The Police Explorer program searches for new recruits

Natasha Clarke, Reporter|November 17, 2019

Courtesy of Carlsbad Police Department

Police Explorers standing in line for the program.

For many students, the pressure to figure out what they want their career to be is a stressful process. Fortunately, programs like the Carlsbad Police Department’s Police Explorer help young people find their passions and discover what they want to do as an adult.

Casey Burns, one of the police officers in charge of the explorer program along with being the school resource officer at CHS, explains why one might be interested in signing up for the Police Explorer Program.

“It is a great way to give back to the city of Carlsbad,” Burns said. “Explorers volunteer time at city events, such as the Carlsbad Marathon, street fair, jazz in the park and Oktoberfest.”

The program introduces students to career paths and helps young teens explore a future in the field. Police Explorers have many connections in the police community and offer a wide variety of options for the explorers to look into and learn about.

“The explorer program is also great for anyone who thinks they may be interested in a career in law enforcement,” Burns said. “Whether it is as a police officer, FBI agent, Crime Scene Investigator or dispatcher, we offer basic levels of training to help you decide if that career path is right for you. For someone who is not interested in Law Enforcement as a career, the explorer program is still a great way to develop leadership skills and gain some life experience”.

As high schoolers, many students have to worry about commitment and amount of the time required to do extracurricular programs like this. Luckily, the Police Explorers make it easy to divide up the sixteen-hour per month work period.

“This can be broken up into training hours, volunteer events and ride alongs,” Burns said. “We train the first and third Tuesday of each month. The biggest commitment that the explorers must complete is the explorer academy. This academy is held once per year at UCSD. The explorers go to a week long live in academy. The academy is similar to the police academy. During their academy week, they learn report writing skills, police defensive tactics, and complete classroom activities such as DUI and First Aid/CPR training.”

Jacob Kirk, a junior, is very interested of the program. Kirk wants to learn about the field and possibly explore a career in the Police Department.

“I think it’s a great program for kids in high school,” Kirk said. “I’m interested in learning about what police do on a daily basis and think its a good learning experience for students.”

Being a Police Explorer also greatly benefits students’ college applications. Being dedicated to the program proves commitment and gives colleges an idea about certain skills learned by completing the program.

“This program looks great on a college application,” Burns said. “We track all of your volunteer hours and the events that you participate in. Colleges want to see well rounded applicants… This program also helps young people learn leadership, responsibility, accountability and integrity. Developing those skills not only helps with college applications, but can help  lead to having a successful life in general.”

If interested in joining the Police Explorer program, stop by Mr. Burns’ office at school, or click here

“…This program helps young people and students learn how to be leaders in their community, handle serious situations, learn stress management skills, take part in a team environment, learn about law enforcement and have fun while developing life skills,” Burns said.