VHRU
Volunteer Homeland Reserve Unit
Southern Nevada

After 15 years of volunteer service to our community and State, the VHRU was disbanded on 12/31/17.

As the President and founder, I want to thank all the 462 former law enforcement professionals from Nevada, California and Arizona that were part of this great organization, a big thank you for your interest and dedication in assisting our community and State.

I wish everyone best in the future 

Ted Farace, President

September 11, 2001 will always be remembered as a black day in history for our country. The loss of so many lives in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon has awakened this country to the imminent threat of similar attacks in the future. Law enforcement agencies now realize they are not equipped to respond to such horrific events and are trying to cope with the shortages of manpower to utilize in a crisis situation.

In December of 2002, the all Volunteer Homeland Reserve Unit (VHRU) was formed, which consists of former Law Enforcement Officers from local, state and federal agencies across the country who now reside in Southern Nevada. The idea of having such a unit was under discussion for many months after September 11th as a way former officers could offer their time, experience and assistance to the local police agencies in a time of need.

Contact was made with the four police agencies here in Southern Nevada to gain their support for this new volunteer group. Meetings were held with the Metropolitan Las Vegas Police Department, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City Police Departments. The VHRU was accepted in concept and work began on developing an organizational structure, which included a VHRU Coordinator, Team Leaders and Squad Leaders. Letters were sent out to all the retired police organizations in the Las Vegas area to solicit membership for anyone interested in becoming a volunteer. The rank and file has increased over the past few months to 150 volunteers. These volunteers come with a wealth of experience and expertise.  As of December 2008, we now stand at 275 members and have VHRU teams in Boulder City, Mesquite, Pahrump and most recently, Mojave County Arizona.

As a requirement for participating as a volunteer, everyone must under go a police background check. Once the background check is completed, the volunteer will be issued a special VHRU Police ID card as well as a cap and a police nylon mesh vest.

Each police agency has different policies and procedures to adhere to. Meetings have been held with each department to identify how each would utilize the Volunteer group. Written manuals will be issued to all volunteers containing the various guidelines. Meetings will be ongoing and will include training programs such as First Responders, Basic First Aid and CPR. Additionally, instructions will be issued in the event the VHRU is activated to assist in a missing child case. Canvassing, recording interviews and grid searches have been discussed. Recently we have expanded the VHRU to cover the city of Laughlin about 90 miles away. Laughlin falls under the jurisdiction of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which has a small command of uniform officers assigned.

The VHRU, working with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, has submitted a request for Federal funding under the “Volunteers in Public Service” to the DOJ Community Oriented Policing Services. The Federal Grant request is pending.

It is estimated that there are over a few thousand former law enforcement individuals living in Southern Nevada. Every day new volunteers that want to support the community and the citizens of Southern Nevada join us. If you are interested, please click on the link below.

You must complete the application form and Background Check Waiver and return both forms to us.

Click here for Membership Application (pdf format)

Click here to view our charitable guidelines (pdf format)