Members of the Knox City Council and Board of Works considered documents related to the Police Department’s proposed reserve program this week.
Back in September, Police Chief Harold Smith went before the BOW requesting permission to add three reserve officers to the department.
In order to officially bring them onto the force, the City had to establish an ordinance as well as Standard Operating Procedures for the reserve program.
Tuesday night, Knox City Council members considered the ordinance for the program.
Chief Smith was in attendance and mentioned reserve officers require the same training as full-time officers but work on a voluntary basis. He also noted that it is a fairly common practice for Departments to utilize reserve officers.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston highlighted that the only cost to the City will be for workers comp, which is required by state statute. He noted that will be $130 per year per person.
The Council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance on all three readings.
During Wednesday morning’s Board of Works meeting, City Attorney Autumn Ferch presented the SOP and noted that she made some minor changes at the recommendation of the members.
After a brief discussion, they all approved the document as presented.
