Patrol

The majority of a Reserve Officers time is spent patrolling neighborhood and retail stores in the city. The West St. Paul Police Department has 2 specially marked “reserve” vehicles for Reserve Officers to drive. Both are fully marked and equipped police squads with the exception of firearms.

Reserve Officers have access to Mobile Data Computers and state of the art 800 megahertz digital radios to keep in direct contact with dispatch and officers in every city in Dakota County. The computers allow the Reserve Officers to be dispatched for service calls via CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) and they are able to query information from the state computer and FBI databases. In addition, reservists have access to Dakota County’s CJIIN (Criminal Justice Information Integration Network) application for report writing.

Patrol Locations & Duties

Reservists can be found patrolling the cities park and recreational areas ensuring a safe environment for everybody to enjoy, as well as retail parking lots and neighborhoods. Part of our patrol duties include responding to calls for service such as animal complaints, parking complaints, theft from vehicles, damage to vehicles or property, and assisting stalled motorists. Reserve Officers also assist Police Officers on traffic stops, accidents, and disturbance calls; as well as assisting the South Metro Fire Department on medical and fire calls.

Other duties a Reserve Officer performs while working patrol are to assist in the booking of people in custody and transporting them to the Dakota County Jail or to the detoxification center in St. Paul.

Bike Patrol

You may also find reservists patrolling the city on 2 wheels at times. Reserve Officers can be found riding bikes around the city, in neighborhoods and parks. The bikes allow reservists to have a more personal contact with the public and give them a chance to talk with people in the community. While on Bike Patrol Reserve Officers still take their calls for service over the radio, but it just might take them a bit longer to arrive on scene.

Reserve Officers are also called to assist neighboring police agencies from time to time on incidents such as structure fires, fatal accidents, large scale incidents and crime scenes. Our duties at these incidents are to provide traffic and crowd control and crime scene safety and security.