"SAR Volunteers Quit"

2905 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by XD Dude, Mar 11, 2008

NotSoSimple

Discussion Starter · Mar 10, 2008

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2816805

I usually sit these things out and watch, but being once VERY active in SAR in Oregon, but not this time.

I seem to be on the fence. An integral part is multi-agency ops that can be an amazing machine. Some people need to learn to play nice with others and accept the help and learn to coop. For example look @ the James Kim search out in Oregon awhile back. After the investigation one (Among many) thing was found: No cooperation between multiple agencies.

The other side of me sides with the volunteers. They pay their own gear, gas, take time from work, families, etc to save lives. They are part of something bigger that most of society cannot do. Then others are getting paid for what they are doing for free. The other thing that comes to mind is you get people who are paid to do it, who might not feel as passionate as the volunteers.

Enough ranting...Why cant we all get along :wink:

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roseblood

· #2 · Mar 10, 2008

With my wife being a volunteer in this area, I am very close to SAR people here. I side with them on this issue. I see how these people train, and I see their dedication to finding and rescuing victims.
In my opinion having deputies "trained" to assist will only get in the way of these people. Much time would be lost in getting the deputies up to speed on the search pattern and even more time would be lost if one of these "trained" deputies got themselves lost.

These volunteers are dedicated to what they do; my wife spent three years training with her dog. I support them in what they do.

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roseblood

· #4 · Mar 10, 2008

Actually, the SAR guys are not paid; They are all volunteers.
When a search is called, normal deputies respond only to direct issues around the base camp, they are not in charge of the search.

SAR members, especially the high-angle guys that work in SL County, require years of training that can't be had just by saying they are going to do it. It will take many months of dedicated training, and money to pay for that training that will come out of the tax payers pockets.

This is like saying that just because the police have guns and body armor they can create a SWAT team.

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roseblood

· #6 · Mar 11, 2008

TMG said:
As I read the article, I'm still not sure why the SAR guys are quiting. It doesn't say anything about about Deputies taking over. It just says they will be trained so they can 'expanding their role'. So my question again, whats wrong with training more deputies to help?
(and no, it wont cost tax payers any additional money. the money is already there)

This is like saying that just because the police have guns and body armor they can create a SWAT team.

Click to expand...

You can if you train them.

The story doesn't explain everything.

The money is there to pay them to do the job they currently do. So to take the time to train them, let's say one year of 10 hours each week. You either pull them from patrol or investigations, or you pay overtime. Which would you prefer? Either way, it will cost money to train them.

I'll continue with the police analogy to keep it consistant: Having "trained" deputies who are not full time SAR personnel help in searches is like having a traffic cop help the DEA investigate a drug cartell.

(No offense to any police officers here, that's just the analogy I chose.)

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