The nine Highlands Police Explorers who attend the 2023 New Jersey Law Enforcement Youth Academy this year walked off with seven awards at the annual six-day residential police academy event this department’s local Explorers have been attending since its inception in 2014.
The Highlands Post with nine explorers attending, was one of the largest represented police department posts from around the state.
Also participating in the annual week-long activity were Explorer Posts in Middletown, Marlboro, Manalapan, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Essex County, Fair Lawn, and Jackson for a total of 106 participants in the program.
Led by Highlands Police Officers Connor McGrath, Ptl. Alexander Braswell, Ptl. Kevin Connor and Ptl. Nicole Curley, the Highlands Explorers have traditionally made the week long academy available to any Explorer in the post expressing an interest in attending.
The Academy costs $450 per attendee and advisor and post members stage an annual raffle to cover the full cost of the program including field trips, uniforms, equipment and the academy’s five day training.
This year’s academy was hosted at St. Elizabeth University in Florham Park.
Organized and run by active and retired law enforcement officers from around the State, the academy is definitely not a summer camp.
Programs follow the aim of academy staff and advisors who attend with their explorers to make the youth academy as real as possible compared to professional police academies. This includes wake up calls at 5:00AM for physical training conducted by PT instructors, instruction in Drill and Ceremony from Drill instructors, and classroom and practical training from law enforcement professionals throughout the week.
Explorers are graded on physical and academic performances and awards are given to the best explorers during the graduation ceremony on the final night of the academy.
Highlands Explorers attending the Academy this year were Chief Michael Del Duca, Explorer John Norman, Sgt. Ubaldo Garcia, Explorer Jake Curry, Sgt. Alanna Koerner, Explorer Jeter Woods, Explorer Simon Salazar, Explorer Jack Dale and Explorer Sean O’Connor
During the awards ceremony, O’Connor and Norman took first place for Narcotics Investigation, O’Connor and Norman took third place for Search and Seizure, and Curry took third place for Hostage Negotiation during Phase 2 of the program.
During the Phase 3 portion, Koerner took second place for report writing, DelDuca second and Koerner took third place in Domestic Violence Investigation and Ubaldo Garcia and DeLuca took third in burglary in Progress.
The awards phases are two of the four sections the Explorers undergo during their academic week. The first phase is classroom and practical training which serve as an introduction to law enforcement for younger or newer explorers. Phase 4 includes interview skills, police applications and resume building.
At the end of the week, explorers also have the opportunity to sit with a panel of police chiefs for a formal interview during which they are questioned and vetted as though they were actual police applicants.
During Phase 2, the second year for explorers, there is classroom training and graded hands-on scenarios.
The third year, Phase 3, is known as the “fun phase” when explorers are given duty belts with a rubber gun, training handcuffs, and a radio. They then serve as the campus police for the week.
The college campus is broken into zones and the explorers are assigned partners for patrols.
A Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Dispatcher sends the explorers from call to call and provides them with realistic information pertaining to calls and scenarios the academy students have to handle as though they are actual law enforcement officers. Advisors work together to be the actors in these scenarios and keep track of explorers’ progress throughout the week as they are respond to each call.
The Police Academy is only one of numerous programs the Highlands Explorers participate in because of the active participation with the department’s advisory officers who volunteer their time to work with the explorers.
Current police officers on the local department who participated in the Academy program as teens include Braswell, Connor and Robert Alvator, all who attended as Highlands Police Explorers.
“We consider our program to be successful in helping explorers enter the field of law enforcement if that is the path they chose,” said Braswell, who could speak from personal experience. “We do not push the career on our explorers in any way, but rather have a goal to help them grow into successful young men and women, giving them life skills needed to pursue anything they decide is right for them.”
Braswell, McGrath and Connor and Carley all agree the program instills discipline, accountability, self-reliance and teamwork, all aids so they can excel in their respective career paths.
There is proof of what these advisors say. Included among graduates of the police academy program for Highlands Explorers now involved in public safety are Det. Travis Morgan, Atlantic Highlands Police Department, Ranger Arthur J. Weimer, U.S. National Park Service, Ranger, Sgt.Salvator Albanese , NJ National Guard and a Sergeant on the Middletown Police Department, Highlands Sgt. Kevin O’Donnell, Burlington Vermont Detective Martin Maloney, Elyse Parker , NYC Office Of Chief Medical Examiner, Medical Examiner, Ptl. Matthew Golembieski, Monmouth Beach Police Department, Ptl Alvator, Braswell and Connor, Highlands Police Department, Fire Crew Chief for the Texas Conservation Corps Noah Garber, Ptl. Aiden Carey, Middletown Township Police Department and Robert Cavanagh, now serving in the United Stated Air Force.
