If you've always wanted to become a cop, consider moving to Michigan.
For $1,200, you can join the Oakley Police Department as a "reserve police officer." You'll get a uniform, a bulletproof vest, and a gun, as well as a police badge. And you can carry the gun "almost anywhere in the state, including places that people with normal gun permits can't," Vocativ reports.
Vocativ adds that many of these reservists aren't even Oakley residents, and they include everyone from doctors and lawyers to NFL players. The program started when Robert Reznick became Oakley's new police chief in 2008 after the old police chief was allegedly "caught stalking a teenage girl." Vocativ reports that Reznick says the town has roughly 50 reservists. But when the town asked Reznick to release the reservists' names, he said that doing so would put them at risk for ISIS attacks.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reznick sees the department's initiative as a positive one for the town, because it has raised a considerable amount of funding for Oakley. But others are concerned. "There's no way to put a number on these people, which is part of the larger problem," David LeMontaine, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, told Vocativ. And the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards as well as the state's attorney general are investigating the program. Reznick, however, isn't worried, saying he hasn't broken any laws.
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
