Should auxiliary officers volunteers who dress like full-time police be given weapons ?

Question

Pekearo and his partner, 19-year-old Eugene Marshalik, were fatally shot Wednesday evening while confronting gunman David Garvin as he fled through the streets of New York City after killing a bartender in a restaurant. Regular police officers cornered and killed Garvin minutes after the shootings.

Pekearo was born and raised in Greenwich Village, which he patrolled as an auxiliary officer each week while planning to join the force full-time.
Pekearo and Marshalik were part of the New York city's force of 4,500 auxiliary officers — volunteers who dress like full-time police but are not given weapons or bulletproof vests.
Pekearo had purchased his own vest and was wearing it, but it didn't save his life; only one of the several shots that struck him hit the armor, police said.

Answer 1

The only way auxiliary officers should carry weapons is if they are trained to the same standards as paid officers. Auxiliary officers should wear clearly distinctive uniforms if unarmed.

An unarmed auxiliary officer shouldn't have engaged a gunman. Period. Full stop.

The shield is just symbolic, and protects from nothing. They should have known better. Tragic.

Answer 2

I agree they should look different from the armed and trained officers. You see this in a lot of places, unfortunately medics and dispatchers often have uniforms very similar to police officers.

But if someone was in a confrontation with the Police they may lash out at anyone in a uniform. Often on a major scene (maybe not in New York City where they have thousands of officers) there are officers from many different agencies with very different uniforms; but they are all armed cops.

If you are in a police style uniform and out dealing with complaints and calls there is going to be a level of risk. Most agencies have policies about unarmed/unprotected volunteers staying with the squad car when the s**t hits the fan, but sometimes it goes from a boring paper call to chaos too quick.

Answer 3

An Auxiliary Officer that is not a certified officer can not carry a firearm, at least in the State of Ohio. I was an Auxiliary Officer for three years and carried a weapon when I worked as an auxiliary officer.

Answer 4

In my city, the reserve Officers are required to go through the same hiring process, academy, and training as paid Officers. They are issued uniforms, weapons, and kevlar vests. I don't think any department should put a man or woman in their uniform without complete training and a weapon. I had no idea that there are cities are so careless about the safety of their volunteer Officers, or the safety of the public they are protecting.

Answer 5

Someone said "the criminal was obviously a trained shooter." Really? If I blew your leg off with a shotgun you would be just as dead as if I shot you in the head, 99.9 times out of 100. Auxiliary officers need weapons or they don't need to be there.

Answer 6

They can of course buy thier own protectivie vests, many police dept require thier officers to buy thier own.

But unless the officers are POST certified, they can not legally carry weapons for any police dept

Answer 7

Obviously the criminal was a trained shooter, from your description. It is possible that even if they volunteers had guns, they could still have been shot dead by this man.
I am tempted to say that yes, they would have had a fighting chance if they had weapons.
I think that it will definitely push the government toact on either hiring more policemen or banning firearms in the city.

Answer 8

No , because not all auxillary officers live up to their duties and oaths.But again if a particular officer is trained and is able to secure permission and trust then yes

Answer 9

They're volunteers. They shouldn't be given weapons.

But they SHOULD be able to bring their own! And so should all other American citizens.