Originally Posted by
Skintop911
Policing is too regional and too agency-specific to make any blanket statements about the advisability of taking on PT work.
I know some agencies that train, supervise, back, and insure their PT/reserve folks just as well as their FT guys, some with pretty good cover, and others that are left hanging in a bad way. I know a number of guys whose 20+ years of LE service and retirements were earned juggling several PT gigs at a time with various small towns and counties. Without PT (and reserve) folks, there is an awful lot of policing out there that wouldn't get done.
It's also very individual. What's the relative motivation, mindset, and level of commitment of the individual? A switched-on PT troop, or at least an average PT troop, may be worth far more than a full time ROD.
Further... Is a decent to average PT troop any more or less at risk than a freshly minted rookie working his first months after his training pipeline?