Explorers take first place in national competition

OUTSTANDING—Members of the Camarillo Police Department’s Explorer Post stand with the first-, second- and third-place trophies they earned earlier this month during a national law enforcement Explorer competition in Chandler, Ariz. The Camarillo Police Department Explorer Post No. 2932 won first-, second- and third-place trophies in a national law enforcement tactical Explorer competition hosted by the Chandler Police Department earlier this month in Chandler, Ariz.

During the competition, 11 Camarillo Explorers, ages 14 to 19, competed in seven of the 15 group events against 62 other Explorer posts and more than 700 Explorers from across the nation.

Camarillo Explorers took home a first-place trophy in Incident Command Systems, an event where Explorers were judged on their ability to plan, assess, communicate and implement a successful operation during a mock critical incident.

In the individual events, Eric Schneider and Andrew Behan won second- and third-place trophies, respectively, in the 3-mile run, besting more than 200 other Explorers.

In preparing for the competition, the Explorers trained with Special Weapons and Tactics Team members from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The Explorers who took part in the competition are Brent Underwood, Tucker Ford, Steven Bosh, Armand Castanon, Andrew Behan, Eric Schneider, Keith Donaldson, Osvaldo Marquez, Alex Malkiewicz, Ryan Hoff and Raul Muniz.

They were supervised by advisors Dep. Joe Martinez, sheriff’s service technician Lisa James and volunteer Jim Clegg.

Explorers are young adults ages 14 to 21 who study the dynamics of law enforcement. The Explorer program is a nonprofit organization associated with Boy Scouts of America and is supported by the city of Camarillo and private donations.