BTW, if either of you are interested in becoming reserve or auxiliary police officers, it is generally not a complicated process. unfortunately, it does not gernerally come with a gun permit. These guys get called up for disasters and special events like parades.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1578373/posts
IIRC California has several levels of Reserve Deputies - some armed, some not. Here in Arizona it takes a year of community college courses to become a Reserve Deputy. I'm in the Sheriff's Posse, which takes less training, but we get the same amount of firearms training as any police officer.
Being a law enforcement volunteer can be very rewarding, and most of the time it's a lot of fun too.