PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

Microsoft employee Shawn Huecker is also a volunteer reserve officer for the Milton Police Department. As part of the software company’s matching program, the city’s reserve program receives a monthly check to support its operations.

Microsoft gives money to reserve officer program

By Meghan Erkkinen

Milton Police Department reserve officers are getting support from an unlikely source. Microsoft will now be sending regular checks to the reserve officer program as part of a gift-matching program the company offers to employees.

Reserve officer Shawn Huecker is an employee for the computer software company and also donates his time as a reserve officer for the city. As part of Microsoft’s matching program, for each hour Huecker puts in with the police department, the reserve program will receive $17 to go toward anything officers might need, from new uniforms to training.

“I think it’s going to help a great deal,” Huecker said of the money that the program will receive. “Milton does a good job giving us the standard equipment we need, but as for the uniforms or extra equipment, we have to pay for that out-of-pocket.”

Police Chief Bill Rhoads agreed that the matching program will help relieve some of the financial strain on the reserve officers. The police department received its first check last month for $952 and deposited it into a special fund for use only by the reserve officer program.

“It’s a pretty good opportunity for the reserve program here,” said officer Kevin Williams, who is in charge of the reserve program for the police department. “We’ve never had funds here for this.”

The city has a total of five officers who usually each put in at least 20 volunteer hours a month, and some of them significantly more. Huecker said he tries to put in 35 or 40 hours.

“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to pursue, working in law enforcement,” he said. “I thought this would be a great way to do something I really wanted to do and volunteer as well.”

According to Rhoads, the reserve officer program is important to the police department.

“It gives the full-time officers the backup they need in a lot of calls,” he said. “It just is an extra set of eyes out there, ears and hands… Without these guys, a lot of stuff wouldn’t happen.”

Their duties are similar to those of regular officers – they help respond to calls, take reports, transport prisoners, and have a presence at community events such as the annual Milton Days, and they do it all for free.

“I think it’s a great program,” Rhoads said. “[In many situations we] couldn’t do a lot of stuff without them.”

The reserve officers have not yet decided on anything they want to put their money toward, but the biggest priority is uniforms, which, when all the pieces are added together, can add up to almost $1,000, according to Williams.

The money might also be used for training current reserves and recruiting more of them. Ideally, Williams said, the department would have 10 or 15 volunteers.

Huecker, who lives in Seattle, said he is glad he gets to serve in the city in his spare time.

“What I love about working in Milton is you have the opportunity to do the full range of what you can do in law enforcement,” he said. “I wouldn’t work anywhere else. It’s a great department from the chief on down, and it’s a great city.”

For more information on the reserve program, contact Kevin Williams at kwilliams@cityofmilton.net or (253) 922-8735, ext. 2730.

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