Cadets of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post No. 2015 recently won numerous top honors at a Law Enforcement Explorer Cadet competition in Paso Robles.

The 13th annual Central Coast Law Enforcement Explorer Competition hosted more than 400 law enforcement explorer cadets from 42 law enforcement agencies throughout California, Nevada and Arizona.

The three-day competition was extremely demanding; testing the mental preparedness, physical endurance and tactical and operational expertise of competing Explorer Cadets.

Cadets compete in a variety of law enforcement related scenarios, including Felony Suspect Detainment and Arrest, Crisis Negotiation, Vehicle Traffic Enforcement Stops, DUI Investigations, Vehicle Searches, Building Searches, Domestic Violence Investigations, Suspect Interview and Interrogation, Emergency Medical Aid, Patrolling, Hazardous Response/Active Gunman and a host of other law enforcement related tasks. Explorer Cadets also compete in individual and team physical agility tests.

Fifteen Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Cadets competed in the event. They ranged in age from 14 to 19. Due to the outstanding performance by the DCSO Explorer Cadets in the various competitions during the event, they placed third overall out of the total of 42 competing Explorer Posts.

The success of the DCSO Explorer Cadets is the culmination of months of extensive training and practical application exercises administered by DCSO Youth Services Officers Chris Griffith and Teresa Duffy.

To be a member of the DCSO Explorer program, Cadets must maintain an academic grade of 2.5 or above in school. Additionally they must train for several hours each week at the Sheriff’s Office, and they participate in hundreds of hours of community service each year.