Recruits train hard in the Washington County Sheriff's Office reserve program

The concrete gymnasium at the Washington County jail rings with cries of "Stop now!" and "Get back!" as instructors teach defensive tactics to recruits.

"It's defensive for a split second and then it becomes offensive," sheriff's deputy Pete Godfrey tells the 10 recruits, who hope to someday become licensed law enforcement officers.

"It's to end whatever situation you're in as fast as you can," said 10-year deputy Justin Kaeding, another instructor and a former reserve. "The goal is to end that situation immediately and gain some control."

So goes the training for another class of Washington County's unarmed deputy reserves, who walk and talk like sworn deputies but don't carry firearms and stun guns.

Sheriff Bill Hutton said peace officers are encountering more mentally ill people, more people on drugs and more guns. Reserves must have defensive skills because not everybody will understand the difference between them and licensed armed deputies, he said.

"There's that small percentage of interactions that could lead to some physical confrontation," Hutton said. "We want to make sure these folks have some level of competency in order to defend themselves, defend others, and they may at times have to secure individuals."

Equipped with a baton, chemical spray and handcuffs, reserves are allowed to assist deputies in arrests. They help with traffic and crowd control at large events, crimes and natural disasters, and commit to three shifts a month helping regular deputies on water and park patrols.

Defensive training for reserves — all volunteers — prepares them for unforeseen circumstances.

Kaeding and Randy Helms, another instructor and a seven-year deputy sheriff, told recruits that if someone charges them, they can't wait to react. An attack on a law enforcement officer — or unarmed reserves — intends harm, defies the authority of the badge and could allow an aggressor to gain control of a weapon.

Despite the fierce training in the jail — inmates are locked in their units and canvas curtains prevent them from watching — much of the 16-week course includes more routine fundamentals of police work, such as radio procedures, traffic control and missing person searches.

Reserve Sgt. Allan Pfromm, who joined the program in 2010, oversees training.

"Working as a reserve is kind of like an internship," he said, with priorities on dealing positively with the public and helping sworn deputies perform their duties. "We're not elite special forces, we're not a SWAT team, we're there to help."

At full complement, the reserve program has 50 volunteers.

Many jail correctional officers and deputies now working at the Sheriff's Office once were reserves, he said.

Pfromm said 25 reserves are currently active, and the reserves who graduate May 21 will be needed right away. Reserves stay an average of 2.7 years, he said, but anyone who becomes a full-time deputy or officer is required to leave the program.

All participants in this year's class are studying to become full-time officers — although that's not always the case. All are twenty-somethings — although many from past classes are older, and some are retirees.

One of the current recruits is Brian Eich, 20, of St. Paul, who is studying criminal justice at the University of St. Thomas. When Eich was a boy in Colorado, his neighbor was a deputy sheriff.

Megan Shelley, 21, from Somerset, Wis., has a two-year degree in criminal justice and is pursuing a law enforcement degree at Metro State University. She has worked for the Washington County parks division and wants to become a deputy.

"When I was in school I always had a passion to volunteer," she said of her desire to become a reserve. "I was always interested in helping and protecting the community."

One current reserve deputy participating in the defensive training — a refresher course for her — was Dani Krinke, who graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato, a year ago, with a law enforcement degree.

"You don't know what you're going to face. It will help you with that uncertainty," Krinke, 23, said of the Krav Maga training. Krav Maga is "battle-tested" Israeli martial arts used by the Sheriff's Office, Kaeding said.

Krinke has been a reserve officer for two years but has applied for full-time work as a sheriff's deputy or city police officer. She's also a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard, serving with the 134th Brigade Support Battalion medical unit in Cottage Grove.

"The skills they give you, it's priceless," she said. "The communications, responding to an emergency right away, it's the training they give you. It's cool to work with law enforcement all around and see how things work. If someone's interested in it, go sign up."

Kevin Giles • 651-925-5037