A crowd of more than 200 people gathered at Camp Varnum in Narragansett on Saturday, listening as the sounds of military boots hitting the pavement in unison echoed through the Rhode Island National Guard’s seaside camp.
Those sounds came from what Lt. Patrick McMahon, director of the Rhode Island Law Enforcement Explorer Academy, said was a “record 80 boys and girls who were about to graduate from a program that involves rigorous training and physical stress as any paramilitary type academy would entail.”
“We started on [last] Sunday with 80 Explorers,” McMahon added. “That’s the largest number of Explorers that have ever attended this academy. The program runs on a 24-hour basis and includes Senior Drill Instructor Lt. David Pacheco of the East Providence Police Department waking up your children and marching them out onto the field to watch the sun rise over Beavertail while doing their morning exercises. In a short while, all 80 Explorers will receive their certificates.”
A total of 10 members of the Johnston Police Department’s Explorer Post 405 were among the 80 graduates who were schooled in such topics as defensive tactics, crime scene investigations, criminal law and procedures. They also received a demonstration by the Rhode Island State Bomb Squad Unit, where some checked out how the bomb robot worked, while others tried on the bomb suit technicians wear.
“As always, the Johnston Police Explorers did an outstanding job during the summer academy,” said Maj. Thomas H. Dolan, who coordinates Post 405 and serves as the assistant training camp director. “They stood tall and completed the entire academy courses of instruction in law enforcement and procedures.”
Dolan said those who participated “dedicated their first week of school summer vacation to attend the academy and that speaks volumes for each and every Johnston Explorer.”
“I’m extremely proud and honored to be a part of this organization,” he added. “The young students that attended this academy will someday be the leaders in the law enforcement community. It is a pleasure to be around them as they progress in their law enforcement career goals.”
In keeping with the tradition of excellence that previous Post 405 members displayed during the academy, Explorer Lt. Zachary Morin won the top EVOC Driving Course Award for males while Cranston Post 402’s Sophia Calderone won the same honor among females.
That competition entailed Explorers driving a police vehicle on a course to see which driver would leave the most road cones standing. Calderon, as McMahon announced, was perfect and Morin only knocked over one cone.
The list of Johnston Explorers Post 405 Academy graduates includes Morin, Kayla Desrosiers, Sgt. Patrick W. Young, Capt. Aaron L. Blanco, Sofia Morales, Stephen Notarianni, Capt. Mason Lariviere, Mizael S. Mendez, Kaleb A. Mendez and Elvira Larios.
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