Volunteers can do a lot of things: from teaching children to planting gardens to helping charities.
But we’re not so sure the brunt of firefighting and police duties should be placed on the backs of volunteers.
Years ago, many small police and sheriff’s departments had forces of volunteers who were able to pitch in when needed, especially with duties such as traffic control. Meanwhile, fire departments made up of mostly volunteers battled structure and grass fires, protecting life and property.
During a work session Tuesday, the Neosho City Council heard a suggestion from Neosho resident and former councilmember Doug Skaggs as to reinstating volunteer firefighter and police positions. Skaggs made the suggestion as a way of combating the personnel shortage caused by layoffs of police and fire personnel.
But it’s not feasible to have forces of volunteers as we did in days of yesteryear. Neosho Fire Chief Mike Eads estimated that departments typically need five volunteers for each one that will actually respond to calls, particularly in the middle of the night and during bad weather. And to equip and train each volunteer would cost the department about $5,000, funds the city just doesn’t have at this time.
Meanwhile, Police Chief Dave McCracken said all reserve law enforcement officers have to be licensed by the state and must have attended two days of in-service training. The chief added the biggest obstacle to having reserve forces is the amount of liability issues it would pose. McCracken also said many officers would serve in the reserve force long enough to get a full-time job in another department, leaving the police department picking up the tab for training costs.
One thing we don’t doubt: people would volunteer.
But would they come out in numbers sufficient to meet the need? Would they voluntarily undergo the extensive training required, especially if they had to pay a portion, or all of it, themselves? And would they stick around once they gain some experience?
In a perfect world, the answer to all of those questions would be a resounding “yes.”
But this isn’t a perfect world. If it were, there wouldn’t be a need for police or fire protection in the first place.
Part of the solution lies with the city management and city council. We need the city manager, department heads and the council to continue to be diligent in trimming costs. Our fire and police chiefs need to keep seeking funding to rehire officers and firefighters.
