Auxiliary police, also called volunteer police, reserve police, assistant police, civil guards, or special police, are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated; There is no consistent international definition.
Auxiliary police are primarily tasked with supporting and augmenting the police, but this may also extend to established emergency services such as the fire department (and in the case of fire police), emergency medical services, border guard, and coast guard. Duties commonly assigned to auxiliaries include community policing, neighborhood watch, traffic policing, civil defense, and riot control.
The police powers auxiliaries may exercise vary from agency to agency; some have no or limited authority, while others may be accorded full police powers. They may be armed or unarmed.