John Sartain Explorer Competition 2024, Corpus Christi, Texas

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office Explorers competed in the 8th annual John Sartain Memorial Police Exploring competition hosted by the Corpus Christi Police Department. Our Explorers completed in 8 total scenarios and placed in 5. First place in Unknown Call for police, DWI, and Burglary in Progress. Second Place in Hostage Negotiations. And Third place in Active Shooter. One of our teams placed second overall out of 40 teams!

These explorers have worked hard week in and week out preparing for competitions and their hard work has paid off. What’s more important though, these young people have developed a passion for law enforcement and doing well in competitions like these solidifies their love for our profession. We could not be more proud.

Bomb City Police Explorer Competition, Amarillo, Texas

On 07/27/2024 the Ellis County Sheriff's Office Explorers participated in the first Bomb City Explorer Competition hosted by Amarillo Police Department. Our explorers competed in four scenarios; Bomb Threat Response, a scenario where the explorers respond to a suspicious device found in a public place, Domestic Disturbance, a family violence incident, "Ambush", a traffic stop where the team was ambushed by a gunman, and Burglary in Progress, where the explorers responded to a scene where an intoxicated person had forced entry into a building. In addition to these team scenarios, Explorer Lieutenant Jaden Segura competed in a "critical incident response" individual scenario, where his knowledge of "self-aid/buddy-aid" was tested.

Our team placed first in "Ambush", first in Bomb Threat, and second in Domestic Disturbance and Lt Segura placed first in his individual scenario of "critical incident response."

Our explorers performed exceptionally well, and we could not be prouder of them. Our explorers continue to impress us with their knowledge and professionalism, in competitions and their personal lives. This is the next generation of public servants and it’s good to know we will be in good hands.

First, we would like to thank our explorers for their hard work and dedication. Week after week these young people have trained hard and given up their time with family to become better as a team. Second, we would like to thank all who have given their time to help our explorers train either by acting in training scenarios or offering their law enforcement advice and experience. We would like to thank those who have helped us with planning our stay in Amarillo by booking hotel rooms and offering vehicles for us to use to travel. We also thank all of the individuals and companies who have donated money and supplies, these donations allow us to do what we do and gives the youth an opportunity to excel. Lastly, we would like to thank Sheriff Brad Norman for allowing us to represent the Ellis County Sheriff's Office.

John Sartain Explorer Competition 2023, Corpus Christi, Texas

On November 11, 2023, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office Explorers competed in the John Sartain Explorer Competition hosted by the Corpus Christi Police Department. While we were in town, we visited the USS Lexington. Our Exporers performed exceptionally well and we could not be more proud of them.

We would like to thank Sheriff Brad Norman for his support and allowing Deputy Raney and I to take these young men and women to this competition. We would also like to thank Patrick Talbot with ETTS for donating money to rent a van to transport the explorers. Finally, we would like to thank all of the families, friends and former explorers that help us train as actors and advisors. We would not be able to participate in events like this if it wasn’t for everyone’s support.