BURLINGAME, Calif. — On most days, you can find Chris Zwingle in his commercial pilot’s uniform behind the controls of a 767 jetliner. But at least once a month, he puts on a different set of blues — those of a police officer — and hits the streets on patrol. Call it extreme volunteering.
The Burlingame resident is among the thousands of reserve police officers in California, many of whom have the same training as full-time cops but work as unpaid volunteers.
Their reasons for doing it vary. Some are retired cops who aren’t ready to give up the job, others are trying to start a career and some just think it’s fun.
The reserve officer program, however, is a bit of a dinosaur on the Peninsula. As state requirements for reserve officers have become more strict in the past 25 years, reserve officer programs have shrunk. Spending reductions have also meant fewer officers to help train the reserve corps.
But as city governments try to avoid cutting public safety spending in order to balance the budget, there is no better time to resuscitate the reserves, police officials said. That will require effort and more funding.
For the love of it
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