Meramec has a new police training program
Jayson Gifford
– Staff Writer –
STLCC-Meramec is sharpening the tip of the spear by making an addition to the Criminal Justice Program of the Law Enforcement Police Explorers. The Law Enforcement Explorers program is designed for young adults with an interest in a law enforcement career to and gives them the opportunity to grasp some of the concepts and training that is involved with this particular career.
“This is a great way for students to have a good idea of what to expect as a police officer, and get some training first-hand from commissioned officers,” said Meramec alumnus Robert Wadsack, a five-year St. Louis County Police veteran, who is now in a leadership position with the Law Enforcement Explorers.
The new program aims to execute three primary objectives. First, to further the explorers’education. Second, the program leaders intend to encourage the explorers’ participation in the law enforcement activities, and third, to further the explorers’ education for careers as public servants, or law enforcement officers.
“This will be an excellent opportunity for students to receive some hands-on police work and get some additional training outside the classroom. Furthermore, these student-officers will have the opportunity to assist the campus police in whatever criminal activities they are looking into on campus as well,” said Meramec’s Chief of Police Paul Banta, a 30 plus year veteran of law enforcement and former criminal investigator.
The training that criminal justice students undergo is extensive and covers several topics such as police management, social welfare, and criminology, but what makes the Explorer program unique is the technical, hands-on issues it covers, and the real world environment it is covered in. The training for the explorer program entails self-defense instruction, gun and weapon retention, patrolling techniques, investigative work, crime scene investigation, and ethics. However, this is just a small portion of the training; advanced explorer classes will cover police conduct and discipline, basic criminal law, search techniques, fingerprinting, precinct operations, and community service.
“The origins of the explorer program are derived from the Boy Scouts of America program and over time have taken the face of future law enforcement,” said police officer Laura Clements, a five-year veteran of the St. Louis County Police. “We have had a number of people come and go simply to try out the program to see if they can cut it, but the group that shows the passion and desire to become commissioned officers often can go the distance.”
The explorer program is opened for anyone ages 16-21 who are beginning their training in law enforcement; however the program that will be implemented at Meramec will require that students are criminal justice majors in order to participate. The new program will be taught and supervised by Sarah Elhoffer, the head of the Department of Criminal Justice: Chief Paul Banta, the Chief of the Campus Police Department, and Ed Ucinsky, a five-year veteran of the Pacific Police Department, and a four-year veteran of the Meramec Campus Police. The program launch date is undecided, but information is available at the campus police department, or through the Criminal Justice Department.
