2008 National Law Enforcement Exploring Conference

Team Competition Guidelines

• All events will have a maximum of four members per team. Posts may elect to have smaller teams of not less than two members. Posts should recognize that the problems are designed for four-member teams.
• Posts will determine their own team composition, although a team may not be composed of Explorers from more than one Learning for Life local office.
• Participation in competitions is scheduled by post only; therefore, Learning for Life contingents will not be able to register in competitions.
• All items needed for a competition will be provided. Explorers do not need to bring, and will not be allowed to use, their own investigative equipment.
• Explorers may not compete on more than one team. Adults may not compete.
• The competition committee will assign teams to competition time blocks randomly by computer. The team events will remain unknown until the team signs in for its scheduled block of time at the competition office.
• All events are role-playing scenarios that will last approximately one hour.
• Generally, each event will include a briefing, the scenario, and a report phase and will conclude with a critique of the event.
• Each post entering the team competition must complete the team competition box of the Competition Registration Form (in Section VI) and return it to the national office no later than April 30, 2008.
• Advisors may observe the critique portion of the event, but not the actual scenario.
• Competition registration will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Space is limited for teams.
• There will be no on-site program scheduling.
• Explorers competing in team events should wear their uniforms.

Post/Team Scheduling

• Explorers may not compete on more than one team.
• A Post may field a maximum of four independent teams.
• No Post will compete in more than four team competition events.
• Any one team may compete in one or a maximum of two team competitions.

Example: Three teams from Post 007 will be assigned to team competitions as follows:

Team A = 2 competitions
Team B = 1 competition
Team C = 1 competition

Scoring and Awards

• Each event will be judged on an objective scale of 1 to 100.
• Score results will remain confidential until after the conference closing program, at which time the score sheets will be available to the post at a designated location.
• Posts scoring in the top 10 percent will receive certificates for superior performance applicable to their division.

Team Events

There will be twelve team events, each sponsored by an agency with considerable expertise in the respective event subject. The events will be:

1. Arrest and Search Techniques
2. Bomb Threat Response
3. Burglary in Progress
4. Crime Prevention
5. Crime Scene Search
6. Domestic Crisis Intervention
7. Emergency Field First Aid
8. Hostage Negotiation
9. Shoot/Don't Shoot
10. Traffic Accident Investigation
11. Traffic Stop
12. White Collar Crime

Event: Arrest and Search Techniques

Scene: Explorers will form a detail to search an apartment occupied by suspected narcotics dealers. Arrest and search warrants, inert service revolvers, handcuffs, and badges or credentials will be provided. Explorers will be graded on effective entry; situation control; the search; locating, identifying, and preserving evidence; and arrest techniques.

Event: Bomb Threat Response

Scene: An office building. The team leader will be briefed on a bomb threat called to a local business. Upon arrival at the business, the team will be met by the office manager of the business and the receptionist who received the bomb threat. It is the Explorer's responsibility to assess the situation, conduct the proper interviews, conduct a bomb search if necessary, and resolve the situation expediently within the allotted period of time.

Event: Burglary in Progress

Scene: Apartment or simulated residence. Two patrol officers respond to a call from an individual who claims his/her home has been burglarized and the suspects may still be in the residence. Upon arrival, the two officers are faced with a situation with many unknown dangers. Another patrol car is available for backup.

Event: Crime Prevention

Scene: Part I consists of 25 multiple-choice questions. Part II consists of the preparation and delivery of a "minitalk" on neighborhood watch/operation identification before a panel of crime prevention practitioners who are acting as a group of concerned citizens forming a neighborhood watch in their community. Ratings will be based on familiarity with concepts of neighborhood watch and operation identification.

On-site aids available: Home Survey and Loss Prevention Survey forms will be provided.

Event: Crime Scene Search

Scene: Explorers will be measured on their ability to process the scene of a recent crime. A crime scene processing kit will be available. Grades will reflect: how effectively the Explorer in command assigns duties and responsibilities to the rest of the detail; the effectiveness of securing the scene; the thoroughness of the crime scene search; the handling and preservation of physical evidence; photographing and diagramming the scene; and the developing of latent fingerprints, etc., within the allotted time.

