Volunteer Police, Choosing to Serve: Exploring, Comparing, and Assessing Volunteer Policing in the United States and the United Kingdom

Volunteer Police, Choosing to Serve provides an in-depth comparison between volunteer policing in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and explores the shared past and similar―yet sometimes divergent―evolution of special constables, auxiliaries, and reserves. It discusses the history of volunteer policing, contemporary authority, functions, and training. The book also examines part-time, auxiliary, and special constable policing roles around the globe. The text contains original research comparing British and American volunteer police, and concludes with a discussion of the future of volunteer policing in the UK and US contexts.

Dr. Ross Wolf is Associate Dean in the College of Health and Public Affairs and Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. He also serves as Reserve Chief Deputy with the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office. He was appointed to and serves on the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Police Administration Committee and on the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) Outreach Committee and Reserve Law Enforcement Subcommittee. In 2017 he was appointed to the Board of Governors for the Global Society of Homeland and National Security Professionals and was named Visiting Fellow by the University of Northampton’s Institute for Public Safety, Crime, and Justice in the United Kingdom. Dr. Wolf has authored over 30 refereed articles, book chapters, and books on police interviewing, police administration and management, reserve and volunteer policing, police use of force, tourism policing, and international policing. Among other achievements, he has received the United States "Daily Point of Light" Award, the National Sheriffs' Association "Medal of Merit" Award, and the United States Presidential "Lifetime Call to Service" Award for his work with volunteer and reserve policing.

Dr. Carol Borland Jones is a Research Associate at the University of Northampton’s Institute for Public Safety, Crime, and Justice. Prior to taking on this role, she worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chester and the University of Gloucestershire. She has authored refereed articles, book chapters, and books on reserve and volunteer policing, tourism and crime, policing tourism, and victims. Dr. Borland Jones has worked on a number of research programs and is currently collaborating on studies into the role of volunteers in UK policing. She has worked as consultant to Victim Support, Republic of Mauritius, and collaborated with academics in Australia, Ghana, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States.