The Lawrence County Sheriff's Auxiliary is a volunteer company organized under the Office of the Sheriff with its officers commissioned by the Sheriff. This document defines and describes the Lawrence County Sheriff's Auxiliary (LCSA), an organization, training program, and resource pool for the county sheriff to call upon and deputize as necessary in an emergency situation. The goal of this program is to achieve the best possible emergency readiness at the least cost under difficult budgetary circumstances while minimizing reliance on outside resources and intervention. The program is an operational test of the concept which will be adjusted as needed and perhaps replicated elsewhere.
To supplement the Sheriff's capabilities in routine operations (e.g. neighborhood patrols) and provide a pool of trained, pre-qualified, well-coordinated teams during non-routine operations (e.g. a disaster). The Auxiliary is not intended to replace deputies or the Reserve Deputy Program, in or out of an emergency, but to provide complementary skills and provide opportunities for community members to participate who do not desire a career in law enforcement. The Auxiliary is intended neither to provide primary law enforcement nor criminal investigative skills. The Auxiliary answers to the Office of the Sheriff when properly called up and directed in an emergency; Auxiliary members have no authority when not empowered and directed by the Sheriff. At the same time, the Auxiliary shall not be the personal gang of the Sheriff and is to be used only in the furtherance of public order and in defense of the community at large.
Specifically:
[From mission statement as approved by the Sheriff on 22 February 2012.]
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Auxiliary was officially formed on 22 February 2012, its initial four officers were commissioned by Lawrence County Sheriff Brad Delay: Eric Vought, Cathleen Vought, Jason Haymes, and Krista Haymes. A draft Mission Statement and organizational document was approved.
Much of the initial work in starting the organization was undertaken by Eric Vimont of Mount Vernon in 2011 and early 2012. Eric Vimont helped organize crews of volunteers from Lawrence County through the Joplin Family Worship Center for disaster relief in the first days after the 2011 Joplin F-5 tornado. The events of Joplin lead to interest in creating a formal organization in Lawrence County to supplement the Sheriff's Office in time of emergency. Initial documents and organization were based on a prototype effort under The Statesmen For Our Constitutional Republic (Eric Vought, President), SCR-CERT. Upon the formation of the LCSA, the SCR-CERT effort was ended and The Statesmen released the maltese cross logo for this organization's use.
Officers in the organization are Lawrence County residents 18-years and older, commissioned by the Sheriff.
Officer appointments or promotions are typically prepared by the Chief of Staff and must be approved by the Sheriff or his designated staff member. Officer appointments must be accepted by the existing officers as described under "Officers." After being commissioned, an officer takes a verbal and written oath of service. Enlisted personnel appointments and promotions are typically prepared by the Command Sergeant Major and approved by the Chief of Staff.
This layout is based on US company staff combined with elements of regimental structure because the Auxiliary has no parent unit. The organization is deliberately officer-heavy. An infantry company would often be commanded by a captain with lieutenants in charge of 3-4 platoons of mainly enlisted. Special Forces companies are often commanded by a major, as here, because they operate in small sub-units where more leadership and discretion is required. This structure is also intended to be able to rapidly muster volunteers underneath it, and the quads (described below under Operational Units) step in to organize these work parties of volunteers as rough platoons. In an extended emergency, we then have a convenient structure for rapidly training and deploying the full company's worth of personnel or possibly even a battalion. In normal (non-emergency) operation, we would collect NCOs to hold onto special expertise these work-parties will need to do their jobs, with enlisted personnel coming and going over time.
Staff positions:
The Continental System of Numbering is given for reference in comparing staff positions to that of other organizations.
The Commander of the unit is the senior officer, Commandant of the organization, reports to the Sheriff, and coordinates with outside agencies. The Commander is responsible for operational command of the unit, chairs meetings, develops and approves the overall training and doctrine, and is responsible for the functioning of the Auxiliary as a smooth unit. The Commander generally bestows major awards, promotions, and discipline except when the Sheriff reserves that role or delegated to the XO.
Reporting Requirements:
The Executive Officer or XO supports the Commander in his roles and takes the place of the Commander when not available. The XO works with the Chief of Staff (or Adjutant, if applicable) to monitor personnel matters, recommend promotions, and bring matters to the attention of the Commander. The XO generally ensures that orders are carried out and that the rules of the unit are followed. The XO shall operate as or appoint the Parliamentarian at meetings. The XO provides forward operational command in the field and may take direct command of critical tasks in order to ensure success of the mission.
