Back row, from left: Marcellus Schaffer, Jeidan Brown, Ysela Brown, Juliah Brown, Julieanna Williams and Alexceah Emm; front row, from left: Cayce McMinn, Asaya Sanchez and Chief Gary Hall.
The Walker River Paiute Tribal Police Department has begun the first Tribal Police Explorer Program in Nevada and only the fifth in the nation in Indian Country.
Applicants are accepted from the entire community ages 14 through 20 years old, and the organizers said many youth under 14 years old are anxiously awaiting their birthdays so they can join.
The department now has eight explorers — six young women and two young men: Jeidan Brown, Juliah Brown, Ysela Brown, Alexceah Emm, Cayce McMinn, Lilliana Sanchez, Marcellus Schaffer and Julieanna Williams. The program is sanctioned by the Boy Scouts of America and given the post number requested — 1864, which represents the year the Walker River Paiute Tribe was founded.
Since the March recruitment, the explorers participated in basic training, which is required prior to being eligible to go on ride-alongs. Those classes are: First Aid, CPR/AED, Blood Borne Pathogens, Traffic Control, Crowd Control, Patrol Procedures, and Vehicle Equipment and Communications. Presently, seven explorers have completed their basic training and are going out on ride-alongs.
The explorers have also learned how to set up and instruct the Drunk Busters DUI course, which involves a subject wearing goggles that simulate various stages of intoxication and drug impairment. The explorers will instruct subjects in the performance of the “One-Legged Stand” and “Walk and Turn” tests followed by riding a pedal cart through a course set up with cones.
The purpose is to teach youth about the dangers of alcohol abuse and drunk driving. The explorers have also learned to walk in formation, the department said, and were proud to walk in the Hawthorne 67th Armed Forces Day Parade.
The Explorer Program is open for enrollment any time.
