By DAVID SCHULTE World Staff Writer
10/31/2008
Jay Ketron (center), a reserve police officer with the Tulsa Police Department, helps Officer John Martin investigate a traffic accident Thursday evening. Ketron also works as a salesman in the oil and gas industry. Shane Bevel/Tulsa World
More than 40 volunteer reserves help the police.
They are perhaps the best bargain in Tulsa.
Despite receiving no salary, they are willing to carry guns and put on uniforms equipped with bulletproof vests to serve and protect the public.
They are reserve police officers, whose duties range from providing security at special events to backing up full-time officers on violent crimes.
"It's a hobby, but to me it's so much more than that, because with most hobbies, you don't put yourself in harm's way," said Gary Gleason, an infrastructure manager who has been a reserve officer about four years.
More than 40 people serve as reserve officers in the Tulsa Police Department, which is seeking applicants for new reserves. A state-certified reserve academy will be offered two nights a week for five months starting in January.
Three years ago, John Fitzpatrick, the president and CEO of a company in the health-care industry, decided to become a reserve officer because he got tired of hearing people gripe about "all the crime" in Tulsa.
"Instead of talking about it, I wanted to do something about it," he said.
Early in his field training, Fitzpatrick learned that he has what it takes to be a cop.
Fitzpatrick was responding as a backup officer to a robbery attempt at an apartment complex, he said.
He was assisting with the investigation when the robbers came back to "finish the job" by opening fire on the victims.
"They shot at us, and then the shooter jumped into a car and drove at the police car," Fitzpatrick said.
His quick response in protecting the victims not only helped save their lives, but it convinced him he was qualified to wear a badge.
"I always wondered what I would do in a situation like that — whether I would cut and run," Fitzpatrick said. "But all the training kicked in, and all of a sudden a gun appeared in my hand."
Jay Ketron, a salesman in the oil and gas industry, has been a reserve officer for 20 years. During that time, he has drawn his gun many times.
He also has been assaulted about a dozen times, he said.
Call it a hobby, but "the threat of injury and death for a reserve officer is exactly the same as a full-time officer," Ketron said.
At first, Ketron joined the police reserves because of the thrill of playing "cops and robbers."
But through the years, he said, his reasons for staying have changed.
"In the beginning, it may be the excitement — the adrenaline — but as you put more time in, you see as a reserve officer you can truly help, in a very large way, the police department and the city of Tulsa," he said.
Reserve officers often have other jobs that pay the bills, with occupations ranging from stock broker to professor to small-business owner.
Joe Hidy, a bank president, became a reserve officer shortly after doing a police ride-along with an officer.
"Police officers are honest people," Hidy said. "They don't lie to you, and, most of all, they're willing to take a bullet for you."
Because many reserve officers have successful careers and earn good salaries in their fields, they find it difficult to quit their regular jobs to work as full-time officers.
But that was not the case for Maj. Julie Harris, who is now the Tulsa Police Department's highest-ranking female officer.
She started as a reserve officer, but within two years she quit her regular job to become a full-time officer, even though it meant earning less money.
Harris, who is just 5 feet tall, initially questioned whether she was big enough for a career in law enforcement, but her experience as a reserve officer convinced her that she was qualified.
"It's not your size but how you can talk to people, and with the (reserve) academy, they give you the skills to do the work," Harris said. "The training that you get from the department exceeds the training that you get in many agencies in the state."
David Schulte 581-8367
david.schulte@tulsaworld.com
Copyright Tulsa World 2008. All rights reserved. Format differs from original publication.
The Tulsa Police Reserve is recruiting, follow this link:
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