Reporting Requirements:
The Chief of Staff organizes all of the staff functions of the unit, consolidates daily operations and reporting, coordinating with their counterpart in the Sheriff's staff. The Chief of Staff may appoint an Adjutant to handle personnel matters (S-1). If an Adjutant is appointed, they act as a clerk and all responsibility still rests with the Chief of Staff.
The Chief of Staff reports to the XO on most matters and to the Commander on major issues and periodic reports. The Chief of Staff prepares quarterly reports for the Sheriff to be signed off on by the Commander. The Chief of Staff prepares requests for the Sheriff on the commissioning or promotion of officers, and approves enlisted staff appointments by the Senior NCO.
The Chief of Staff shall develop and maintain standards of training and qualification for the organization upon consultation with appropriate staff and officials, to be approved by the Commandant and the Sheriff. The Chief of Staff maintains the unit roster, duty list, calendar of events, and personnel records, including current credentials and identity documents, however, the S2 shall be directly responsible for unit identification, accounts, and passwords.
Reporting Requirements:
The Chief of Staff:
The quartermaster manages property, equipment, consumables, and finances of the Auxiliary. The Quartermaster is responsible for periodic inventories, tracking loaned or issued equipment, and ensuring that stores are replenished given appropriate funds.
Specialized equipment is managed by the appropriate staff officer but audited by the Quartermaster. For example, medical supplies are managed by the Chief Medical Officer who reports inventories to the Quartermaster and cooperates with periodic audits. Similarly, any weapons (real or simulated), ammunition, range equipment, and so forth are managed by the Master of Arms but reported to the Quartermaster.
The Quartermaster shall designate NCOs qualified to be facilities managers for maintaining field headquarters, event/training sites, LCSA-operated shelters and facilities, shall work with the Command Sergeant Major to recommend candidates, develop qualifications and training for these positions.
Reporting Requirements:
The Quartermaster:
The Chief Medical Officer or CMO is the top-level authority in the LCSA on medical matters and has several areas of responsibility:
In the absence of the CMO, the Ranking Medical Officer (RMO) on-site holds the corresponding authority. The CMO or RMO's authority is absolute within their expertise. The CMO may delegate their authority and responsibilities to such assistants as may be necessary or practical, in cooperation with the Chief of Staff and the CSM.
Reporting Requirements:
The CMO:
The Communications Officer facilitates and coordinates Sheriff's Auxiliary communications, including working to develop communications plans and protocols, recommend and standardize technology, and coordinate communications training. The Comms Officer also participates in community processes to foster interoperable communications between the Sheriff's Office and other organizations/agencies. The Auxiliary Communications section, under direction of the Communications Officer, provides field communications for the Sheriff's Auxiliary, field communications for the Sheriff's Office when required, and supports the overall Emergency Communications and Public Warning functions of the Sheriff's Office. Finally, the Communications Officer is expected to direct research and experimentation in new emergency communications technologies and techniques.
The Communications Officer is also responsible, directly, through designated subordinates, or through outside professionals, for the Auxiliary websites, email, and team management system.
The Communications Officer shall coordinate with the Intelligence/Security Chief to provide secure communications channels for sensitive or confidential communications and to control access to access-restricted Auxiliary communications systems.
Reporting Requirements:
The Communications Officer:
[Version 0.1 Unapproved draft] The Intelligence and Security Chief is generally responsible for the security of the organization. Security exists when risk is managed to the most practical point that allows completion of organizational missions. All assets to include facilities, field sites, training areas, personnel, equipment, and information fall under the protection of the S2. The S2 must understand the scope of the organization's mission and the types of activities that organization will undertake to properly plan security. The S2 must understand the duties of the other staff sections in order to tailor security to their activities.
The S2 researches security matters that may affect the organization and helps the command staff develop measures to prevent, mitigate, and respond to risk. The S2 devises information and physical security practices and creates doctrine that will ultimately be approved or denied by the commander. The S2 is available to advise the staff on security matters during planning, preparation, and execution of missions. The S2 studies the effectiveness of security measures taken during missions to determine if any changes should be made. The S2 participates in the Training/Exercise Program, particularly scenario development, in order to ensure that exercises target realistic threats using credible scenarios.
