Crime & Safety
15-Year-Old Working Toward a Career in Law Enforcement
Brian McGrath joins Police Explorers in pursuit of becoming an officer one day.
- Name: Brian McGrath is 15, and a corporal in the Montville Township Police Explorers Post 805.
- How Long: The teen has been a member of the Explorers post “a little over a year,” he said.
- What Part of Town: Since birth, McGrath has lived in the Towaco section of Montville Township.
- Education: Currently a student at Montville Township High School, McGrath plans to attend college after high school. He intends to major in law enforcement.
- Why This Squad: “The fact that I want to become a police officer when I’m older, that kinda made me want to join the Explorers,” McGrath said. “I heard about the Explorers from my brother. He was already an Explorer, and he also wants to be a police officer.”
- Career: For McGrath, the decision to become a police officer was one he made as a 13-year-old. “It just seems like it would be very interesting to work with other police officers,” he said.
- Time: Each week McGrath spends roughly 4 to 5 hours on Explorers activities, “Depending on how many events, or details, that we have,” he said. Explorers activities occur year round and include training sessions, law enforcement competitions, traffic assignments, patrolling the community parks to confirm permits, routine squad car ride-alongs with officers, and road clean-ups. “Yeah, we find some pretty interesting stuff,” said McGrath of the items of garbage drivers have discarded along the roads of Montville Township.
- Other Activities: In addition to the Police Explorers, McGrath enjoys hanging out with his friends, and bowling competitively.
- Most Difficult: McGrath doesn’t find Explorers to be particularly difficult. “Except sometimes when we have to do PT, which is physical training,” explained McGrath. In June, the corporal attended the Montville Police Department Law Enforcement Explorer Academy at the County of Morris Public Safety Training Academy. The eight day academy is a 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. training program in police procedure and protocol. It consists of classes and scenario training for circumstances like burglaries and bomb threats. Each day begins and ends with physical training. McGrath said the day is long, “and waking up early to do PT is pretty tough.”
- Most Rewarding: “The fact that after Police Explorers I will have a better chance at becoming a police officer,” McGrath said. The goal oriented teen said that, “that is pretty much the main reason why I want to do Police Explorers.”
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