ST. IGNATIUS — In smaller communities around Montana, law enforcement is sometimes don’t have the capacity for larger forces.
In St. Ignatius, Chief of Police Jason Acheson is starting a reserve officer program to bring more manpower in the community.
“The Reserve program essentially...it's similar to that of the volunteer fire department. Members of the community who are interested or have an active, active interest in law enforcement would join the Reserve program. They will get trained under a certain amount of hours, state hours, minimum of 88 hours and two years to become reserve police officers," Acheson explained.
"And their function is to essentially be a supplement to the police department to police officers on duty. But it would help with anything from crowd control to traffic stops, to investigations, to public events. Anything that would require additional sources for another officer to perform their duties," Acheson continued.
While the program would be a volunteer opportunity, Acheson says he's hoping that this would be a pathway for someone to join law enforcement.
"I've been wanting to do this for a while. St. Ignatius is a small department. We're in need of manpower. We have a lot of activity in the community. And we're hoping that people in the community have an active interest in law enforcement that are viable candidates, be willing to look into the program and submit interest, submit an application and see if they are able to, or have the characters and skill set to be police officers," Acheson said.
"It's a great introduction for somebody who wants to get into law enforcement, gives them an idea of what law enforcement is about, gives them an opportunity to get involved in the community and to give back,” he continued.
Chief Acheson is not new to reserve officer programs; that’s how he got into law enforcement almost 20 years ago.
“I started in Columbia Falls as a reserve officer. A lot of people that want to get into law enforcement that's how they start out as reserve officers. That's how you cut your teeth, that's how you earn it, so to speak, you go in, you put in the hours, there's no pay, it's volunteer, but if that's your desire, it gives you an opportunity to see what the job is really all about. Put you in the field with officers doing the job," Acheson recalled.
"And if and when an opportunity comes for a vacancy in the department that you're working or another department, that status as a reserve officer helps you exponentially in the hiring process to get you hired as a full-time officer. That's how I cut my teeth, that's how many officers have cut their teeth. You sort of get your foot in the door and work your way in from there. I am full circle,” Acheson told MTN.
When starting this program Acheson said that there is excitement to start this program for the community.
“It's exciting. It's awesome to see a new applicant and as they go through the stages of the training, seeing the development and the growth and for them to continuously work on their skill sets and get involved in the community and give back. It's awesome to watch their investigative skills, watch them grow into the position. But it's also very rewarding, but it's very scary and it's very stressful when you're training a new officer, you're responsible for everything that officer does. So not only are you worried about protecting the safety of the people in the community or yourself, you also have a new officer that's very fresh that has not been exposed to hostile environments or hostile situations. You have to be very cognizant of your surroundings to make sure that they're safe too. It could be very stressful. And then lastly is what was kind of the process like working with City Council to get this in front of them." - St. Ignatius Chief of Police Jason Acheson
In his two years as Chief of Police, Acheson says that while he has been restructuring and introducing new programs. He explained what he is looking for in reserve officers.
“We're looking for officers that are energetic who, who have an active interest in law enforcement, who can also perform the abilities and duties that's required in an officer, everything from the mental physical stress of being an officer from physical agility running activity to being able to multitask to work under pressure. They got to have a familiarity with typing with software, computer software, firearms familiarity and obviously a clean background," Acheson detailed.
"In Montana, you have to be a resident of Montana for one year and within the county of six months in order to be appointed as a reserve officer. And Montana law has a guideline of what,, what standards have to be met in order to be a reserve police officer. So they will have to meet those standards. They'll have to have a good background check. Be at least 18 years of age, have a good driving record,” Acheson said.
While no officers have been hired yet, Acheson is hoping that this program will start and by next year, the community will have more officers on the ground. People interested in applying can reach out to the St. Ignatius Police Department.