One of the missions of the LCSA is to provide supplemental capabilities to the Sheriff's Office during routine operations. The Auxiliary's intelligence function, under the S2, is intended to provide the Sheriff's Office with an additional intelligence capability. This capability will include research into community threats, analysis, verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A) of intelligence sources.
Reporting Requirements:
The Master of Arms is responsible for weapons, simulated weapons, weapon safety, physical security, related standards and procedures:
The Master of Arms, Range Master, and designated subordinates wear a red armband or red blaze on the sleeves so that they may be readily identified and their authority recognized.
The Unit Chaplain reports to the Chief of Staff. The Chaplain(s) are responsible for the spiritual well-being of the Auxiliary volunteers, the members of the Sheriff's Office as a whole, and their families. The Unit Chaplain supervises and trains Chaplains and Chaplain Assistants. The LCSA Unit Chaplain and subordinates may act on behalf of the public at large and minister to victims or victims families (or those accused), but primary responsibility is to the unit and to the Sheriff's Office.
The role of an LCSA Chaplain mirrors that of a US military chaplain as outlined at http://www.militaryonesource.mil/phases-military-leadership?content_id=269246 , but some points will be emphasized/clarified here.
Reporting Requirements:
The Unit Chaplain reports to the Chief of Staff.
Each quarter, the Unit Chaplain shall submit a report to command staff summarizing the current number and status of Chaplains and Chaplain's assistants, and of overall activities occurring under under their authority. The Unit Chaplain shall coordinate with the Quartermaster to ensure that any unit property currently under the care of their office is properly inventoried and accounted for.
The ranks recognized by the organization, in order of seniority.
Enlisted Personnel:
Officer Ranks:
A Warrant Officer is a non-commissioned officer, usually a specialist, which acts as both the highest non-commissioned rank and the lowest commissioned rank. They may exercise command authority as an officer when leading missions in their specialty or fill staff sergeant roles such as Command Sergeant Major.
A cadet is an officer-in-training, 16-years or older, must be approved by the Chief of Staff, the Sheriff's office, and have written permission and waiver from their legal guardian (except in the case of a documented Emancipated Minor). A cadet in good standing exercises the same rank in the field as a Warrant Officer (and is therefore effectively outranked by a Chief Warrant Officer).
Although the initial formation of the unit is top-down and hierarchal, the goal will be to transition many aspects of its off-the-field organization to a deliberative body consisting of officers, active volunteers, and representatives from the community at large. Organization during deployment and active duty shall continue to be a command-structure, but long-term planning shall be conducted by the steering group once it is constituted.
Board of Directors:
The first step in establishing a steering group shall be filing as a non-profit organization and creating a Board of Directors (BoD or "Board"). The Board shall consist of at least four and at most seven Directors, with five being the initial complement. The Directors shall be required to include:
The initial complement of the Board shall be determined by agreement between the Sheriff and the Auxiliary Command Staff. The non-profit organization charter shall specify procedures for electing/appointing future Board members and for required and special meetings of the Board. The purpose of the BoD shall be to perform long-term planning, to develop the overall capabilities of the Auxiliary, to create relationships with other community groups, to obtain equipment and funding, and to generally advocate for the Auxiliary within the community.
For the first several years of the Auxiliary's existence, the Board of Directors shall likely be a sufficient "deliberative body" to determine its course and advocate for it within the community, with the Command Staff retaining control of day-to-day operations. One of the tasks of the BoD shall be to begin formation of a larger deliberative body of current and former volunteers to provide organizational direction, but it shall not be required to do so until the start of 2014 or until there are more than a total of 100 current and former officers and non-coms, whichever comes later.
Officers in the Auxiliary shall be commissioned by the Sheriff and juried in by their peers. What this means in practical terms is an existing officer (and members of the Sheriff's Office count as “officers” for this purpose) must sponsor someone for inclusion and the current staff must then accept them. The Chief of Staff, in conjunction with the Adjutant and Security officer shall ensure their qualifications, compile a list of candidate officers or officers who are candidates for promotion, and submit them to the Sheriff or the Sheriff's designee. The Sheriff then signs off on the recommendation. Finally, the officers take the oath of service and receive their official commission.
