Scouts Honor 5 for Work With Police

The Ventura County Boy Scouts have honored five county residents as Law Enforcement Explorers of the Year, which is part of a program designed to introduce young men and women to possible careers as police officers.

The Explorer Scouts serving with the police get a “much more realistic idea of what that career . . . is like,” said Janie Such, an adviser to the local Explorers Assn. “And they have a lot of fun doing it.”

Honored were: Anthony Deleo, 19, of Ventura, who worked with the Ventura County Sheriff Department’s west county station in Ventura; Denise Hamilton, 20, of Oxnard, who served with the Oxnard Police Department; Christopher Hargrove, 21, of Moorpark, who worked with the sheriff’s east county station; J. J. Martinez, 20, of Simi Valley, who served with the Simi Valley Police Department, and Danielle Milton, 17, of Camarillo, who worked with the sheriff’s substation in Camarillo.

Law enforcement explorers help police with such tasks as fingerprinting and traffic control at community events, Such said. She added that about 60% of the youths who go through the explorers program pursue law enforcement as a career.