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Some in Significantly Smaller TCSO Reserve Program Could be Ready for the Fair

Tulsa County Sheriff

A significantly whittled down Tulsa County volunteer deputy class is set to begin training.

Sgt. Mike Moore said 41 have met physical readiness requirements to move ahead, and five more should soon.

"So, they've actually started training to bring their hours up that they need for the reserve academy requirements or to begin their operational refresher phase that the sheriff requires prior to beginning their field training," Moore said.

All reserves must have 240 hours of training in order to be certified. Moore said some reserves who started years ago have as many as 120 hours to make up, with the agency providing up to 80 hours along with a 40-hour legal updates course.

"If the reserve deputy's in the position to have the 240 [Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training] academy hours already, then we're just using that 40 hours for their patrol operations refresher," Moore said.

Moore said at least some volunteer deputies could meet all the requirements in time to work the fair in late September.

Before it was suspended, the volunteer program had around 130 deputies.

"Sometimes, leaner is better," Moore said. "Once we get the current reserves that we have up to speed, the sheriff is pretty positive — as I am — that it's going to appeal to more citizens, who are going to maybe want to come participate in the reserve program, and that our numbers will rebound."

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.