The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has initiated a new position among its personnel, Deputy Service Aide (DSA). One of the new positions has been assigned to Fountain Hills District 7 in the person of Doug Jacobs.

According to MCSO, the DSA is to support patrol deputies with law enforcement responses to low priority calls for service in order to allow sworn Deputy Sheriff’s the ability to respond to priority calls in a more timely manner.

The DSA is a non-sworn, civilian position. DSA’s are not peace officers and do not have the powers of arrest.

Jacobs was part of an academy training class of nine and assigned to Fountain Hills as of July 8. He is currently working with a field training officer in a four-week program. He underwent a six-week training program. Their training also included basic life support, CPR and first aid.

“This is a position MCSO just created and the Town of Fountain Hills is not billed for this position currently,” MCSO Capt. Larry Kratzer said. “At this time [the DSA] is a program MCSO implemented to supplement our resources and allow deputies more time to deal with priority calls for service.”

A release provided by MCSO states the DSA will respond to non-priority calls for service such as assisting patrol deputies with non-violent calls for service; taking incident reports and investigating a variety of calls; processing and impounding evidence at minor crime scenes; writing Incident Reports and maintaining activity logs; controlling and directing traffic when necessary; taking calls for service by telephone; and issuing civil citations while investigating traffic accidents.

The uniform for DSA’s will be different from the MCSO Deputy Sheriff uniform and will be easily distinguishable.

The DSA will wear a dark green polo shirt with the “oneMCSO” logo, along with khaki cargo pants and a duty belt. The DSA will not carry a firearm; however they will be equipped with OC spray and Taser for personal protection.

The DSA vehicle is similar in appearance to the current MCSO Deputy Sheriff patrol vehicle; however, they will be clearly marked with “Deputy Service Aide” stickers on the rear driver side window, the rear passenger side window, and the rear window of the vehicle. These vehicles will have the MCSO star on it with “Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office” visible and they will be equipped with emergency red and blue lights.

Many of the DSA’s have prior law enforcement experience, but are required to successfully complete a six-week basic academy at the MCSO Training Center. DSA’s must then successfully complete a four-week Field Training/Evaluation period at a patrol district working with a Field Training Deputy or senior patrol deputy. DSA’s must complete a minimum of eight hours of continued training annually.

DSA’s will respond to low priority calls for service that do not involve a crime in progress or volatile situations. When taking criminal activity reports, they will only be utilized for incidents not in progress, with no suspect present and limited or no suspect information to follow up on.

DSA’s will not:

*Conduct traffic enforcement/make traffic stops.

*Affect arrests.

*Engage in emergency driving with lights and sirens.

*Transport prisoners.

*Respond to potentially violent or volatile calls for service.