New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police - Auxiliary Police Officer Safety

Auxiliary Police Officer Safety

The NYPD promotes the safety of its Auxiliary Police officers by requiring that they not pursue dangerous situations, but rather to remove themselves from such danger immediately. During training, recruits are repeatedly told that their purpose is to be the "eyes and ears" of the Police Department, and they are not required to enforce the law. Although they are equipped with wood batons and (optional) handcuffs, they are told that their most powerful weapon is the police radio, for back-up. Auxiliary Police officers are not issued, and are not permitted to carry firearms while on duty, even if otherwise authorized/licensed to carry when off-duty.

Risk are involved in the duty of an Auxiliary Officer. On March 14, 2007, two Auxiliary Police officers—Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Pekearo—were killed in a shootout in Greenwich Village. This was the first time NYPD Auxiliary Police Officers were killed in the line of duty since 1993.

Up until March 26, 2007, the NYPD did not issue or subsidize ballistic vests to Auxiliary officers. But after the shootings of Pekearo and Marshalik, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly asked the New York City Council to earmark more than 3.3 million dollars to provide all Auxiliary Police officers with Level IIIA Vests, the same used by full-time officers. On March 27, 2007, the City Council approved this bill, which had all Auxiliary officers equipped with vests. Since then, in 2010, funding for vest for Auxiliary Police Officers has ran out of the NYPD City Budget. Every Police Precinct, Housing Police Service Area and Transit District has a pool of "loaner" vest for new Auxiliary Police Officers to use while on patrol, afterwards, they are returned and secured by the Auxiliary Coordinator.