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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
In elementary school, when most kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, most respond with answers like a fireman, an astronaut, a doctor, or perhaps, a policeman. While many end up choosing other paths, there are a select few who are so lucky as to live out the hopes of their youth.
Westwood Police Explorers helps facilitate this accomplishment. Chartered by the Boy Scouts of America, Police Explorers is a locally run program for men and women ages 14 to 21 who are interested in learning about a career in law enforcement.
The group meets twice a month to learn everything from what the true meaning of disorderly conduct is to hearing guest speakers relay their experiences.
The program also includes field trips, which have exposed the students to state, federal, county and other local agencies, in addition to private security agencies. The explorers receive training in CPR and first aid, traffic control, radio procedure, and criminal law.
This past Sunday, the explorers discussed disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and ‘breach of the peace’. One of the most difficult parts of wanting to pursue a career in law enforcement is the difficulty of broaching the law. Each student was given sheets from a training module, which lays the law out in understandable and broken-down terms.
At one point, Sergeant Paul Sicard pulled up the official law outlining disorderly conduct. “Is it really clear about what that entails? Not at all,” he joked. Not only is it difficult to fully comprehend the law within the legal jargon, but it is also difficult to entirely comprehend what entails something such as disorderly conduct within a vacuum. To this end, the explorers discuss hypothetical situations, in addition to analyzing videos of real life situations as to what was done versus what perhaps should have been done.
Once the explorers are properly trained, they are given the opportunity to put their training into action through community service activities. This includes the annual tree lighting, fireworks, and traffic situations, as well as providing additional manpower during emergency situations like missing person searches or emergency shelter operations. The program has been wildly successful, and early this year, two explorers received the President’s Volunteer Service Award, which recognized US citizens who have achieved a certain number of hours of service over a 12-month period.
