MPD Explorers Win Awards at National Conference

Jul 30th, 2008

The Mobile Police Department brought home silver this year for its young Police Explorers drill team and took a first place in basketball competition at the biannual national Explorers Conference that ended Saturday in Ft. Collins, CO.

Thirty-two Explorers and 10 adult advisors flew to Colorado last Monday to compete with 4,000 other Police Explorers from around the country in police tactics and skills. The competitions included search and seizure, live-fire target shooting, hostage negotiations, domestic violence scenarios and drill team maneuvers.

A team of five earned the second place award for its drill team performance following months of practice under the guidance of Mobile Police Sgt. Zandra Jackson, and Officers Melvin Jones and Reginald Smith. The performance comes close to the first place win captured by the 2004 Mobile Explorers Drill Team in Atlanta, GA.

Mobile Police Explorers Post 405 also brought home the gold this year in a basketball competition. Officers Marshall Freeman and Byron Sutherland coached seven Explorer youths who beat out the 2006 national champions from the state of New Jersey to win the gold.

“The other boys were bigger, but our boys were faster,” said Freeman. “It was a very physical game.”

The Mobile Police Department operates five Exploring posts that serve almost 200 youths. A program of the Boy Scouts of America, the Police Explorers are open to youths ages 11 to 20. It is designed to introduce youths to a career in law enforcement, while at the same time building and developing traits that will serve them in any career path.

For information about Mobile Police Exploring, call 208-1924.