Its history dates back to the early days of World War II.
Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Harris County Sheriff’s
Department organized a group of volunteers known as the "Civil
Defense Organization". This group of citizens, some three
hundred strong, represented people from various occupations.
The organization’s goal became the ability to assist
the Sheriff during any disaster. During those early days of
the war many members left the Civil Defense Organization to
volunteer for U.S. armed forces service overseas.
After the war, Harris County Sheriff Buster Kern recognized
the potential of a volunteer organization formed of dedicated
citizens. Kern began using Civil Defense Organization members
as local law enforcement volunteers. The name of the organization
was changed to the "Auxiliary Deputy Sheriff’s Group",
which more accurately reflected its revised role in the Sheriff’s
Department.
Although a new concept for Harris County, the use of police
reserve forces has been a Texas tradition. State law preserved
reserve law enforcement organizations over the years and made
the reserve deputy an essential part of Texas law enforcement
heritage. The concept of a reserve force dates back to the
formation of a group of volunteers in the 1820’s to fight
Comanche Indians. That first volunteer organization became
the Texas Rangers, the nation’s oldest state law enforcement
agency.
The
Harris County Auxiliary Sheriff’s Group continued to
grow and steadily strengthen as a volunteer unit during the
1950’s. During 1957, these volunteers formally organized
as the present Harris County Sheriff’s Reserve and became
a nonprofit corporation registered with the state.
The 1960’s saw the Reserves expand in numbers to meet
the rising need for additional law enforcement. During this
period, Grant Ilseng, a Houstonian nationally famous for trap
and skeet shotgun shooting, formed the Marine Reserve unit,
which included several qualified SCUBA Deputies.
In the early 1970’s, the Reserves reorganized to retain
three goals:
- Maintain a close liaison with the regular Sheriff’s
Department
- Provide adequate supervision of reserve deputies
- Be able to call out large quantities of trained deputies
in a short period of time with a minimum of effort
By the end of 1972, the Reserves numbered approximately 600
dedicated men and women with a common goal to assist the Harris
County Sheriff in improving the area’s quality of life.
Legislative action in 1972 mandated state training certification
laws for reserves as outlined by the Texas Commission on Law
Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE). As
a result, the number of reserves dropped while the level of
professionalism increased. During 1973, it is estimated that
the organization’s 450 reservists combined time equaled
more than $1.5 million in savings on an annual basis to the
Harris County Sheriff’s Department.