Event: Domestic Crisis Intervention

Scene: Apartment or simulated residence, family situation. Two patrol officers have been assigned to respond to an unknown domestic disturbance. Another car is available as a backup. Upon arrival, the first two Explorers are faced with a classic domestic confrontation.

Grades will reflect how well Explorers handle this potentially dangerous situation. If the subjects are handled properly, the participants will calm down and allow the officers to effect reconciliation. If handled improperly, the situation will escalate, forcing an arrest.

Event: Emergency Field First Aid

Scene: The Explorer team will respond to a report of an injured person lying in an alley. The victim, an elderly person, has been assaulted and robbed and is injured. Explorers must assess the injuries and provide appropriate first aid until an ambulance arrives.

The team will be expected to have the ability to administer first aid for a variety of injuries, particularly CPR, bleeding, and broken bones. The team must also be able to identify the symptoms of shock and heart attack and react accordingly. Explorers will be evaluated on the thoroughness of their initial examination of the victim for injuries; the appropriateness and thoroughness of their response to the injuries they find. If available, CPR administration will be rated by a mechanical resuscitation mannequin. Materials for the safe conduct of this scenario will be provided.

Event: Hostage Negotiation

Scene: The Explorer team will be judged on how it deals with an individual holding a hostage in a residence; how effectively it establishes contact with the suspect; the manner in which it responds to the suspect's demands; and its success in satisfactorily resolving the incident within the allotted time. Explorers will be graded on their ability to determine the initial facts and proceed with their investigation as necessary.

Event: Shoot/Don't Shoot

Scene: Each Explorer will be placed in a series of situational shooting scenes. The firearms will be laser-equipped; individuals score on their judgment. The total team score will determine the team winner.

Event: Traffic Accident Investigation

Scene: Teams will respond to a traffic accident involving a vehicle and pedestrian (fatality). Grades will be based on the assignment of responsibilities at the scene; techniques of accident investigation; field sketch; interview of the driver; accident report; and traffic citations issued, if required. The vehicle will simulate a collision with a pedestrian, using taped or real skid marks, debris, and a dummy pedestrian. The police vehicle will be equipped with accident reports, Polaroid camera, 50-foot measuring tape, notepaper, traffic citations, and an accident investigation notebook.

Event: Traffic Stop

Scene: The Explorers will be graded on their ability to deal with the potentially dangerous situation with regard to effecting the stop of the vehicle; approaching the vehicle with care; courtesy; completeness in interviewing the occupants; reacting to the unknown; and recognizing the need to call for a backup unit.

The Explorer in command will be advised that two members of his/her post are to be placed in a patrol vehicle and will simulate patrol functions when they encounter a vehicle for a seemingly routine traffic violation. The remaining two Explorers will comprise the backup unit.

Event: White-Collar Crime

Scene: You are acting as a team of two to four detectives assigned to the Fraud Squad of your police department. You have been actively investigating a land fraud scheme involving the sale of prime land with views of the Grand Canyon. You have received many complaints from people in your city who have purchased the prime property from Cactus Patch Land Sales Inc. Each buyer has paid $50,000 for a lot. When the buyers tried to visit the property, they discovered it was not located where they had been told. In fact, the property was located at the bottom of the canyon. There are no roads, electricity, water, or sewage system on the property as promised by the sales representative.

You are developing sufficient evidence against the suspect(s) for presentation to the district attorney. A search warrant for the company's office has been authorized. Your team will make a surprise visit to the suspect's office for an interview and search of the premises for additional information. If you find sufficient evidence to arrest the suspect, you are authorized to do so.

Individual Events

The purpose of individual events is, once again, to provide a learning experience for the participants. Some events, such as the Pistol Competition, Drill Competition, and Air Pistol Competition, involve head-on competition. Others, such as the Sample Written Examination, the Police Physical Performance Testing, and the Practical Driving Exercise, involve competing against a standard and do not result in an overall winner.

Individual events will include

1. Police Physical Performance Testing (sign-up event*)
2. Air Pistol Competition (.177 caliber) (sign-up event*)
3. Pistol Competition (9mm semi-automatic) (scheduled event with a maximum capacity of the first 1,000 reservations)
4. Sample Written Examination (walk-in event)
5. Drill Competition (scheduled event)
6. BeamHit Competition (walk-in event)
7. Bike Policing Competition (sign-up event*)
8. Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) Practical Driving Exercise (sign-up event*)

*Sign up at the competition site.

