Gulfport Explorers Head to State Competition

"You feel like a real officer," - Explorer Captain Sam Smith

For the second year in a row, members of the Gulfport Police Explorers Post 995 will be competing in the Florida Association of Police Explorers State Competition from June 19 - 25 in Orlando. The team leaves Sunday morning.

Six members ranging from 15 to 20 years old will be tested on their ability to conduct a traffic stop, investigate a crime scene, shoot 9 mm handguns and even take part in an active shooter scenario, among other group and single competitions.

“They try to make it as real as possible,” said.

Explorers are shot at with airsoft guns in the active shooter scenario. And although it's what they've trained for, Sam Smith says it's as real as it gets. "It was pretty exciting, you feel like a real officer."

The six members competing are Captain Sam Smith, Colleen Hargett, James Gainer, Catie Wikes, Charleston Fritts and Sara Hack. Gulfport Police Det. Hanh Pham and School Resource Officer Steven Beltran will be advising the team during the competition. Det. Pham says the entire cost for the trip is about $3,100. Pham says they are a non-profit organization that depends on fundraisers and donations, "So these kids can go and compete and have fun." 

Five members attended last year's state competition, unfortunately the team came home empty handed. They are hoping that's not the case this year.

“We didn’t win anything last year, but we learned a lot, it was a very very good experience, we hope we win something this year,” Pham said.

"I think we're more prepared. We did a lot more training," Smith said.

“It was very exciting, we were nervous, it was our first time. We didn’t know what to expect. After the competition was over we realized, wow . . . we learned a lot from the competition and learned the mistakes that we made," Pham said.

The awards ceremony is on Saturday, June 25. We'll keep you posted on the team's progress.