Officers must also comply with a code-of-conduct. The behavior of the unit's officers reflects directly on the unit and on the Office of the Sheriff. The code-of-conduct shall ensure that those serving in a leadership capacity comport themselves with dignity and decorum which will reflect well on the whole, by forbidden such behaviors as public drunkenness while encouraging members of the unit to help and challenge each other to excel. Officers are expected to be role models and exemplary members of the community.
The actual meat and potatoes of the unit is organized into "quads", ( equivalent to “fire-teams” of four each in military parlance, but not an appropriate term given our missions), commanded by a Lieutenant SG with a mix of Lieutenant JGs, Warrant-Officers, or other NCOs under them. Quads are trained to operate independently as tightly integrated teams but can be grouped together for larger missions. This provides a minimum unit for mutual support: four people assigned to an area or mission (possibly with a Deputy attached for direction) who can then operate as a pair of pairs either within sight or radio of each other. It works equally well for neighborhood door-to-door sweeps, checkpoints, SAR, or scout-sniper teams.
We don't ever want to perform an activity as less than a pair. The buddy system provides someone to watch your back and for mutual support when something goes wrong. But partnering also means you have a witness of your actions and, because you have a witness, you are less likely to break the rules or take shortcuts in sight of your partner. This is why police organizations always used partners prior to getting their budgets slashed. Quads are also easy to assign to vehicles for transport.
Another aspect of this is that we can form quads of people who can frequently get together for training, equipment maintenance, etc., gathering quads together slightly less often for unit tactics. The same structure then translates to who you automatically muster with in an emergency to either handle your local area or gather into larger units. Small units for local training plus shared doctrine for larger maneuvers works very well for the weekend-warrior type situation. Because officer turn-over should be lower than for professional units (platoon and company-level command in the US military rotates on a 12-18 month basis), the end-level of training and readiness can actually be higher in volunteer units.
This page shall detail the basic requirements for qualifications, certifications, and training to operate in the auxiliary.
The first requirement is a CCW or proof of exemption from a CCW (i.e. as a former peace officer). The CCW application process ensures some minimal training in self-defense law, minimal competence in handguns, and a Sheriff's Office background check. As the Sheriff's office is already set up to process these applications, no additional structure is required for identity and background.
The officer applicant is then required to have at the least the following additional training:
The officer is then expected to obtain the following in a timely fashion:
Beyond this, an officer shall be required to participate in a minimum amount of annual field training with the unit, to keep certifications current, and encouraged to advance their expertise in a specialty (e.g. communications, first aid, firearms training, shelter operations, search-and-rescue, demolitions and light construction). Each officer is also required to spend a minimum number of hours each year (TBD) teaching emergency skills in courses available to the public.
Enlisted Candidates shall be required to have:
The enlistee is then expected to obtain in a timely fashion:
A Non-Commissioned Officer is required to obtain:
Beyond this, an NCO shall be required to participate in a minimum amount of annual field training with the unit, to keep certifications current, and encouraged to advance their expertise in their main or an additional specialty (e.g. communications, first aid, firearms training, shelter operations, search-and-rescue, demolitions and light construction).
Warrant Officers are specialists in a specific discipline whose expertise requires that they be in command of missions related directly to their specialty (e.g. a medical specialist in charge of organizing aid locally for victims of a disaster, an ARES operator in charge of field communications) and with minimal additional cross-training to function within the unit.
A Chief Warrant Officer is additionally required to have:
As the training and qualifications are finalized, there shall be an emphasis on leadership training among officers, practical training and field experience among the non-commissioned officers. Officers are expected to rely on the expertise of their non-coms; Warrant Officers are expected to rely on the experience of their non-coms outside their specialty and on commissioned officers for knowledge of law, coordinating with the Sheriff's Office, and working within the Auxiliary structure.
Individuals below the age of 21 (and therefore ineligible for the CCW) may participate by special exception of the Sheriff. The rules for volunteer cadets shall be laid out at a future date.
What certification standard must I follow?
There are two major standards for First Aid and CPR certification: the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Red Cross (ARC). The ARC uses the AHA guidelines to develop its training but presents the material a bit differently, including information on initial response to an emergency and good samaritan laws which is sometimes not offered by AHA instructors. One of the big differences is that AHA instructors offer CPR certification for two years while ARC instructors only certify for one year. The American Red Cross believes that people who do not use CPR on a regular basis (the case with most employees and lay volunteers) do not retain the knowledge adequately without one-year recertification. This author initially certified with the American Red Cross and has valued that training.