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Event: Police Physical Performance Testing

Participation
All conference participants are eligible to compete individually. Those completing the test satisfactorily will receive a certificate attesting to their accomplishment.

Narrative
The physical performance test is a series of police-related activities that often are required in the day-to-day performance of police functions. Each part is timed, and the cumulative time is the score for the test. All six parts must be completed satisfactorily in order for a participant to qualify. The six sections must be completed in sequence one at a time.

Explorers will be given the opportunity to complete the physical performance tests as outlined below. Participation in the physical testing program will provide the Explorer with: (1) insight and experience into law enforcement physical performance testing; (2) the opportunity to measure personal physical fitness in relation to law enforcement physical requirements; and (3) a certificate of physical performance awarded upon successful completion.

Physical Performance Tests
The physical performance tests have six parts:

Event: Air Pistol Competition (.177 Caliber)

General Information
This is a walk-in event, open to all Law Enforcement Explorers. Commencing on opening day at 8:20 a.m., there will be a relay every 45 minutes. Competitors can reserve a specific time on a specific date so as not to conflict with other activities. Simply show up at the air pistol range any time between noon on Monday and 3 pm on Thursday, select a date; and reserve a time slot. That time slot will be reserved. NOTE: Should a competitor fail to be present in the classroom at the air pistol range on time, the reserved time slot will be relinquished to a standby competitor. To be on the standby list, just show up 10 minutes before the relay on which you would like to shoot.

Schedule
Each relay will accommodate between 45 and 50 shooters, based on space available at the facility. Commencing at 8:20 a.m., Tuesday, July 22, and concluding at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, there will be 10 relays per day: 8:20 a.m., 9:05 a.m., 9:50 a.m., 10:35 a.m., 11:50 a.m., 12:35 p.m., 1:20 p.m., 2:05 p.m., 2:50 p.m., and 3:35 p.m. NOTE: Shooters are required to attend a 30-minute orientation clinic. The total time required is one hour and 15 minutes from start to finish, which includes orientation and shooting.

The Relay Reservation Confirmation card, which will be issued to the competitor when he/she reserves a slot, will specify the exact time that the competitor must be present at the air pistol range classroom. Be on time!

Equipment
Crosman Airguns will provide Model 357-6 CO2 revolvers and Model 1088 semi-automatic pistols (shooter's choice), safety glasses, CO2 Powerlets, and .177-caliber pellets to all competitors.

Practice
All competitors will be allowed to shoot two five-shot strings prior to the record stage. As this match is to reflect police standards, the shooter will not adjust sights. Shooters will observe where the hits are grouping with reference to the bull's eye and compensate for errors by "holding off." NOTE: All guns will be sighted-in by the range officers so that the margin of error will not be excessive.

Course of Fire

Awards
The top three competitors will be presented with awards.

Event: Pistol Competition (9 mm Semiautomatic Pistol)

General Information
This tournament is led by the Federal Air Marshal Service, Transportation Security Administration.

The National Law Enforcement Exploring pistol competition is fired on conventional bull's-eye targets using double-action only, 9mm semi-automatic pistols. This event will provide a training experience for Law Enforcement Explorers and contribute to the development of skills required in the law enforcement profession.

Orientation and Safety Briefing
Participation will be limited to 1,000 shooters due to range capacity and time availability.

Registration for the pistol competition will be by individual. Complete the Competition Registration Form and Pistol Certification for Rangemaster Form (located in the back of this guide).

Each registrant must have met the competition certification requirement and be certified by NRA or a certified firearms instructor on the form.

Post Advisor Check-In
An Advisor will need to check-in with the pistol competition table in the registration area upon arrival at the conference to ensure that competitor eligibility certifications are on file.

Competitor Eligibility
Entry in this tournament is limited to youth participants of Law Enforcement Explorer posts. Sworn police officers or part-time officers of law enforcement agencies are not eligible to participate even though they may meet other requirements as Explorers or members of Explorer posts. Cadets who are registered Explorers are eligible. Proof of eligibility may be required before a person is permitted to fire in a match.

