Potential volunteers excited to join Laramie County Sheriff's Office "posse"

Sep. 6—CHEYENNE — You could be the Laramie County Sheriff's Office's "eyes and ears" by joining the agency's new volunteer force.

Sheriff Brian Kozak said he has been inundated with calls and emails since the agency announced its new volunteer "posse" program on Tuesday.

Soon, volunteers that pass an interview and background check will be given a uniform and will complete a variety of tasks for LCSO that don't require "a badge and a gun." Kozak said this program is the first of several initiatives that will get the community more involved with the department.

"I know that there is a desire from citizens to help out local law enforcement, volunteer their time," Kozak told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. "There's quite a few people that ... maybe they have an interest in law enforcement, maybe they wanted to be officers, but they went on a different career path. So, this is just a way for them to get involved."

LCSO announced that these uniformed volunteers will help patrol shopping centers, check vehicle identification numbers (VIN), perform search-and-rescue investigations and assist with other tasks. Importantly, posse members will not have the power to arrest people or carry a gun.

What it takes

Potential posse members must be 18 or older, have a high school diploma (or equivalent), posses a valid driver's license, have a clean driving record and have no criminal history.

"We'll do an interview, we'll do a full background check," Kozak said. "... We don't want a history of DUIs or thefts in your background. No felonies are allowed. So, just good people who want to help their local law enforcement."

The announcement, posted on Facebook, showed a man named Jonathan flying a plane. Johnathan reached out to LCSO, offering his plane and his time for potential search-and-rescue efforts, when necessary, making him the first official posse member. LCSO posted that anyone with a plane who qualifies can be a part of the "Air Posse," too.

"Jonathan, I met him a while back, and right away, he volunteered," Kozak said. "He's got an airplane, he flies commercially as a job. He said, 'Hey, I'll help out when you need it, give me a call.' And so he's technically our first member of the search-and-rescue posse.

"That's just an example. We envision this search-and-rescue team and this posse to expand to have a mounted patrol. We want people with all-terrain vehicles that we can count on for search-and-rescue missions."

In the police department

The program bears some resemblance to the Cheyenne Police Department's Citizens on Patrol (COP) program, which Public Information Officer Alexandra Farkas said has proven successful for the department. She said 27 people currently serve as COPs for CPD.

"COP volunteers assist the department by patrolling neighborhoods, parks, schools and commercial areas as additional eyes on the street," she said. "They report suspicious activity, vandalism, tagging, parking violations and abandoned motor vehicles. ... The COP program has been very successful, and the community response has also been positive."

To be a COP, you must go through CPD's Citizens Police Academy. It is unclear what training LCSO will ask prospective volunteers to go through, if any.

While COPs have more of a patrol focus than Kozak wants his volunteers to have, some of the responsibilities delegated to both groups overlap. Both COPs and posse members could be expected to do things like make VIN checks, report any suspicious activity and manage records.

"Most tasks the COPs perform are designed to free up police officers for more expedited response," Farkas said.

The idea with the sheriff's posse is similar: to make deputies' lives easier.

"The deputies are all on board," said Kozak, who served as Cheyenne's police chief before becoming Laramie County's elected sheriff earlier this year. "They see this as a way for them to do the things that they need to be doing."

Going forward

Kozak said that, in the future, LCSO would like to have some volunteers get Peace Officer Standards and Training certified so they could carry guns and actively assist with investigations. He said the most likely candidate for that program would be a retired law enforcement officer.

Kozak added LCSO might also implement a "cadet" program, which would try to foster minors' interest in law enforcement early.

An open house to speak to Kozak and deputies about joining the sheriff's posse will be held at the Laramie County Sheriff's Office, 1910 Pioneer Ave., at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26.

In the meantime, the Sheriff's Office already has some interviews to schedule.

"I mean, we only posted this yesterday, and I've gotten a ton of emails and phone calls from people who were interested in the program," Kozak said. "So, I'm starting to form a list, and we'll reach out to those people and get them involved."

Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.