The LCS Auxiliary currently allows certification to either standard. Our volunteers are also required to receive CERT training which covers initial incident response, as does the First Responder training volunteers can take as an elective. Having the material covered again in an ARC class is not a bad thing and reviewing CPR information and techniques more frequently than every two years is also good (you should be voluntarily reviewing your course materials more often than once a year) , but our volunteers are required and encouraged to train in many skills, and requiring frequent recertification in one skill may come at the cost of less attention paid to another important skill. ARC classes are excellent but often harder to schedule. Make your own choice and constantly seek opportunities to keep your skills sharp.
How long is certification good for?
First Aid training certificates are good for three years. AHA CPR certificates are good for two years and ARC certificates for one year. You may take recertification or requalifying courses before your certificate expires; these courses are usually shorter, faster paced, and less expensive than the initial CPR course.
Where can I get classes?
This is an incomplete list of training in the area we know about. We will try to keep volunteers informed about upcoming classes, adding them to the site calendar. We can also schedule group training when there are enough people who need it. The Greater Ozarks Chapter of the American Red Cross will do local group courses for 15-20 people at a time.
Are online First Aid/CPR courses any good?
That's a good question (also discussed at cprfirstaidclasses.info). For many people, especially those who are good at self-study, online courses can be as good or better than class room training. In the case of First Aid, clearly an online course cannot have a practical component and cannot have an instructor watching to ensure that you perform the skills correctly (they instead center on videos). The three online vendors I have found currently offer AHA-compliant First Aid or CPR courses for approx $20 and combined courses for approx $36, which is less expensive than typical classroom training, easier to schedule (you can take it at 3 am if you like and can do it all it once or break it up), and you can work at your own pace, retaking the test for free if you do not pass the first time.
Consistent self-review of materials and real life experience can be of more use than 'practical' classroom skills and a good online course might be a good option for recertifying. Online course are useful if: you have already had hands-on training, you learn well that way and are good at self-study, know how to look up additional information or find a professional to talk to, are proactive about practice and review, and are self-motivated to understand the material (rather than just memorize answers for a quiz), and especially if I you are easily bored by a class which is not fast-paced enough or taught by an interesting and engaging instructor. If these things are not true for you do not take an online course or, if you are in a hurry with a busy schedule, take the online course and follow it up with a 'real' course when you can schedule it. Your life or someone else's life may depend on your skill: do not skimp.
If you do take an online course, you should probably purchase hard copy materials you can review offline. A First Aid manual is not something you consult in an emergency but need to look at frequently between emergencies. MobilReference has an excellent guide for the Nook, "First Aid and Home Doctor," which can be carried anywhere for frequent review and can be used to supplement First Aid instruction.
Volunteers in the Auxiliary are required to have a 1-day in-house course in communications and 2-way radio use. This course has the following goals:
The CERT training for community groups is usually delivered in 2 1/2 hour sessions, one evening a week over a 7 week period. The training consists of the following:
- Session I, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: Addresses hazards to which people are vulnerable in their community. Materials cover actions that participants and their families take before, during, and after a disaster. As the session progresses, the instructor begins to explore an expanded response role for civilians in that they should begin to consider themselves disaster workers. Since they will want to help their family members and neighbors, this training can help them operate in a safe and appropriate manner. The CERT concept and organization are discussed as well as applicable laws governing volunteers in that jurisdiction.
- Session II, DISASTER FIRE SUPPRESSION: Briefly covers fire chemistry, hazardous materials, fire hazards, and fire suppression strategies. However, the thrust of this session is the safe use of fire extinguishers, sizing up the situation, controlling utilities, and extinguishing a small fire.
- Session III, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS PART I: Participants practice diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock by using simple triage and rapid treatment techniques.
- Session IV, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS, PART II: Covers evaluating patients by doing a head to toe assessment, establishing a medical treatment area, performing basic first aid, and practicing in a safe and sanitary manner.
- Session V, LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS: Participants learn about search and rescue planning, size-up, search techniques, rescue techniques, and most important, rescuer safety.
- Session VI, DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY AND TEAM ORGANIZATION: Covers signs and symptoms that might be experienced by the disaster victim and worker. It addresses CERT organization and management principles and the need for documentation.
