This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
On Saturday, September 22, the Longmont Police Explorers participated in a competition hosted in Longmont, called Night Moves.
Night Moves was a competition between 14 local Police Explorer Programs from Longmont Boulder City, Boulder County, Denver, Brighton, Loveland, Aurora, Commerce City, Arapahoe County, Adams County and Arvada. It was an opportunity for team members to experience staged and controlled scenarios that police offerers encounter on a daily basis.
"We are just going in as a team and solving 8 different scenarios that officers commonly find in their everyday life, so we've got to work through it as a team," says Erin Jensen, Longmont Police Explorer team-member.
On Saturday, scenes were set up across Longmont and students were escorted to each one by their team advisors. "We had help from local businesses that allowed us to use their facilities for one of our scenarios," states Officer Melinda Burnett, Longmont Police Explorer coordinator. Those businesses included Cannery Apartments, Guardian Storage, Meritage Homes, Kohl's Department Store, Wal-Mart, Iron Horse Apartments, Les Schwab Tires, Richmond American Homes and Target.
Explorers worked in teams to approach and assess each situation. They were scored on their performance in each scenario by a volunteer judge.
"Even though the Longmont Explorers did not place in any of the events, they did
a great job at problem solving and demonstrated good tactics. They worked through the scenarios and adapted to the challenges they faced. We are very proud of the work they put into training for Night Moves and the experience will help them with the next competition we attend," says Burnett.
Below is a list of the top three teams in each of the eight scenarios who received a trophy.
Noise Complaint
- 1st Denver PD
- 2nd Brighton PD (team 2)
- 3rd Aurora (team 2)
Trespass Complaint
- 1st Aurora PD (team 1)
- 2nd Brighton PD (team 2)
- 3rd Loveland PD
Officer Down Rescue
- 1st Denver PD
- 2nd Aurora PD (team 1)
- 3rd Brighton PF (team 1)
Shoplifter
- 1st Aurora PD (team 1)
- 2nd Commerce City PD
- 3rd Arapahoe County SO (team 1)
Domestic Violence
- 1st Denver PD
- 2nd Commerce City PD
- 3rd Arapahoe County SO (team 1)
Civil Issue
- 1st Arapahoe County SO (team 1)
- 2nd Denver PD
- 3rd Boulder PD
High Risk Traffic Stop
- 1st Denver PD
- 2nd Aurora PD (team 1)
- 3rd Arapahoe County SO (team 1)
Judges and the actors in the scenarios were volunteers from neighboring law enforcement agencies. Each played roles in scenes including shoplifting, domestic violence and transient encounters. In all over 80 volunteers participated in the event as judges, role players, dispatchers, check-in staff and troubleshooters for developing problems.
The scenarios were carefully crafted by Officer Burnett. She briefed volunteers on how to act, what kinds of things to say and what not to say as well as stocked each scene with appropriate materials to challenge the youth groups.
"Hosting Night Moves in Longmont allowed members of the community who were
not familiar with the program the opportunity to gain some insight into the program. Residents of one apartment community expressed an interest in the scenario that was taking place on the property. Their interest has opened up the possibility of future Explorer training at the apartment complex in which the residents participate by being role players.
As the coordinator of the Explorer program, I am grateful to work in a place that
takes an interest in the young adults who are striving to be good citizen and future leaders in the community. It means a lot to the Explorers when they see people in the community that have respect for the profession they are thinking of entering."
