ECSO Explorers bring home trophies from competition

Submitted photo.

ELLIS COUNTY — The Ellis County Sheriff Explorers sent three teams to Houston, Texas, for the second annual Harris County Explorer Competition hosted by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 19.

The event drew 30 Explorer teams from across Texas. Ellis County Sheriff Explorers Team 25 consisted of Lt. Gage Adams, Cpl. Brandy Slusher, Cpl. Nadir Garcia and Cameron Sherrell; Team 26 consisted of Sgt. Ross McRee, Matthew Aguilar, Luis Martinez and Noel Campbell; and Team 27 consisted of Sgt. Shelby Snodgress, Isiah Bias, Tristian McQueen and Remigio "Remi" Gomez.

The Explorers were led by Lt. Bruce Stayments and Deputy Jeff Prater, who serves as the lead Explorer advisor.

This year, there were 12 different team events and several individual events. At the beginning of the event, all of the Explorers shared a moment of silence for Deputy Darren Goforth of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, who was gunned down Aug. 28 while filling his patrol car with gas at a convenience store.

For the Harris County competition, Prater and the senior members of the Ellis County Sheriff Explorers program decided to change up the post’s normal teams.

"We have gained several new Explorers in our program this year and they have no experience in competing in competitions, so we wanted to focus on giving them that experience of having to perform under the stress of a competition," Prater said. "We decided to put members of our normal competition teams in with our new Explorers so they could work side by side and learn firsthand from those who have been to competitions.

"At this competition, our Explorers were not trying to win trophies, they were looking for the experience the new Explorers needed," Prater said. "In the beginning, you could see they were a little nervous, but they quickly realized the training we have been giving them was exactly the training needed for competitions."

The three Ellis County Sheriff Explorers teams each participated in four events, bringing home nine trophies overall:

Team 25
1st Place in Burglary in Progress
2nd Place in Misdemeanor Traffic Stops
3rd Place in Arrest & Search
3rd Place in Crime Scene Investigation

Team 26
1st Place in Bomb Threat Investigation
2nd Place in Arrest & Search
3rd Place in Domestic Disturbance

Team 27
1st Place in DWI Investigation
3rd Place in Robbery in Progress

"The overall experience at the competition was great and we could not be any happier," Prater said.

The next competition for the Ellis County Sheriff Explorers will be in October at the Plano X Explorer Competition, which is an all-night-long competition that is held across the city of Plano.

If you wish to know more about the Ellis County Sheriff Explorers, visit the post’s website at www.ecsoexplorers.com or contact Prater at 972-825-4934 or jeff.prater@co.ellis.tx.us. The Explorers meet every Tuesday night at the Law Enforcement Center at 2272 Farm-to-Market 878, Waxahachie.

The Law Enforcement Exploring Program is a division of the Learning for Life Program and the Boy Scouts of America. The Ellis County Sheriff Explorers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling young people to become responsible individuals by teaching positive character traits, career development, leadership and life skills so they can make ethical choices and achieve their full potential.