BSO Explorer Cadets and Junior Explorers with School Resource Deputy Barry French on the right. Photo by Sharon Aron Baron
A message from Sheriff Scott Israel:
Recently I had the honor of presenting a young man from the City of Plantation with an award for saving a woman’s life. This young man – along with one of our experienced deputies – helped save a suicidal woman who was trying to take her life. Working together, the two rescued the woman and immediately began CPR. They were successful in reviving the woman, and she was safely transported to the hospital.
This extraordinary young man, Marvin Pierre, was not only a hero, but he is also a participant in The Broward Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Explorer Program. Marvin exemplifies the best of this program.
The BSO Explorer Program is a successful example of how mentors can instill responsibility, leadership, teamwork and self-reliance skills in young people. Many of our professional BSO deputies and firefighters started out as young Explorers. Yet, its purpose is not to make every young person a deputy or firefighter. Instead, it is primarily designed to help them develop the necessary character traits that will lead them to make wise choices as adults.
This free program gives qualified young men and women aged 14 to 21 the opportunity to be part of a team. It also allows them to make real decisions and see the positive consequences of those choices. Explorers learn in a safe environment where they are neither bullied nor babied. They are treated like adults and are held accountable for their actions inside and outside of the program.
Explorers participate in community policing and fire safety projects including child fingerprinting, school safety seminars, traffic control and crime prevention programs. Members who are at least 16 years of age are also allowed to go on “ride-alongs” with BSO patrol deputies during their normal shifts.
BSO is committed to investing in our children and instilling life skills they need to be our future leaders and role models. I want to keep kids on the right track to ensure their future successes. When I became sheriff in 2013, the Explorer program had only 70 participants. Today, we have proudly tripled participation. Recently we added a BSO Explorer Cadet Program to extend these great opportunities to children as young as 11 years of age. Longtime Explorers can participate in up to a decade of mentoring, robust experiences, positive growth and a sense of belonging.
Best of all, Explorers take part in community outreach activities that make a positive impact on the lives of so many. Recently many of the participants made a very special visit to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital to lift spirits of sick patients and their families. Everyone has a role to play in making our community a better and safer place for all.
Explorers learn that in the program, as in life, the more you give, the more you get back. What the young men and women learn in this program they bring back and share with their neighborhoods, their schools and families, proving it really does take a village.
To learn more about BSO Explorers, please visit sheriff.org or contact our Youth and Neighborhood Services division at 954-321-4100.
Get involved. Make a difference.
Sheriff Scott Israel
Certain Broward cities like Coral Springs maintain their own police departments, however, BSO does provide communications and dispatch services to the following cities: Central Broward, Cooper City, Dania Beach, Deerfield Beach, Ft Lauderdale-Hollywood Int’l Airport, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale. Oakland Park, Parkland, Pembroke Park, West Park, Pompano Beach, Port Everglades, Tamarac, Weston and unincorporated West Broward.
