Reserve Police Officer Program
The Chief of Police of the Columbia Falls Police Department established the Columbia Falls Police Reserves as a service organization.
The purpose of the Reserve Force is to assist full-time officers in major disasters affecting the citizens of Columbia Falls; to aid in traffic and crowd control at any event in which large crowds assemble; and to assist in routine patrol and enforcement activities at the discretion of the Chief of Police.
All Reserve Officers will complete the department’s Field Training Program.
All Reserve Officers will be required to purchase and maintain all required uniforms and accessories at their own expense.
All Reserve Officers will be required to pass a firearm proficiency test with their firearm.
Every two years, a Reserve Officer Training Course is held by Flathead Valley Community College. All Reserve Officers will be required to attend this course and it will be paid for by the department.
Reserve Officers are subordinate to full-time law enforcement officers, and may not serve unless supervised by a full-time law enforcement officer whose span of control would be considerd within reasonable limits.
A Reserve Officer is vested with the same rights, powers, privileges, obligations and duties of any other Peace Officer of this State, upon being activated by the Chief Law Enforcement Administrator of the local government and while on assigned duty only.
Required Training
MCA 7-23-214 – BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM REQUIRED
Note: MCA is an acronym for Montana Code Annotated, the laws of the State of Montana.
All Reserve Officers will be required to successfully complete a minimum 88-hour basic training course within 2 years of the appointment.
This course must include but need not be limited to the following course content:
- Introduction and Orientation – 1 hour
- Police ethics and professionalism – 1 hour
- Criminal law – 4 hours
- Laws of arrest – 4 hours
- Criminal evidence – 4 hours
- Administration of criminal law – 2 hours
- Communications, reports and records – 2 hours
- Crime investigations – 3 hours
- Interviews and interrogations – 2 hours
- Police human and community relations – 3 hours
- Juvenile procedures – 2 hours
- Defensive tactics – 4 hours
- Crowd control tactics – 4 hours
- Firearms training – 30 hours
- First aid – 10 hours
- Examination – 2 hours
MCA 7-32-213 – DEFINITIONS
“RESERVE OFFICER” means a sworn, part-time, volunteer member of any law enforcement agency who is a Peace Officer as defined in MCA 46-1-202 and has arrest authority as described in MCA 46-6-210 only when authorized to perform these functions as a representative of the law enforcement agency.
MCA 7-32-213
QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTMENT AS A RESERVE OFFICER
- To be appointed a Reserve Officer, a person must have resided in the State of Montana continuously for at least 1 year prior to the appointment and in the county where such appointment is made for a period of at least 6 months prior to the date of appointment;
- be a citizen of the United States;
- be at least 18 years of age;
- be fingerprinted, and a search must be made of local, state and national fingerprint files to disclose any criminal record;
- not have been convicted of a crime for which he could have been imprisoned in a Federal penitentiary or State prison;
- be of good moral character as determined by a thorough background investigation;
- be a graduate of an accredited high school or the equivalent;
- be examined by a licensed physician within 30 days immediately preceding the date of appointment and pronounced in good physical condition; and
- possess a valid Montana driver’s license.
Applications are available through the Columbia Falls Police Department.
Applicants must pass a physical agility test and formal interview to qualify.