Two years ago I became the Chief of Police in a small town of nearly 2,000 people. I was the eighth chief in seven years. The high turnover rate was due to several reasons. One thing I learned was that this community loves the fire department and they tolerate the police department. No one would ever come up and say, “You guys are doing a great job.” Truthfully, I didn’t expect them to. In their mind, we were a necessary evil. I was hoping to change that.

One day we had a problem at the school that involved an autistic young man. He would not talk to anyone. He would look at his feet and mumble. This young man had no self confidence whatsoever. I soon discovered when I drove through the school grounds and waved to the kids that the wave would never be returned. Most of the time kids would stare at me like I just slapped them in the face with a dead rabbit. I soon began to see that a number of young people in our community had little self respect, little self confidence, and very little to do. I was determined to change that.

I did some research and learned about the Explorer program. Our department started an Explorer Program (Post #4835) in February of 2007. Some departments use the Explorer program as an early recruiting tool. This was not my intention. Our goal was to establish and maintain a working relationship with the youth of our community. I prayed it would work. I made up flyers announcing our first Explorer meeting. I also went to the schools and made announcements over their public address system.

When our first meeting was held we had about twenty in attendance. More than I had hoped for. I told the kids that the program was about learning what law enforcement officers do and about organizing community service projects. I had been told that a few of the kids had made comments that they were going to join with the intentions of “getting in good with the cops” so that they could get out of traffic tickets. I told every young person that this was not going to be the case. As a matter of fact, being a police explorer meant representing my department and if they were pulled over by one of my officers it was going to be policy that a ticket would be mandatory. We had about fifteen kids at the next meeting. The program was going into action.

We set strict guidelines for the kids. A code of conduct and expectations was written and each Explorer had to sign that they agreed to abide by them. One of the guidelines is that if an explorer is removed from the post because of inappropriate or illegal behavior the other Explorers are prohibited from having any social contact with them.

We then put on classes and training exercises for them. My assistant and I began putting power point presentations together that dealt with drug and alcohol awareness, radar and speed enforcement, and their favorite, the history of law enforcement. We did sixteen hours of firearms safety in the classroom. We also made a homemade fats machine out of a white sheet and a power point projector that displayed pictures of “shoot, don’t shoot” situations. We set it up in a city garage and let them go through the program using airsoft guns. One night I let the kids run radar with a portable unit along side the highway. My assistant was in a patrol car running radar next to them. Explorers would take turns running radar and riding in the patrol car. The kids will tell you that they have a blast at these types of activities.

The Explorers also became very active in community service projects. Once every month or so they all get together in their uniforms and go through a section of town with trash bags and clean up the sides of the streets. They have also cleaned up vacant lots. They have also mowed yards for the sick and elderly at my request so that I do not have to issue them a summons for code violations. We recently had a major ice storm that shut down electrical power to our town for about a week. A “warming shelter” was put in place and our explores assisted in providing food and entertainment for the folks who utilized the shelter. One night the mayor requested that I count every house in town that was without power. I called the Explorers in. We divided our town into eight zones and went to work. We had it done in just a few hours. The explorers also helped remove fallen limbs from the roadway. One explorer contributed nearly seventy hours of community service in just one week.

Our current mayor is a huge supporter of the Explorer program. He brags about the Police Department and the Explorers every chance he gets. The local media call me on a regular basis and ask what the Explorers are currently involved in. A few of the parents have told me what the program has done for their kids. One father told me that his seventeen year old step son never called him “sir” until he got into the program. He said that his son looks forward to the meetings and the activities and that he loves to get on police websites and read everything he can about the profession.

Everyday a young person will walk into the station to see how we are doing and if there is anything that they can do. They will even sweep and take out the trash if we ask them to. What is truly amazing is that some of these kids are not even a part of the explorer program.

We have one explorer that just joined the National Guard as a military Policeman, and another one just signed up for the Army. Several young people have told me that they had no interest in law enforcement as a career until they found the Explorers. On a side note, some of the Explorers have provided us with accurate intelligence as to local criminal activity. They hear a lot of things that we don’t.

Now when I drive through the school grounds between classes I am treated like a celebrity. Kids wave and shout greetings. I was in a store a few months ago (in uniform) and a group of kids, who are not even part of the program, asked me if I would have my picture taken with them.

We currently have fifteen Explorers and five adult “Advisors”

Things have definitely changed here in Bloomfield. I am proud of my town, I am proud of my department, and I am proud of my Explorers.