- Session VII, COURSE REVIEW AND DISASTER SIMULATION: Participants review their answers from a take home examination. Finally, they practice the skills that they have learned during the previous six sessions in disaster activity.
During each session participants are required to bring safety equipment (gloves, goggles, mask) and disaster supplies (bandages, flashlight, dressings) which will be used during the session. By doing this for each session, participants are building a disaster response kit of items that they will need during a disaster.
The CERT program goes back to the Los Angeles Fire Department in 1985 and the Whittier Narrows Earthquake in 1987. It is based on two realizations: 1) that emergency services, communications, and transportation will be overwhelmed by a major disaster, and 2) that local, probably untrained, citizens will attempt to respond and perform rescue operations. Unfortunately, untrained responders often endanger themselves and others. The need for community-wide emergency response training was recognized and formalized. Today, CERT is organized under Citizen Corps (along with VIPS, the Volunteers In Police Service Program, which we also participate in). CERT volunteers are trained to provide local emergency response within their community during a disaster and to organize other local, possibly untrained, volunteers to work effectively. As such, the mission of CERT is highly complementary to that of the LCSA.
LCSA volunteers who undergo the CERT training will retain the CERT equipment and training materials and will be full members of the Lawrence County CERT program. LCSA volunteers have as their first priority serving the needs of the Lawrence County Sheriff, however, CERT membership provides the option of responding to one organization if the other is not activated or the volunteer's services are not currently needed by the other. Sharing the same basic training also makes it easier for LCSA and CERT volunteers to work side-by-side in the field.
The CERT training materials are available online through the CERT Website. IS-317, an online introductory course, is also available. IS-317 is not required to take the hands-on CERT course but some people may find it useful as an introduction to what CERT does and how it works.
The Auxiliary requires an 8-hour course in "Constitution, law, the functioning of the Sheriff's Office, and the Auxiliary" for officer candidates, and a 3-hour course on the same subject for NCO candidates.
The intent of this course is to cover the basics of the history/purpose of the Sheriff's office, property rights under the Constitution, our role as an auxiliary, and the legal issues surrounding intervention in situations we may face (i.e.: consent to treatment for first aid situations, MO law on intervention to prevent a violent felony, fcc regulations governing radio use in an emergency). It shall also cover the differences inherenent in the roles we may play (deputized, acting as a volunteer, acting in personal capacity). We will look at some historical cases where things may have been done right and some where they were done wrong and discuss them.
The Auxiliary requires that our commissioned and non-commissioned officers (except potentially Warrant Officers) obtain a Missouri Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit and driver's license endorsement. This serves two purposes:
Are volunteers required to carry or use firearms?
The Auxiliary is not a tactical unit and volunteers are not generally required to be armed, however, it is one of the Sheriff's requirements that we know how to bear and work safely around firearms when the circumstances require it. If the Sheriff must ever raise a citizen's posse (one of the authorities of a county sheriff) because... say... a prison transport bus overturns and lets a group of dangerous felons loose on the community, he (or she) needs to know there is a pool of pre-screened citizens who can bear arms, know how to work with the Sheriff, and can be expected to take a leadership role in the community response. This is not a likely scenario, but it is one of the responsibilities that the Sheriff and the Auxiliary has to keep in mind.
More probable scenarios involve bearing arms alongside our primary emergency response mission, such as guarding an emergency supply depot and ensuring that all equipment transfers are authorized, escorting search and rescue volunteers in a situation where a child is missing and may have been taken by force, helping patrol an area in a disaster zone where looting has occurred, etc. In these cases, we will be working with deputies to perform a primary emergency response mission which has self-defense aspects.
What if I am not comfortable bearing arms?
The Auxiliary will not require individual volunteers to bear arms or to perform any duty which the volunteer does not believe they may perform safely, or where there are strong objections of conscience. A communications or First Aid specialist, for instance, need not carry a gun if that is something they are not comfortable doing. However, all required volunteers must still obtain a CCW and participate in weapons-related training because the Auxiliary as a whole does deal with self-defense/civil-defense and firearms issues as does, obviously, the Office of the Sheriff. A volunteer must know how to work around weapons, handle them safely when required, and work alongside people who are armed. A volunteer must have some level of training in self-defense law and in how to deal with a potentially violent situation (crisis intervention). That part is not negotiable. Volunteers can still work with the Auxiliary through organizations such as CERT where weapons-training is not required and can still perform support roles without being an Officer or NCO.
