Photo by Athnie McMillan-Comeaux
Calling for Backup
Reserve unit provides important assistance for police department
When the Westerville Division of Police needs a hand providing sufficient staff, it turns to the 13 individuals who make up its reserve unit.
Those 13 people are a mix of retired officers, young people looking to break into full-time police work and longtime community members who want to give back.
Reserve officers volunteer their time, often at events that require police presence but not necessarily full-time officers, such as the Independence Day Celebration, the Sertoma Children’s Christmas Parade, Cops & Kids Day, Serving Our Seniors Day and Mount Carmel St. Ann’s 4th Friday events.
“They augment us full-time officers, especially during large-scale events,” says officer Charles King, training officer for the police department. “Any major event in the city, we always try to tap them for some extra personnel.”
Because reserve officers are volunteers, they present an appealing option for event staff, as each reserve officer at an event such as a 4th Friday means one less full-time officer who needs to be paid overtime.
Photo courtesy of Ted Bretthauer
Calling for Backup
Reserve officers have staffed the department’s bimonthly fingerprinting program – which takes place the second and fourth Monday of each month, and has expanded to include FBI background checks – to the extent that full-time officers haven’t had to do it for years. They provide security at Westerville City Council meetings as well.
Reserve officers also ride on patrols with full-timers, serving as an extra set of eyes and ears.
“When they come on board, they have to ride with a field training officer as often as they can,” King says.
All reserve officers must be state-certified as police officers, which means each of them goes through police academy. The department conducts a full background check and interview, then sends each reserve candidate through its field officer training period, though they do not need to cover the aspects of the training manual that apply only to full-timers. Each reserve officer must volunteer at least 16 hours per month.
The reserve crew meets monthly. The vast majority of meetings are training-oriented and focus on such topics as defensive tactics, CPR, first aid and fire training.
Four members of the reserve team are retired police officers, two of them from Westerville.
Two others are fairly new to police work. Joining the reserves straight out of academy is a popular option for many young people, King says, because it can get them certified and fill the gap until they find full-time work.
“In Westerville, we are unique in that we have a reserve program, period, and we’re unique in that, when you become a reserve (officer) here, we outfit you with everything,” he says, including uniforms and equipment.
Photo courtesy of Ted Bretthauer
Calling for Backup
The rest are folks who joined out of a sense of commitment to community and have stuck with it for decades. Among these is Ted Bretthauer, captain of the reserve unit, as well as doctors, lawyers, business owners and court officials.
Bretthauer, of Pickaway County, graduated from the Columbus Police Academy in 1976 and served as a Columbus reservist for eight years before transferring to Westerville in 1984.
He had planned on being a full-time police officer, but after finding financial success in his day job, he decided the reserve made more sense.
“Being a reserve police officer is the best of both worlds,” Bretthauer says. “You can stay with the career that you chose, and you can still do the police work.”
Donating his time and service to the community still feels worthwhile to Bretthauer after 31 years, he says.
“You deal with great people in the community; you get to know people,” he says.
Another longtime reservist is Westerville resident Dr. Jeffrey Krause. By day, he runs an oral and maxillofacial surgery business on State Street, just south of Uptown, but he’s also a sergeant with the reserve police.
Krause joined the reserve program in 1998 after 10 years with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. He had joined to get more training after buying a boat, and ended up spending a decade working with state watercraft officers at Alum Creek.
“I had the notion, after I was ready to get out of the Coast Guard, that I might challenge the exam for going through the (police) academy, with the notion that I would pick up an Ohio commission and seek part-time employment with the Division of Watercraft,” Krause says.
After joining the academy, though, Krause found himself developing a passion for municipal law enforcement, and joined the reserves to keep it active.
“I’ve never looked back,” he says. “In conjunction with being in private practice with oral and maxillofacial surgery for 35 years and … 17 years with the police department, my philosophical thought is this is a nice time to give back.”
In addition to his standard work as a reserve officer, Krause also represents the police department in competitive pistol- and rifle-shooting competitions.
Among the experiences that stand out in Bretthauer’s mind are working with the Secret Service during presidential campaign visits from then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000 and U.S. Sen. John McCain in 2008. He also has fond memories of helping out with the Field of Heroes and the installation of the World Trade Center steel at First Responders Park.
“That’s another good reason to be a reserve: You get to do all that neat stuff,” says Bretthauer.
Krause remembers being part of responses to armed robbery, car crash and domestic issue calls, and helping out the officers working to resolve those situations. He has also found directing traffic at heavily-attended events such as the Independence Day Celebration to be an interesting experience.
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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