Fairfax County’s Auxiliary Police Officer program marked a milestone recently by reaching 1 million hours of volunteer service. The program has more than doubled in size since it was founded in 1983, growing from 52 men and women to 115 active officers.
Auxiliary police officers are volunteers who are trained to assist paid officers as well as perform other duties such as traffic control, manning sobriety checkpoints and working in crime prevention. Many auxiliary officers also hold full-time jobs, ranging from lawyers to technology specialists.
“All the tasks that the APOs do are a force multiplier,” said 2nd Lt. Alan Hanson of the Fairfax County Police Department. Hanson estimated that, taking into account the salary and health benefits of paid officers, the APO program has saved the county $30 million since its inception.
The value of an APO goes far beyond dollars saved. APOs ease the work of paid officers by laying the groundwork or assisting on the scene, Hanson said. They’re trained in duties as wide-ranging as handcuffing, report writing and even assisting with an emergency childbirth.
“The training that APOs receive is basically a curtailed version of the paid officer’s training,” Hanson said.
An entry-level, or level 3, APO must have completed 400 hours of training at the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy in Chantilly. After graduation, officers must put in 200 hours with a field training instructor. That allows officers to respond to larger crimes such as larceny, burglaries and traffic hazards.
Officer Richard Majauskas, who works out of the Franconia District station, is nearing the end of his field training to become a level 4. Though his full-time job is assistant sergeant at arms for the U.S. Senate, he relishes in his role as an APO.
“I spent 30 years in the Army as a Military Police officer,” Majauskas said. “Like most of us, I was trying to do some volunteer work. I had done the Boy Scouts with my son and church volunteering. Then I came across the APO website.”
