2012, the reserves included a group of 422 officers working two shifts a month. That's the equivalent of hiring 100 police officers, which could cost the department millions of dollars a year.

In this 2012 "SoCal Connected" piece, Brian Rooney interviews reserve officers on why they chose to commit to the program. He also interviews LAPD's Chief Beck and Lt. Craig Herron.

Featuring Interviews With:

• Ali Bashar, reserve officer
• David Vasquez, reserve officer
• Captain Roosevelt Johnson, captain, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station
• Chief Charlie Beck, LAPD