If you do have strong objections to carrying/using a weapon, let your immediate superior know and make certain they understand. It will be noted in your record and we will work with you to direct your required training in appropriate ways. If you have problems related to PTSD or similar past experiences, also let us know and we may be able to refer you to people who can help. If, however, you do not feel you can function rationally in a situation where, for instance, we are providing rear-area support for the Sheriff's office in a stand-off or that you can effectively help victims of violence, then perhaps CERT, ARES, SKYWARN, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army or any of the other excellent local community service organizations will be a better fit.
If you want to carry a gun because you think it is cool or because you were not accepted at the Police Academy, please do not apply! The Auxiliary does not provide primary law enforcement or "law enforcement-lite". It is not a militia. We deal with stressful situations where a level-head must be maintained at all times. The respect and trust of the community is essential to our mission.
The CCW process in Missouri is relatively straight-forward. We have a shall-issue process here which means that a qualified applicant shall be issued a CCW within a set time period unless there is a specific reason not to (such as a prior felony conviction or a weapons-related offense within the defined time period).
The Auxiliary, as with other required training, will attempt to secure group classes and discounts when in order to make it as easy as possible for volunteers to obtain training and certification they need or which will make them more valuable volunteers.
Because Auxiliary volunteers may be armed, the Sheriff's Office requires a minimum level of tactical training. The Missouri CCW process builds the foundation by covering Missouri self-defense law, basic firearm safety, and a range practical, but is not by-itself sufficient. Additional training in law, the authority of the Sheriff, and our role within that structure is provided in the Constitution, Law, and the Auxiliary courses and the First Aid requirement sets a minimum level for dealing with injuries (First Responder training is highly encouraged).
As discussed under the CCW process, all volunteers, even those whose role does not include use of firearms (i.e. staff and medical officers) must have a minimum level of firearm and weapons training to ensure that they can safely handle and secure weapons encountered in the course of their duties and safely work around other personnel with firearms. The Auxiliary therefore has three levels of tactical training: a minimum core requirement, a Basic Tactical level, and an Advanced Tactical level.
Operationally, the intent is that volunteers with higher levels of tactical training (presumably NCOs) would be paired with volunteers with a lower-level of training. Therefore, the instruction at the lower level concentrates on technique and the higher level on tactics and planning.
[These requirements are still being drafted and are subject to change.]
Core Tactical Requirements:
Including the CCW, First Aid, and a portion of the Constitution, Law and the Auxiliary course, the core requirement represents about 20 hours of training. A pistol-I class brings it up to 28 contact hours.
Basic Tactical Requirements:
A volunteer meeting the Basic Tactical requirements will earn a Basic Tactical uniform qualification pin.
Advanced Tactical Requirements:
A volunteer meeting the Advanced Tactical requirements will earn an Advanced Tactical uniform qualification pin.
Descriptions:
Securing and Disabling Weapons Practical
A 2-3 hour hands-on course covering safe-handling, securing, disabling, or destroying a variety of firearms. Course covers the basic working mechanisms of different classes of firearms, how to safety-check and disassemble common types, how to safely secure (e.g. using bolt locks correctly), how to remove critical working parts to disable (e.g. remove bolt and lock up separately), and if necessary, how to quickly and permanently destroy firearms which must be left unsecured. Hands-on component gives students practice in securing and disassembling firearms.
Weapon Retention and Empty Hand Techniques
This course will be supported, if possible, through standard, commercially available training. Course shall cover basics of weapon retention: safe handling of a sidearm on and off-duty; deny malefactors access to your firearm; empty hand techniques to protect yourself when you cannot get to your firearm or to prevent an opponent’s firearm from being brought into play. Shall cover standard disarming techniques.
Equivalencies: If you have equivalent training, you may receive a waiver fro the LCSA required version.
You must submit a certificate of a satisfactory completion from the previous 4+ hours training (e.g. a POST certificate for prior law enforcement training, from military training as MP, SO, MOA, etc, which would cover equivalent or higher skills. An outside class from a certified firearm instructor with class description. A mixed-method martial arts training on equivalent subjects might also work as would private courses through a private security firm. If we cannot give you a credit for the previous class, we can still put the information in the instructor's corse folder so that he knows what students have already had for training. When in doubt, take the class and then there will be no potential issue.
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