The Fort Worth Police Department is seeking civilians for a new role that would see them responding to and investigating calls without being a sworn police officer.
According to NBC DFW, the Fort Worth Police Department's Civilian Response Unit (CRU) is looking to hire nine people, which would bring their force up to 20 employees.
Jean Rowell, a supervisor for the CRU, explained, “We go to non-emergency calls, like thefts, burglaries, criminal mischiefs, where the suspect is gone and not likely to return.
“This allows the officers to be available for serious offenses, like fights, domestics, major accidents where somebody’s hurt.”
Rowell says that each member of the unit drives a marked vehicle equipped with some police equipment, like a police radio with all the same channels as officers, and a laptop with a dispatch screen.
While responding to calls, CRU members do things like conduct witness and victim interviews, as well as take photographs of the scene and lift fingerprints.
No background in law enforcement is required to apply, either.
Rowell says they're considering taking on more tasks and possibly expanding the team to 30.
"We’re always looking around to see, 'What other things can we take off of the uniformed officers? What can we handle to keep them free for the more serious offenses out there, to give the community better protection and better service?'" she said.
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