Volunteers reference 'combat skills' and firearm training in applications for 'sheriff's posse'

More than 500 people, many who referenced their ability to use a firearm or engage in combat, have signed up to join the Canadian County Sheriff’s Posse, a program Sheriff Chris West created this summer during the height of protests and demonstrations against police brutality.

When he announced the creation of the posse in June, West referred to it as a “rapid response force of citizens who could be called upon in a minute’s notice to answer the call to aid in safeguarding lives and property, as well as the constitutional rights of innocent law-abiding citizens of Canadian County,” according to his press release at the time.

Residents are able to sign up on the sheriff department’s website and are asked to list their skills and abilities.

Some volunteers referenced military experience or knowledge of firearms, while others referred to their time in Boy Scouts or working in the mental health field, according to documents obtained by The Frontier through an open records request.

Read more: https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/volunteers-reference-combat-skills-and-firearm-training-in-applications-for-sheriffs-posse/

Canadian County is in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.