By Molly Lovell
Editor
     Imagine being a police officer responding to a domestic violence call. You don’t know what to expect–someone could come at you from behind, they could threaten violence to their partner, they could even have a gun.
     Now, imagine being a high school student and learning the skills to deal with such a tense situation.
     For nearly 10 years the Scarborough Police Department has been making an effort to educate youth in the community about what it means to be involved in law enforcement.
     The Explorer Post 883 program is part of a national organization called Learning For Life. “It allows for an opportunity to explore a career before having to commit themselves,” said Scarborough’s Community Resources Officer Joe Giacomantonio.
     Giacomantonio started the Scarborough’s program and said the group focuses on community service and community policing practices. Boys and girls ages 15 through 21 are eligible to join the program, which runs year around. Explorers lead the Explorer Post and officers are chosen and given assistance by older advisors.
     Explorers do everything from directing traffic at local events and learning emergency vehicle operation to conducting car seat checks and putting up street signs. “Our program meets every week and we try to have a training schedule that will teach them different aspects of law enforcement,” Giacomantonio said.
     Explorers go on ride-alongs with officers in the department and learn procedures for traffic stops and arrests. They also learn how to write police reports and the proper way to use a firearm among other things.
     Andrea Ouellette is a Lieutenant in the program and soon to be graduate of Scarborough High School. She’s been in the program for four years and said she joined because of the community service aspect. Ouellette has more than 300 hours of community service under her belt, which she said will help her when she goes to pursue a career in public relations.
     “Even if you don’t want to pursue a career in law enforcement you get so much training from learning about traffic stops, dealing with bomb threat situations and hostage negotiations. . . it’s not stuff you think you need, but it’s interesting the way it applies to every day life,” she said.
     Last summer Scarborough’s Explorers attended a national law enforcement conference in Arizona where they were randomly tested on different areas of law enforcement. Explorer Post 883 was tested on their first aid skills and reactions to domestic violence situations.
     As part of the Explorer program, members of the Scarborough Police Department set up different scenarios for the students. Ouellette recalled being set up in a domestic violence situation.
     “It was very real. People were screaming and being thrown around, the officers have experience with these things and make it as real as they can for us so if we’re ever in that situation we’ll have related training to fall back on,” she said.
     When Explorers go on ride-alongs officers make sure they’re safe and don’t generally let them get out of the cruiser if it’s a situation that could escalate. Explorers also provide a number of community services, including dealing with traffic during the recent Patriots’ Day storm.
     Giacomantonio said he started the program in Scarborough because he saw a need to bridge the gap between teens and officers.
     He said a person joining the program must be highly motivated. He said he also found that it’s the kids who initiate interest in the Explorer program who become successful. Giacomantonio has seen kids who are on the fence in terms of going in the wrong direction and whose parents push them to join the program.
     “If they don’t buy into the program 100 percent it won’t work,” he said. Giacomantonio said the program usually attracts eight to 10 kids a year–a number he wouldn’t mind increasing.
     “To some kids there’s a stigma, it’s not the coolest thing to say you’re in this program and in your free time you hang out with the police,” he said. He also said some kids might see Explorers as informants of some sort.
     “That is farthest from the case. We do not look to these kids for information and we don’t put them in under cover positions,” Giacomantonio said.
     When Ouellette joined the program she said some of her peers were weary that she might be a “snitch.”
     “It’s not the case at all. The police don’t want to know things we know because it puts us in awkward situation.”
     Oullette said she will give her peers advice if sought. “I won’t get them out of speeding tickets and I don’t get them in trouble,” she said.
     Of the kids that participate, Giacomantonio said there is much pride. “They’re proud to wear their uniform in public. These are strong kids, they have to be,” he said.
     Kids are allowed to stay in the program until they are 21-years-old. Brian Nappi, a recent police academy graduate started at Scarborough’s Explorer program. Giacomantonio said from there he went on to be a reserve officer, and also worked in dispatch. Nappi is the first Explorer to graduate from the academy who will be working as a full-time police officer for the Scarborough Police Department.
     Giacomantonio said right now, the age of most of the Explorers in the program falls in the middle of that age range of 15 through 21. Some are in college and only participate on school breaks. He also said the program has seen quite a few girls.
     Not everyone who joins the program has to necessarily have an interest in entering a career in law enforcement, as is Ouellette’s case. Giacomantonio said one girl joined because she was attracted to program’s community service aspect too. She’s currently going through a nursing program and is an advisor in the Explorer program.
     Giacomantonio said her involvement in the Explorer program will help her greatly when she’s a nurse. “She’ll have insight to what’s going on and it will be beneficial for her and the officer she interacts with in a medical emergency situation.”
     Giacomantonio said he tries to vary the programming from year to year, but said it’s difficult at times. “There’s only so many far reaching areas that we can bring to them and reasonably allow them to do,” he said.
     The tendency to repeat programs can be good for the students, however. “Kids who later go to school for law enforcement find the information they learned in this program to be beneficial to them. They’re able to focus on more advanced studies,” he said.
     Ouellette said she receives much respect from her parents and other adults in the community because of her involvement in the program. She also said the program makes her a more aware citizen.
     She said one of the more difficult trainings she experienced had to do with crime scene investigation. “We had to go through facts of real cases and see some things kids our age wouldn’t normally see that are kind of disturbing,” she said. “It was like CSI, but you know it’s not a television show, it really happened.”
     Those interested in learning more about the program can call 883-6361 or view an application online at www.scarborough.me.us/safety/police.