LIBERTY - Township police Chief Richard Tisone is researching how to bring a reserve officer corps to the department.
Tisone said he wants to create the reserve corps because he wants more officers on the street but his budget is too tight to hire anyone else.
He said the main reason he wants more officers is because there is safety in numbers.
''It's a good safety issue,'' Tisone said. ''Anytime you can do that (add more officers), it's a good thing.''
Tisone said he will be contacting Youngstown State University to see if their criminal justice department can refer him to any recent graduates or students who are state certified to be police officers.
Under a reserve program, officers donate a certain amount of hours to a community. The plus for them is they get to work as a police officer and gain experience they can use later, Tisone said.
They are typically younger officers needing experience but Tisone said that is not always the case.
The department presently has 24 full-time officers.
Trustee Chairman W. Gary Litch said he supports the idea and added he has been for the creation of a reserve corps since he first came on the board in the early 1990s.
''I've been pushing for this since 1992,'' Litch said.
Litch said he agrees more officers are needed, but he added the township can not afford the wages and benefits now because of the present economy. He said if any of the reserves perform well, perhaps they can get a full-time job on the force when there is an opening.
Tisone said he did not consider adding anyone part-time because the money is not there for this year, but that does not mean there is not a need for more officers.
''The bottom line is we're trying to do more with less,'' Tisone said.