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Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program exposes youth to world of law enforcement careers
By Brandi Hart, McKinney Courier-Gazette
Leadership. Discipline. Volunteering. Determination. Safety. These are just some of the things that 16 teenagers experience weekly through the Collin County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program.
Designed to give youth ages 16 to 22 a firsthand glimpse of the inner workings of the CCSO and law enforcement, the Explorer Program exposes youth to everything from homicide investigations, traffic stops, and how to read and process finger prints of suspects. The Explorers gain knowledge through simulated scenarios that deputies and officers face on a daily basis. They hail from McKinney, Blue Ridge, Anna, Leonard, Plano, Royse City, which is partly in Collin County, Plano, and Frisco.
Explorer Lt. Lisa Hammann, 16, who will be a junior at McKinney North High School in the upcoming 2008-2009 school year, loves volunteering and participating in the CCSO’s Explorer Program because it exposes her to the world of law enforcement, which she plans to pursue a career in after graduating high school.
She and the other 15 members of the program attend a meeting each Tuesday night for about two-and-a-half hours. During those meetings the Explorers learn how officers respond to burglary calls, hostage negotiations, traffic stops, accident scenes, and murder investigations.
Kane Kennedy, a deputy of the CCSO who is also a co-advisor for the Explorer Program, said the Explorers use the same equipment that deputies use on the scene except for a real loaded gun. The Explorers use a red plastic gun and are taught that working in law enforcement involves much more than just simply needing to use your gun, Kennedy said.
The Explorers also volunteer and do various clerical jobs to help out at the CCSO, such as helping visitors to the Myers Park find parking spaces during annual events, such as Round up on the Range.
Dustin Eitel, 15, will be a sophomore at Leonard High School in the coming months and his life-long friend, Daniel Nash, 16, also of Leonard, enjoy learning leadership, discipline and law enforcement skills through the Explorer Program, they said.
Eitel’s dad, Robert used to be an Explorer and Eitel volunteers in the Explorer Program because he wants to help people head in the right direction in life and not pursue a life of crime, he said.
Nash loves watching the TV show COPS, which follows law enforcement officers on patrol, and He has always loved law enforcement, he said.
“I’ve wanted to be in law enforcement ever since I was a kid because I want to help the community,” Nash said.
One of the aspects of law enforcement he most enjoys is hostage negotiations, he said.
“I enjoy hostage negotiation simulations because it keeps you on your feet and you really have to know what to say because if you say the wrong thing, it could mess you up and someone could die.”
The telephone set up during the Explorer’s simulated hostage negotiations is the same as the real life scenario that CCSO deputies use in real hostage negotiations, said CCSO Sgt. Diane Stubbs, who is also a co-advisor of the Explorer Program. Like the youth she helps foster a love and appreciation for law enforcement through the Explorer Program, Stubbs was once an Explorer herself during her youth.
Justin Dunham, 18, will be a senior at Anna High School in the upcoming school year and loves what he has learned about patrol and traffic stops during mock stops through the training at the Explorer Program and on during ride-alongs with sheriff’s deputies, he said. To ride along with a deputy, the Explorers must complete eight hours of community service and they get to fill out the ticket but never leave the vehicle, Stubbs said.
“I wanted to sign up for the experience and to have a career in law enforcement. The traffic stops are fun because they’re exciting and get your blood pumping,” Dunham said.
Brandy Shipp, 16, of McKinney is the daughter of a former Explorer. Her mother, Yvonne Luster got her involved in the CCSO’s Explorer Program and encouraged Shipp to sign up for the Explorer Program to lean responsibility, leadership skills and possibly pursue a job in law enforcement.
“Explorer teaches you much more than using your gun,” Shipp said. “When you go to a scene you may have to help out an abused child or victim of a crime.”
Shipp will be a junior at McKinney Boyd High School next year.
Hammann said that law enforcement is cool and fun because it’s like a game of hide and seek. She, along with Eitel, Shipp, Nash, and Dunham all agreed that the fictional TV crime shows, such as the various CSI: Crime Scene Investigations are not a true depiction of what real law enforcement officers, or most criminal labs, for that matter, they said.
Hammann, Nash, Dunham, and Eitel said that they want to carry their experience and knowledge they have gained through the CCSO Explorer Program to pursue a career in law enforcement and Shipp said she may do so, but isn’t giving up the Explorer Program anytime soon.
To learn about the CCSO’s Explorer Program, visit the CCO’s Web site www.co.collin.tx.us/sheriff or call Kennedy or Stubbs at 972-547-5100.
Forward OptionsContact staff writer Brandi Hart at hartb@acnpapers.com. To post comments online, access
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