Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Explorers Going Strong

For more than a quarter century, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Explorer Post has given hands-on experience to young men and women with an interest in careers in law enforcement through the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department.

The national career-oriented program is a non-scouting subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America and is available to qualified youth who have graduated from eighth grade and are between the ages of 14 and 21.   

The local Explorer Post was created in 1974 and has taught the basics of law enforcement and how to provide services to the community, such as traffic and crowd control at special events.

Today, Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Sgt. Kerry Harris leads the group. His son, Matt, a library security officer with the San Jose State University Police Department, has aged out of the Post, but continues to be an active advisor.

In addition to Sgt. Harris, other officers share duties in assisting the Post in training and supervising planned events.

According to Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police officer Greg Borromeo, explorers are taught search and seizure, laws of arrest, patrol procedures, radio communications, and other varying topics that apply to law enforcement careers.

Explorers also have the ability to ride with police officers on patrol monthly to see the application of the training they learned first-hand.

The goals of "exploring" are to educate and involve youth in police operations, to interest them in possible law enforcement careers and to build mutual understanding between young people and law enforcement officers. Those who have chosen different careers have gained invaluable experience and an appreciation for the challenges faced by modern law-enforcement agencies.

“The post gave me many role models of what a good person, and a good police officer looks like," said Matt Harris.

Explorers also participate in the Los Gatos Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training and also in the Santa Clara County Police Explorer Academy. The Post volunteered and estimated 2,155 hours in 2010.

You may have encountered these Explorers around town; they help with traffic and crowd control at the Los Gatos Children's Christmas and Holidays Parade, provide security at the tree lighting ceremony, and attend Career Day at high schools.

In addition, Explorers perform administrative tasks such as completing minor reports and citations, citizen fingerprinting, and filing records.

The program is actively recruiting new candidates. Recruits experience a screening process that is similar to that of a full-time police officer. To earn a Police Explorer uniform, recruits must complete an application, an interview, pass tests on radio codes, policies and procedures and successfully complete a probationary period. In addition, recruits are expected to maintain a good academic standing at school.

Currently, the Post has students that attend Los Gatos High School, Leigh High School, Branham High School, and West Valley College. The structure of the Explorer Post mirrors the ranking system of most police agencies.

There are eight active members in the Post: Lieutenant Nick Caminada, Sergeant Kevin Halverson, Sergeant Jonas Bleisch, Anna Wicklander, Stephanie Massoud, Chris Kiefer, Marc O’Hara, and Alex Studemeister.