Cross your fingers...
I went on a feral cat call with my SPCA contact person early this morning. She asked me if I was free for brunch after (I was), because she wanted to talk to me.
It turns out she has gotten the ok to train some people as peace officers first, and then teach them the animal part. Because of my background, she wants to shortlist me for the training, which will start in September. I will have to fill out another piece of an application (it's been modified since mine was submitted) and then there will be a background check/board of directors review of my application.
The bottom line is that if I pass muster, I won't have to volunteer as a civilian investigator for an entire year (which was the original plan) before even being *considered* for peace officer training. (Civilian investigators basically can't do a whole lot; they don't have authority to make arrests or seize animals; about all they can do is evaluate situations, write notices to comply and report back on serious conditions for peace officers to follow up on. Extra eyes and ears aren't a bad thing, but she really needs people who are sworn peace officers.)
It turns out she has gotten the ok to train some people as peace officers first, and then teach them the animal part. Because of my background, she wants to shortlist me for the training, which will start in September. I will have to fill out another piece of an application (it's been modified since mine was submitted) and then there will be a background check/board of directors review of my application.
The bottom line is that if I pass muster, I won't have to volunteer as a civilian investigator for an entire year (which was the original plan) before even being *considered* for peace officer training. (Civilian investigators basically can't do a whole lot; they don't have authority to make arrests or seize animals; about all they can do is evaluate situations, write notices to comply and report back on serious conditions for peace officers to follow up on. Extra eyes and ears aren't a bad thing, but she really needs people who are sworn peace officers.)