“Well, my wife passed away and I wanted something to do and I found out about this and joined it,” Gofforth said. Vernon Gofforth, originally from Colorado, joined two years ago. “Then you undergo training with a field training officer, just like a regular police officer to ‘learn the ropes’.” “Get all the information from the FBI, get fingerprinted, then there is an oral board before the members, who ask questions to see if the group really wants you or not,” Snow said. Snow said one of the hardest parts of joining the unit comes at the beginning, the FBI background check and group interview. Miraglia added that the unit helps out at the county detention center and assists the judges in drug court by doing drug testing. “And I enjoy it, it gives me something to do once in a while.” “I thought I would be giving back to the community by doing that,” Miraglia said. Miraglia now serves as the unit’s assistant coordinator.
He applied, took all the classes, which is between 50 and 60 hours of class time, to get certified. Michael Miraglia joined the group about 10 years ago after learning about it from another member. Or, if there’s an accident, they’ll call you and say ‘hey, we need you for an accident.’ You pick up a car and you go to that accident and do traffic.” “You come in, you do what you want, there’s papers to serve, you take ’em, you go serve ’em.
“There’s no time schedule, there’s no, ah, you don’t have to punch a time clock,” Snow said. Volunteers are requested to help 15 hours a month, but most do 30 to 40, or even 100 hours. “So, we’re actually taking a load off them so that they can go to the calls that need to be serviced.” “They need us to do the job that the deputies aren’t available to do because they’re out busy doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” said Larry Snow, coordinator of the unit. They do not, however, have the authority to arrest. Volunteers are armed with batons, pepper spray and carry a radio to call a deputy if one is needed. They also conduct vacation watches and business checks. Members of the auxiliary are sworn officers and provide assistance to the Sheriff’s Office by serving summons and subpoenas, regulating traffic control at accidents, fires, parades, fireworks and other public events. The group was then called the Community Action Team, which the last sheriff, Tony DeMeo, changed to the group’s current name. The 22-member Sheriff’s Auxiliary Unit was started years ago by former Sheriff Wade Lieseke, Jr. They hail from different parts of the country and bring a wealth of expertise from various occupations to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
0 kommentar(er)
