Twenty-one years ago, Lee Thomas answered the call to become a reserve deputy.
“You have to have a burning desire to do it. You are wearing a badge and a gun and putting your life at risk and you’re doing it for free,” Major Lee Thomas said. “You really, really have to be committed to the calling to be a reserve officer.”
Through the years, Thomas worked his way up the ranks and is now leading the reserve program.
“It’s opened a lot of doors. It’s opened my eyes to a lot of things that I would not normally see,” Thomas said. “It’s helped me grow as a person, it’s helped me grow with my community, it’s allowed me to help my community.”
But having reserve deputies isn’t just about personal growth. It’s an important service that saved the taxpayers nearly $300,000 in 2016.
“The reserve officer program is very vital to the sheriff’s department because these guys come out on their own, free time, provide a service just as our road call-answering deputies do and it’s free to our citizens,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “It’s a win-win; the citizens are getting service at zero dollars and we have extra people out on the road to carry our workload with us.”
To become a reserve deputy, applicants have to go through the department’s normal hiring process before completing four months of training. Thomas says the class meets weekly Wednesday nights from 6 to 10 and Saturdays 8 to 5 so reserve deputies can still maintain a full-time job.
“That’s where you get all your nuts and bolts training and the use of force and the handcuffing and the legals, EVO driving, things of that nature,” Thomas said. “Once you clear that hurdle and pass the test with the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, then you have to undergo monthly training, much as a full-time officer does.”
Classes start Oct. 18. If you’d like to become a reserve deputy, applications are available at 521 Gibson Road and are being accepted until May 12.