Palm Beach County Youth Explores a Future on the Front Lines
By Samantha White
GREENACRES, Fla. — Law enforcement is commonplace in the media, with a negative spotlight shown on police in recent years. The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Explorers program seeks to provide an opportunity for youth to learn about law enforcement careers firsthand.
“The mission of the Explorers program is to teach the youth and introduce them to a career in law enforcement, but we’re also focused on building good human beings,” Lisa Brown, senior advisor of the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Explorers program, said.
The Explorers program in Palm Beach County started in the early 1980s and has continued as an outlet for kids in the county. It is broken down into two age groups, “jr. Explorers” for ages 11–14 and “Explorers” for ages 14–21.
The group meets every Monday for a regular training meeting with community events, competitions, and learning opportunities included throughout the year.
Following instances of police brutality against individuals such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, civil unrest brought systemic racism and brutality within policing to the forefront of issues that affected the United States of America.
The anti-police sentiment was at a high in 2020 and continues to be a concern amongst many Americans. A study done by Gallup showed that 58% of all Americans believed that “major changes” were needed within policing in the United States.
While the Explorers program is not new, it has a newfound relevance in light of the public disdain towards the police as an institution. The Explorers program inadvertently counteracts the popular narrative that all cops are bad and should be feared. It provides an opportunity for kids and teens to learn about their careers and grow to fix these issues from the inside out.
Jeremiah Mesadieu, a senior at Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, volunteered with fellow explorers to direct traffic at the City of Greenacres’ “Eggstravaganza” event just before Easter. He has been an explorer for nearly two years.
“I wanted to be a cop since before I could talk, but because of the media, it was easy for me to get discouraged on whether I wanted to do that,” said Mesadieu. “From working with the deputies, you are able to see that they are humans too, you get to see different sides that the media doesn’t portray. You meet a cop that is just like you, and it reinforces why you want to do it.”
This program allows individuals from ages 11–21 to have an experience that prepares them for the occupational world with positive role models to lead them.
Jonathan Martin, a 15-year-old Explorer, explains the benefits of the program.
“[The Explorers program] teaches a lot of things not related to law enforcement: discipline, respect, physical training. There are a lot of aspects that are important whether you want to work in law enforcement or not,” said Martin.
Children often debate the different career paths they want to pursue, opportunities to encounter their possible future firsthand allow for more clarity as they move forward. The Explorers program does just that.
“A lot of times this career is not all the glamour we see in the movies, the program really opens the eyes of a child considering a career in this area,” said Mesadieu.
The Explorers compete on the local, state, and national levels to display the skills, such as traffic stops, fingerprinting, and how to make a proper arrest, that they have been taught through training exercises with their mentors.
They are evaluated on their knowledge, preparedness, and performance in the mock situations displayed by evaluators.
“During competitions, we experience anything a cop would encounter on a daily basis from traffic stops to active shooters,” said Mesadieu. “It really gives me the best insight possible without having to be a cop in real life.”
The process to be enrolled as an Explorer takes many steps, from an initial interview and orientation, to what Deputy Brown describes as a “probationary period” to see if they are qualified to be given an Explorer’s uniform.
Deputy Brown has been the advisor for the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Explorers for the last 14 years, and in law enforcement for 24 years.
“I used to have a kid that was a part of the Delray Explorers who used to ride with me, and I never thought anything of it until I requested Explorers to help me with an event. I started helping and the kids kind of stole my heart and suckered me into it,” said Deputy Brown.
The sense of community is a strong point in this program, the students shared that their leaders are more than just mentors but rather: family.
“My favorite part about the program is the people who train us and the family that comes along with being a member of the Explorers program,” said Martin.
Even when the program is over, the Explorers have built a solid foundation for their future with mentors to guide them and support them through life.
“The deputies come to our graduations, are there for us when we are going through troubles,” Mesadieu said. “They are more than just mentors; I am closer with some of the deputies than my own aunts and uncles.”
Overall, this program seeks to reach out to students and the community to provide not only a learning opportunity but a way to change the idea society has of policing.
“The Explorers shed light on law enforcement as a whole that it’s not just about catching the bad guys, it’s also about trying to prevent people from getting into trouble,” said Deputy Brown. “This is a program that not only trains our kids for a future in law enforcement but teaches them to do the right thing.”
