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A Detroit Free Press investigation found that police agencies across Michigan are supplementing their ranks with unlicensed civilians, commonly called reserve officers, who wear uniforms and badges and carry guns. But these volunteers are unregulated and not subject to state-established training standards, despite frequently assisting real cops on patrol and, sometimes, with arrests. No one had ever tallied the number of reserve officers in Michigan, so the Free Press did and uncovered a staggering number, and many who had committed crimes and other misdeeds.