Porter County sheriff strips officers of badges

VALPARAISO -- The Porter County sheriff has stripped his department's 62 reserve officers of their badges in what he says is a reorganization of the unit.\nSheriff David Reynolds said Tuesday he intended to restart the program, with those wanting their positions back going through interviews.\nThe reorganization, which Reynolds announced to the reserve officers on Monday, is aimed at ridding the reserve program of "negativism" and creating a more unified force for the northwestern Indiana county, he said.\n"By no means have we canceled the reserve division; we plan to have it up and running again by early March," Reynolds said. "This is only temporary as we reassess the program."\nThe reserves deputies assist regular officers on a mostly volunteer basis, although they are paid when working for outside groups, such as these sponsoring festivals.\nBruce Resteau, who has been in charge of the reserve officers for the past dozen years, said the reserves donated more than 17,000 hours of service to the county last year, saving the money-strapped county hundreds of thousands of dollars.\nReynolds was elected to a second four-year term in November, defeating Resteau's former wife, Susan Herring Resteau. She said during the campaign that she would use the reserves more -- and her campaign was supported by some of the volunteers.\nReynolds said those allowed to rejoin the reserves probably would be given more training and responsibility and possibly face tougher physical tests. Only 13 of the 62 reserve officers met the state requirements for patrol and arrest authority, he said.