Thread: 19 more Sheriff's posse members trained to carry weapons

19 more Sheriff's posse members trained to carry weapons
Reported by: Steve Irvin
Email: sirvin@abc15.com
Last Update: 5/06 11:15 pm

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is putting more armed posse members on the streets.

The sheriff's office graduated 19 new posse members Wednesday, adding to a force of about 300 armed volunteers already patrolling the streets of Maricopa County.

Arpaio says budget cuts have forced him to institute a hiring freeze and furlough days for deputies, making posse members crucial to his plan for public safety.

"The public has a desire to help local law enforcement when times are tough. I am banking on their generosity of time and energy to help my deputies keep our communities safe," Arpaio said.

Arpaio says posse members go through an extensive training process, including 160 hours of law enforcement instruction and 60 hours of firearms training. The sheriff says the firearms training is the same for posse members and fully sworn deputies.

"We are not simply gathering people off the streets, giving them guns and telling them to go out and arrest bad guys," Arpaio said.

The sheriff wants to significantly increase the number of posse members who are authorized to carry a firearm, although he didn't give specifics. Right now there are 2,600 posse members, but just a fraction of them carry weapons.

The posse members supply their own firearms.

http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoen ... ibKkA.cspx

God Bless Sheriff Arpaio, is so brave!