By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— After official approval by the Pelham City Council April 18, the Pelham Police Department is accepting applications for its new Police Explorer program as of April 27.

“We’re real excited about this,” said Pelham Police Chief Larry Palmer. “ It will get our youth involved in our development, and give them a chance to see what’s going on in law enforcement—maybe take a look at that for a career down the road.”

The program will be available to students ages 14 to 20, who have completed the eighth grade and have maintained good grades, according to Palmer.

There are a few other requirements, but Palmer said they would be discussed during the application process. He added that the application process is similar to applying for a job.

“We are really, really pleased we can do this for our community,” Palmer said. “It will benefit us in a lot of ways.”

The program is done through the Boy Scouts of America, and Palmer said Pelham’s department is officially dubbed Post 2600 with the nationally recognized explorer program.

The Police Explorer program will also coincide with the Public Safety Academy at Pelham High School, which demonstrates the careers of fire and police officers.

Palmer said they have wanted to sponsor this program for a while now, but it took some time to get all the paperwork in order.

“(This is a great program) to introduce these young adults into law enforcement to explore and see if this is something they’d like to do in the future,” Palmer said. “It’ll be a great program and a great way for us to interact with our youth in the community.”

Interested applicants should contact officer Joey Pitts at jpitts@pelhamonline.com.