“Put your hands up!”

With a commanding voice, Bryant Magill takes charge.

“OK, now with your hands up, walk backwards towards me,” Magill barks.

With his hands shaped to mimic a gun, and while watching to exit his pretend patrol car carefully, Magill approaches and prepares to handcuff a suspect in a felony traffic stop.

Bryant Magill is still in high school. But, he and a half-dozen other local youth are getting a taste for the law enforcement life as members of Island County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post No. 4058.

The scenario was all fake, but it couldn’t have been more real for Magill and the other Explorers as they recently trained in a Coupeville conference room for an upcoming law enforcement Explorers competition.

The post is one of hundreds of law enforcement posts around the nation, and among thousands of Explorers posts organized as a part of the Boy Scouts of America’s Learning for Life program that allows youth to gain hands-on learning in a variety of fields including law enforcement, firefighting and engineering.

Law enforcement Explorers programs are intended to educate and involve youth in police operations and interest them in possible law enforcement functions whether they enter the field or not.

Each post — no matter what the career field — works under the guidelines of the Explorer program, with each career field and specific post narrowing down the standards that must be set by its young Explorers.

Island County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post No. 4058, headed by advisor Deputy Laura Price, is run with the help of local law enforcement officers such as frequent volunteer, Deputy Eric Boone.

The post is seeing a resurgence after restarting in 2004 after an extended hiatus. While the post’s membership climbs as high as 10 members, there are currently seven members with Price seeing room for more.

“We’d like to see more people involved,” she said.

The law enforcement Explorer program is for people ages 14 to 21 who would like to experience the duties of the criminal justice field. They receive training in building searches, interview skills, traffic stops, drug recognition, firearms, defense tactics, handcuffing techniques and other daily duty skills. It’s a mix of classroom study work, hands-on learning at the sheriff’s office, practice locations, and work in the field.

“We’re giving them a bird’s eye view of law enforcement,” Price said. “We don’t sugar coat anything. We train them like we train.”

The Explorers can also shadow local law enforcement officers on ride-a-longs during patrol shifts or help with paperwork at the office. Recently, Explorer Jennifer Muzzall worked a shift observing the duties of a corrections deputy at the county jail.

Just like in school, to be eligible for this in-field learning, the Explorers must have good attendance and meet skills requirements.

The Island County Explorers are required to attend two meetings per month, plus any scheduled training for upcoming competitions. There are $5 monthly dues and everyone must clock a minimum of 10 training hours per month.

“They often help give us extra sets of eyes and ears to ensure public safety at events,” Price said.

Local Explorers regularly raise funds to offset the costs of competitions, uniforms and other expenses that the explorers would have to otherwise cover out of pocket.

Explorers aim for Flagstaff, beyond

The Explorers of Island County Sheriff’s Office Post No. 4058 are currently fund-raising so they can travel to the National Law Enforcement Exploring Conference that will be held in Flagstaff, Ariz., in July.

The Explorer post is looking for opportunities to work toward that goal. They can provide security or traffic control at events, wash vehicles or airplanes, yard work, maintenance and other projects and events. The group is open to all ideas and suggestions, and the work would be done for a donation to the Explorers program.

During the recent training session for a competition in Federal Way, the Explorers were busy running mock scenes — such as the traffic stops. Price talked to them about mapping, plotting and documenting crime scenes. They reviewed how to photograph, collect and preserve evidence properly. They practiced interviewing witnesses — tonight it was in domestic violence situations. The evening wrapped with the felony traffic stops. This night it was a mock set-up inside, but if it wasn’t for the rain they’d be out in a sheriff’s vehicle getting used to the real deal.

The Island County Explorers were among hundreds of law enforcement Explorers from around the state who attended the week-long Winter 2005 Washington Law Enforcement Explorer Advisor Academy in January.

“This is a demanding academy and each post member comes home with a new outlook on life,” Price said.

Three of the Island County Explorers attended basic academy and one attended advanced. Explorer Muzzall placed first for physical fitness at the basic academy. Explorer Shane Cupit won the basic academy drill down the third night of academy. Explorer Michael Pelzer placed second in firearms for the advanced academy.

At the Federal Way Challenge held Feb. 25, the post’s Explorer Sgt. Josh Edwards received first place for boys physical agility, and Muzzall received first for girls physical agility.

Muzzall, 17, is a senior at Oak Harbor High School and currently post 4058’s lone female explorer.

Up until a year ago, Muzzall wanted to be a dairy farmer. A lot has changed since then. In a family of farmers and firefighters — she’s turned to law enforcement.

“I was totally sucked in once I learned of the Explorers program,” Muzzall said.

A chance discussion with a deputy at a school job fair got her interested in the Explorers over a year ago, but she didn’t go full-time until six months ago.

Like many of the other Explorers, she juggles maintaining her academics, committing herself to the Explorers program and other school and home activities.

The young Explorer sees her service as a way to give back to her island home.

“The community has always been so supportive of my family and our dairy farm that I wanted to find a way to give back,” she said. “My being an Explorer makes me feel good about myself that I’m helping protect the people of Whidbey.”

Muzzall said she’s gained organizational skills and a heightened sense of her surroundings.

“My eyes are wide open to everything now,” she said. “I’m also more careful in everything from the way I write to how I speak.”

“It’s the person-to-person contact of the job that I feel I can make the most impact,” she said. “When you head out to a situation the majority of the time you may not come across people on the best of terms, but if you do your job you can feel you left them in a better situation.”

She plans to study psychology or corrections at college to further her career chances.

Fulfilling life goals

Another year-long member, 17-year-old Michael Pelzer, has known that law enforcement would be in his life since he was a grade-schooler playing cops and robbers.

“I’ve known I want to be a cop since I was a kid and I’ve geared myself in that direction,” he said. “Knowing quite a few, I’ve seen their day-to-day lives and I know they deserve respect for all they do.”

When not at Explorer meetings, the junior at Coupeville High School is a lead petty officer for the Sea Cadets 700th Division, plays for the Wolves football team, helps lead the Youth Meth Action Team or studys to maintain a high grade-point average.

Pelzer enjoys building on the training that he has already received as a Sea Cadet where he has earned boot camp honors and marksmanship awards.

As an Explorer, Pelzer feels obligated to be a well-mannered, moral person of integrity. The skills the Explorers gain go far beyond law enforcement, Pelzer said.

“We learn a lot about life,” he said. “You don’t have to go into law enforcement to be an Explorer because there’s so much that can be carried to your future.”

Pelzer’s friend, 16-year-old Shane Cupit, shares the drive to join the law enforcement ranks. He, too, is a Sea Cadet who excels and looks to enlist in the Navy after high school before becoming a law enforcement officer.

“It’s a moral thing. I’ve always seen myself helping people,” Cupit said. “When you do something like help take drugs off the street you’re definitely doing a service to the community. As an Explorer I’m helping people my age by making this a better place to live.”

Price, who formerly worked in real estate and as a retail store manager, came into law enforcement through the Island County Sheriffs Office reserve deputy program.

“I’m like them, I was drawn to the job to help people and make things right in the world,” she said. “There’s a sense of pride about it when you put on a uniform, are part of this brotherhood and go through the right of passage that is academy.”

After realizing her devotion to the field, Price works to help lead tomorrow’s law enforcement officers.

“These kids are our future and every minute we take to spend with them on their way to adulthood the better off we all are,” she said. “It’s our chance to give to them so they can lead us.”