Part-Time Patrol : Auto Shop Owner Shifts Gears as 1 of 850 Reserve Deputies

Joe Schiro’s idea of relieving stress when he isn’t working at his North Hollywood auto repair shop is to strap on a gun and a sheriff’s uniform and patrol the streets of this city.

Schiro, 35, is one of about 850 reserve deputies who volunteer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. As a Level 1 reserve--the highest of two ranks currently used by the department--he wears the same uniform and has all the authority of a full-time deputy, including the ability to drive a patrol car and make arrests.

He said he joined eight years ago because he had a longtime interest in law enforcement yet didn’t want to give up his business.

“There’s nothing like the thrill of rolling Code 3,” he said, referring to the police code for responding to an emergency call with lights and siren on.

A minimum of twice a month, Schiro shows up for duty at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. There he receives assignments ranging from neighborhood patrols to assisting deputies on slayings or officer-involved shootings.

He said one of his most satisfying moments came several years ago when he was investigating a man he was supposed to arrest on a minor charge. A computer check of the man revealed he was a murder suspect who had fled to the area from Colorado.

“I was looking for him on a low-grade, misdemeanor check-cashing [charge], and I put 2 and 2 together and I found him out in the boondocks of Gorman,” Schiro said.

The 52 reserve deputies at the Santa Clarita station work a total of about 10,000 hours a year, a critical supplement to paid deputies, especially in this era of budget belt-tightening, said Deputy Artie Thompson, assistant coordinator of the station’s reserves.

Thompson said 28 of the station’s reserves are patrol deputies with Level 1 status.

The others--most of whom are Level 2 and must be supervised when on assignment--work either search and rescue or as part of a posse that patrols on horseback when needed.

The reserve deputies receive the same type of training as deputies but not as many hours in each subject, said Sgt. Frank Decker, who trains reserves at the department’s two academies.