Sheriffs: Repeat of controversial Tulsa shooting unlikely here

As more details emerge about the fatal shooting involving a Tulsa County Sheriff's Office reserve deputy - including that some of the 73-year-old's training records were falsified - local sheriffs say such an incident is unlikely to occur here.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek and Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner both served short stints as reserve deputies in Linn County in the early 1980s before becoming full-time deputies in their respective departments. Today, both men tout the reserve program as a valuable complement to their full-time deputies - albeit one with some limitations.

'They supplement us and complement us in a positive way,” Pulkrabek said. 'I think there's a lot of benefit from them. We get a lot of help from them.”

While reserve deputies can receive enough training to carry a firearm and legally can make arrests, both Pulkrabek and Gardner said the reserves wouldn't be put in a situation similar to what happened April 2 in Tulsa that ended with a suspect dying.

In that incident, 73-year-old Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Bates participated in a sting operation that caught Eric Courtney Harris illegally selling a gun. Harris ran from the deputies. As he was being subdued, Bates announced he was going to deploy his Taser, but pulled a handgun and shot Harris in the back. Bates has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in what authorities have painted as an accidental shooting.

Gardner said there is simply no chance his reserves would be in that situation.

'We would not utilize our people in that capacity,” he said.

Gardner said reserves - or special deputies, as they are called in Linn County - are required to be directly supervised by a full-time deputy or be in immediate radio contact with a full-time deputy.

'We can't just send them out on their own, pat them on the back and say, ‘Have a good day,'” Gardner said.

In Linn County, reserves are not allowed to patrol on their own and are instead assigned to a squad car with a full-time deputy. They are allowed to work on their own providing security at events such as football and baseball games, parades and town events.

They also can be used for traffic control when requested and for public relations events, such as prescription drug takebacks.

Reserves in Johnson County perform similar duties such as car patrols, bike patrols in smaller communities, providing a presence on the Coralville Reservoir and security at town festivals and other events.

Unlike in Linn County, Johnson County reserves do patrol on their own, but are told to practice discretion when making stops. While they can make arrests, Pulkrabek said '99.9 percent of the time” those arrests are made by full-time deputies.

'We expect the highest amount of discretion out of them,” he said. 'We really tell them, we want them for visibility, we want them to answer calls. We don't want them out there being strong traffic enforcers.”

Changes in the Iowa administrative code in 2004 changed how reserve deputies are trained. Before that, agencies would provide training to reserves and that training was recognized by the Iowa Law Enforcement Training.

Those deputies - known as agency-certified reserves - could not transfer to a new agency without undergoing new training specific to that department.

In June 2004, however, the state created training standards similar to those for full-time officers. The new training - known as module training - requires training on a variety of topics for a set number of hours. Those reserves are known as state-certified reserves.

'Full-time peace officers go to the academy for 14 weeks in a row,” Gardner said. 'Reserves go for as many weekends as it takes” to receive the necessary training.

In the case of Robert Bates, however, the Tulsa World has reported that his training records were forged.

Reserves are held to the same requirements for firearms training as full-time deputies and qualify with their weapons twice a year.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department also employs reserves for duties such as traffic and patrol shifts, river patrol in the summer, traffic and crowd control for the Fourth of July and other services. Linn and Johnson both pay the reserves $1 a year for regular duties, so they can qualify for workers' compensation.

Training is provided to reserves by the same officers that provide instruction at the department's police academy.

Reserves also complete 96 hours of field training before they can work with a regular police officer. The number of hours dedicated to field training and instruction exceeds state requirements, according to the Cedar Rapids Police.

Both sheriffs also pointed out that a 73-year-old could not serve as a reserve or fully sworn officer in Iowa. The state mandates that peace officers cannot be 66 years old or older.