Nearing Return, Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Glad 'Good Old Boy' System Gone

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office suspended its reserve program after then reserve deputy Bob Bates shot and killed Eric Harris a year ago.

But, Tulsa County sheriff, Vic Regalado is reinstating the program under stricter guidelines, and the first reserve deputy is nearly ready to return to active duty.

• Under the new regulations, Reserve Deputy Mike Leitch was required to:
• Bring academy hours up to the state standard of 240 hours.
• Complete or start the same field training program full-time deputies go through
• And, complete another 40 additional hours of patrol operations.

Leitch is one of the first deputies to emerge from the new requirements. He’s almost fully reinstated, but once he gets the final clearance, policy will require him to ride with a full-time deputy.

7/12/2016 Related Story: Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Close To Returning To Active Duty

Leitch said he’s glad to see the ‘Good Old Boy’ system that favored some reserves over others is gone with Regalado’s administration.

“I feel great about moving forward at this point,” Leitch said. “With the accountability at all levels, it’s now a lot more apparent.”

When the program was originally suspended there were 162 reserve deputies, of those, their instructor said only 41 will be cleared and fit for duty after the new policy changes.