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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance 13898>~ n C ORDINANCE NO J AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, BY AMENDING SECTION 27-3, "POLICE RESERVE FORCE", BY ADDING CITY COUNCIL REVIEW AND AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS, BY ADDING TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS, BY PERMITTING CERTAIN DISCRETIONARY ACTIONS BY THE CHIEF OF POLICE, BY ADDING REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE CARRYING OF WEAPONS BY PERSONS APPOINTED TO THE RESERVE FORCE, BY ADDING REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE DUTIES OF PERSONS APPOINTED TO THE RESERVE FORCE, PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE IS CUMULATIVE, AND PROVING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS SECTION 1 That Section 27-3 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1986) is hereby amended to read as follows " Sec. 27-3. Police reserve force (a) The a City Council hereby provides for the establishment, training, equipping and maintenance of a volunteer police reserve force (the "reserve force") (b) The qualifications and standards of training required of the members of the reserve force shall be consistent with those qualifications and standards of training promulgated by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training for reserve peace officers (c) The Chief of the Police shall appoint the members of the reserve force Members shall serve at the Chief's discretion and without compensation . .~. (d) The Chief of Police may call any or all members of the reserve force into service at any time the Chief considers it necessary to have additional officers to preserve the peace and enforce the law (e) Members of the reserve force shall serve as peace officers during the actual discharge of their official duties (f) An appointment to the reserve force must be approved by the City Council before the person appointed may carry a weapon or otherwise act as a peace officer After the appointment is approved, the person appointed may carry a weapon only when authorized to do so by the Chief of Police and only when discharging official duties as a peace officer (g) Reserve police officers may act only in a supplementary capacity to the regular police force and may not assume the full-time duties of regular police officers without complying with the requirements for regular police officers " SECTION 2 That this ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1986), as amended, affecting the volunteer police reserve force except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and Code, in which even such conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed SECTION 3 That it is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase ~ 4 r] I 'C. SECTION 4 That all rights and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to any and all violations of Section 27-3, or any other ordinances affecting the subject matter hereof which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance and, as to such accrued violations and all litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts SECTION 5 That this ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after its passage, and it is so ordained APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY `~ ~ ~~~ City Attorney Date ~' S ~ ~ Adopted ~ (~ - ~ q Effective ~ - t'~ - ~ ~l City of Fort Worth, Texas M'Ayar and Council Cammun~cAtion DATE 8/17/99 REFERENCE NUMBER **G-12633 LOG NAME 12RESERVE PAGE 1 of 1 SUBJECT ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 27-3 OF THE FORT WORTH CITY CODE TO PRESCRIBE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, TRAINING, EQUIPPING AND MAINTENANCE OF A VOLUNTEER POLICE RESERVE FORCE RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance amending Section 27-3 of the City Code to prescribe certain requirements for the establishment, training, equipping and maintenance of a volunteer police reserve force. DISCUSSION Section 27-3 of the City Code currently provides that the -Chief of Police may appoint a volunteer police reserve force that may be called into service when considered necessary by the Chief of Police. Section 27-3 further provides that no member of the reserve force may serve unless trained and qualified pursuant to the laws of the State of Texas Section 341 012 of the Texas Local Government Code, which authorizes municipalities to establish police reserve forces, requires among other things, that the governing body of the municipality shall establish the training and qualification requirements for the reserve force. In addition, Section 341 012 requires that appointment to the reserve force must be approved by the governing body before the person appointed may carry a weapon or otherwise act as a police officer After the appointment is approved, the person appointed may carry a weapon only when authorized by the Chief of Police and only when discharging official duties as a peace officer The attached ordinance proposes to amend Section 27-3 of the City Code to adopt the requirements contained in Section 341 012 of the Local Government Code. In the future, appointments to the police reserve force will be brought to the City Council for approval before that person may carry a weapon or act as a peace officer FJSCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Finance Director certifies that approval of the attached ordinance will not require the expenditure of City funds. CB k Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (fo) D E V O R APP Charles Boswell 8511 ( ~( ~ ~ l ~ I ~~ ~~ Originating Department Head: ~~ v °" "' ` 7 1999 Wade Adkins 7623 (from) AEG ~ r Additional Information Contact: ~ `/"'Q~`~~ city Secretary of tho "T=exas t North f Elizabeth Dierdorf 7505 , or Ui¢p cf Adapted ~rdmancl; fVo. ~,;~