Foley, Ala. – (OBA) – Seeking out personnel and adding to the workforce is challenging for public as well as private employers in today’s economy and getting and keeping law enforcement officers is not immune to those struggles.

In Foley, Police Chief Thurston Bullock is turning to his new support services division to get an idea of police operations in case they may be considering a law enforcement career.

“We had to get creative with the current difficulties being seen across the nation with hiring police officers, and this is one of the ideas that we came up with,” Bullock said. “Support Services will provide assistance to our citizens, patrol division, and other divisions within our department.”

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach already have a support services division with Gulf Shores having three full-time technicians and Orange Beach utilizing six full-time and a handful of part-timers in its department. Being familiar with the Orange Beach program and friends with Police Chief Steve Brown, Bullock reached out to learn more about starting a Foley program. Bullock says three are currently working in Foley and he’d like to add a fourth.

“Chief Brown is a close friend of mine, and we work closely together,” Bullock said. “He had implemented a similar program already, so I was able to glean some ideas from him and the success they have had with their program. Many agencies are doing similar programs with civilian employees across the nation. The titles and duties may differ, but the concept is the same.”

The citizen staffers can take on some of the duties that don’t require a sworn and fully trained officer and free them up for enforcement duties.

“Support Services Technicians are non-sworn positions, meaning they are not cops and have no police authority,” Bullock said. “We make sure they do not look anything like police officers with their attire and vehicles for their safety. What they do have is the ability to free up our officers by doing tasks and services that our officers would normally do for the public, that doesn't necessarily need a sworn officer with enforcement capabilities to do.” 

Support service staffers are used for directing traffic at accidents, transporting stray animals, providing cold water for officers at large accident scenes or manhunts and simply waiting for a wrecker to impound a car taken in a roadside arrest.

“Working the school zones has been a significant help to the officers that are on duty,” Bullock said. “We have multiple school crossings that utilize several officers both morning and afternoons. Our Support Services positions have been able to free up the patrol officers to take calls and work traffic enforcement in these school zones. There are a lot of duties they have been utilized for already and the program is still evolving, but it has been very, very successful so far.”

It's become a sort of “try it on” for the new workers to consider if becoming a sworn officer would be something they’d like to do.

“One great benefit of our program is that the Support Services position can be used as a stepping stone for anyone that wants to become an officer, but either isn't quite ready or is unsure of that particular career path.” Bullock said. “Our Support Services personnel are able to work closely with and around the officers to see what is involved in their duties before making that big leap.” 

Being on staff also lets supervisors and Bullock get to know the prospective officers to see if they do indeed have law enforcement potential.

“Supervisors get to develop our Support Services Technicians and evaluate their work ethic and decision-making skills,” Bullock said. “If and when they are ready to transition into a sworn officer position, we will already know a lot about that individual and whether or not they are police officer material.”

The group interested in joining the department as support staff has somewhat surprised Bullock.

“We have noticed that most of our applicants have been younger and are wanting to get their foot in the door to pursue a career as a Corrections Officer or Police Officer,” Bullock said. “This has fallen right in line with the additional benefits of bringing this program to our department.”

These young people are also gaining new skills through their work with the department in fields other than law enforcement.

“Another great benefit that we have enjoyed with this program, is that we have been able to start instilling and developing new skills and even life skills with this group,” Bullock said. “In a very short period of time, the ancillary duties they started performing were tasks they had never done before in their lives. They have assisted us with maintenance of equipment and vehicles and already started installing some of the equipment that goes into our patrol vehicles and fleet. They are eager and quick learners and their technical and mechanical skills are growing exponentially.” 

Support staff get experience by training in unlocking vehicles, working special events, giving aid to stranded motorists and similar duties formerly performed by sworn officers.

“Overall, the program has been a great success to us so far,” Bullock said. “We are very pleased and grateful to the mayor and city council for supporting this program,” Bullock said. “An additional bonus has been a cost savings to the city as well as getting more immediate assistance to our officers on the streets. It takes a great deal of time, training, equipment and cost in order to prepare an officer and have them ready to hit the street as a professional and prepared solo unit. We have been able to bring our officers relief in a fraction of the time with the addition of our Support Services Technicians.