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Beyond Doughnuts And Coffee...
Explorers' Program Helps Local Students
Investigate A Future In Law Enforcement
BY DOUG RUTTER
Television shows and movies often portray police
officers as daredevils who will do anything to
catch the bad guys.
In real life, though, most people rarely see officers
outside of their patrol cars or local coffee shops.
Amy Hutchins is searching for the truth. She hopes to
find it through the Shallotte Explorers, a program of the
Boy Scouts of America that allows boys and girls ages
14 to 20 to investigate careers in law enforcement.
"I'm in here to find out what police work's all about,"
Hutchins said following a recent Explorers meeting. So
what has she learned'?
"They don't just sit at the BP and drink coffee and eat
doughnuts," says Amy. a rising ninth grader at West
Brunswick High School. "They protect and serve us."
That's one of the messages
Shallotte Police Officer Keith
Croom is trying to get across to
local teens as an advisor to the
Explorers. Police work is not as
easy as it looks, but it has its re
wards.
"After three or four classes,
you can see they look up to offi
? cers more after seeing what they
have to go through," Croom
said. The program teaches re
spect for authority figures, police in particular.
Hutchins gained a lot of respect for Shallotte's offi
cers when she went with them on a recent patrol. She
ended up having to crouch down beside the wheel of the
car.
"This man was trying to kill himself and then he
pointed the gun at the officers and they had to fight to
get the gun away from him...." she said. "They risk their
lives every day so we can be safe."
After some initial problems getting the Explorers pro
gram started, Croom said it has been going strong for
about two months. The Shallotte group has 14 active
members, most of whom are Shallotte Middle School
students.
"The more people talk about it the bigger it gets."
Croom said. "Now we're trying to get uniforms for
everybody."
Being an Explorer is almost like going to rookie
school. "It's a smaller scale of basic law enforcement,"
Croom said. 'They do everything from accident investi
gations to learning how to fill out arrest reports."
The Explorers meet every other Thursday at Shallotte
Town Hall. Between classes, students patrol with offi
cers and put their classroom lessons to work in the field.
"They're not required to ride along but we suggest
they do to find out what it's all about," Croom said.
"After the first ride along they realize it's not all drink
ing coffee and eating doughnuts. It's serious business."
The program seems tailor-made for Adam Stanley, a
rising junior at West Brunswick who is considering a ca
reer in the FBI. "I like the real suspense-type stuff, that
After three or four
classes, you can see they
look up to officers more
after seeing what they
have to go through."
?Officer Keith Croom
detective and undercover work."
Stanley, a member of Shallotte Point Volunteer Fire
Department, is one of the Explorers' senior officers who
help run the biweekly meetings.
Adam got involved in the program last December, but
not until recently has he had many faithful Explorers at
his side.
He's serious about a career in law enforcement. After
high school, he plans to become a police officer in
Brunswick County for a few years before moving on to
the FBI.
As a fireman. Stanley has received first aid training
and is interested in taking an Emergency Medical
Technician class and joining the Shallotte Volunteer
Rescue Squad. "I want to help people." he says.
As an Explorer, he lags along with officers about
three limes per month and has
seen Croom make two drunk dri
ving arrests. "It was interesting.
It's a long process with paper
work and all."
Croom said a variety of topics
related to law enforcement are
covered during Explorer classes.
A lesson on accident investiga
tion might be followed up with a
"fake accident" that students
would investigate to determine
who was at fault.
Guest speakers might include officials from the U.S.
Marshal's Service, N.C. Highway Patrol, State Bureau
of Investigation or the N.C. Division of Marine
Fisheries.
"Whatever the Explorers are interested in we'll try to
get a guest speaker they can listen to." Croom said.
Explorer Evonne Rutherford says she's interested in
"the action" of law enforcement, but she realizes there's
more to being an officer than the rush of apprehending
dangerous criminals.
"With all the paperwork it's harder than it looks." she
says. "Most people just see them riding around all the
time, but they have a lot of office work to do."
Evonne wants to be a police officer some day, or
maybe join the Secret Service. "1 don't want to be in a
big city because 1 couldn't handle that." she said.
Explorers is a nationwide program, but Shallotte is
the first police department to offer it in Brunswick
County. Besides learning how to be a cop, Croom said
students also learn about citizenship and leadership.
Local school teachers have noticed improved behav
ior. "A lot of the teachers have commented on how the
Explorers have matured so much and taken more re
sponsibility as far as the classroom goes." Croom said.
The Shallotte Explorers are collecting receipts from
Food Folks grocery store and they hope to get enough
over the next year to receive money for their program.
For every $300,000 in receipts, the police department
will receive $1,250 through the Food Folks "Cash For
Kids" program.
THE BRUNSWICK HOSPITAL
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE
THE ASSOCIATION OF
KIRK R.
STEPTOE, M.D.
Internal Medicine
12 MEDICAL CENTER DRIVE
SUPPLY, NC
754-8990
NOW ACCEPTING
APPOINTMENTS
THE BRUNSWICK
HOSPITAL
HIGHWAY 17 / SUPPIJY, NC / 919-754-8121
eHHO THE BRUNSWICK BtACON
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTED
SHALLOTTE POLICE OFFICER KEITH CROOM demonstrates a life-saving technique on Amy
Hutchins during a recent meeting of the Shallotte Explorers.
THE BRUNSWICK HOSPITAL
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE
THE ASSOCIATION OF
KEN L
WILLEFORD, M.D.
Anesthesiology
The Brunswick Hospital
SUPPLY, NC
754-8121
THE BRUNSWICK
HOSPITAL
HIGHWAY 17 / SUPPLY, NC / 919-754-8121
C1993 THf BMUNSWlCK BFACON