HPD Explorers Academy introduces students to law enforcement career

From the outside, everything looked normal after-hours at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse on Tuesday, but inside a group of high schoolers were hard at work.

The Helena Police Explorers Academy met at the courthouse Tuesday evening to learn about clearing a building and handling active shooter situations from members of the SWAT team.

“It’s stressful,” Helena police explorer Jacob Munson said. “I can’t imagine how stressful that is if it’s a real gun and a real hostage situation.”

Before running through scenarios law-enforcement could face, the explorers learned some of the basics, like what kind of equipment SWAT teams use, and how to work as a team to safely clear a building.

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SWAT team members ran the explorers through exercises to learn the communication skills and teamwork needed to keep each other safe when performing tasks like clearing a building.

“I’m really learning to trust a lot of people,” Munson said. “You have to have that trust there, you can’t really do it if you don’t have that trust.”

Throughout the eight-week academy, explorers learn about a variety of topics that pertain to a law enforcement career, including use of force laws, criminal investigations, traffic stops and more. The explorers learn through hands-on activities with law enforcement officers.

“I just hope it excites them to get into law enforcement in the future,” Helena police officer Scott Finnicum said.

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Munson said he hadn’t considered a career in law enforcement until enrolling in the academy. This is now his second time going through the Helena Police Department Explorers Academy.

“I think it’s opened up a window to a new opportunity,” Munson said.

In order to participate in the program, students must have a 2.0 GPA, submit an application and pass a background check.

“All of them have been great to work with so far,” Finnicum said of this explorers class. “They’ve been a lot of fun this year.”

This class of explorers graduates from the academy on May 7. The dates for the next academy have not been announced yet.