Competitor Certification
Each Law Enforcement Explorer who enters this tournament must have received a minimum of five (5) hours of instruction in, but not limited to, fundamentals of marksmanship, firearms safety, and range operations by a qualified instructor (NRA or an instructor certified by a federal, state, county, or municipal government), and have fired a minimum of 100 rounds during the course of this instruction, or hold a current NRA Marksman or better classification in pistol competition.

PROOF OF THIS CERTIFICATION WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPETITOR IS REGISTERED TO FIRE IN THIS TOURNAMENT.

Competitors will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Registrations received after the limit has been met will be placed on a waiting list and so notified. Firearms and ammunition will be provided at the range. No personal firearms or ammunition will be allowed.

Course of Fire
The National Law Enforcement Explorer shooting competition will be conducted at 25 yards using the official National Rifle Association, 25-yard, timed or rapid-fire bull's-eye target (B-8) paper. The course will be fired in three stages consisting of two strings each. An Explorer will fire 10 rounds in each stage, five rounds per string. The Explorer must fire all stages during his or her assigned range time only.

NRA rules will govern except as modified by the program.

All stages are fired with two hands (double-action only) from the standing position without any support to the body. Only five rounds are loaded for each string of fire. For the semiautomatic pistol, two magazines loaded with five rounds each will be used for each match: slow, timed and rapid fire.

Sighting Shots
Sighting shots are allowed in this tournament. Each competitor will be allowed five sighting shots prior to the commencement of Match No. 1 in each relay. The values of sighting shots will not be entered as the score. The five sighting shots will be provided only before the first stage.

Tournament Information
It is each competitor's responsibility to know and obey the NRA rules, the provisions of this bulletin, and all the tournament director bulletins that are posted on the tournament bulletin board.

It is also the competitor's responsibility to

1. Have full knowledge of the rules under which the match is fired.
2. Conform to the proper firing position.
3. Have equipment that meets all rules and tournament specifications in any match in which it is to be used.
4. Understand that after due warning of any infraction of existing rules, a repetition of the rule infraction shall be cause for disqualification for that match or for the tournament.
5. Frame the correct target for the specific match.
6. Maintain own scorecard, initial after each stage of fire, and sign completed scorecard. Ensure that the scoring official has signed.
7. Wear approved eye and ear protection.

Firearms
National Law Enforcement Exploring Committee policies require that only firearms and ammunition issued at the range will be permitted.

NO PERSONAL FIREARMS OR AMMUNITION WILL BE ALLOWED.

Scoring Devices
The use of scoring devices is limited to scoring officials and the tournament executive officer. Use of scoring devices by competitors is prohibited.

Appeals of Pistol Competition
Any appeal to the calculation of shooters' scores must be received in writing in the National Law Enforcement Exploring headquarters no later than 30 days after the last date of competition. It must be approved by the post advisor and list with specificity the reason or reasons for the appeal. The appeal will address only any potential calculation errors and not the actual scoring protocol or process.

Rules
The "NRA Pistol Rules" (current edition) will apply, except as amended by this program and tournament director bulletins.

Transportation

Bus transportation to and from the range will be provided for the competitors only. It is the responsibility of each competitor to be at the range at his or her assigned time.

A bus schedule will be provided to each Advisor upon registration for this tournament.

Awards Schedule

Individual Awards

Winners of the first-, second-, and third-place aggregate (Match No. 4) will not be eligible for individual awards in Matches 1 through 3. A competitor will be eligible for only one award in Matches 1 through 3.

Chairman's Twenty

The Conference Chairman will recognize excellence in marksmanship by the next top twenty competitors beyond those previously recognized in Matches 1 through 4 above with a Chairman's Twenty medal.

Each Explorer participating in the Pistol Competition will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Event: Sample Written Examination

Scene: You are interested in becoming an officer for the Anytown Police Department. The scheduled examination will take one hour. Explorers wanting to take a sample written test should arrive at the time scheduled for individual events. There is no preconference sign-up. The test is offered hourly.

This is not an award event, but rather is available for the experience.

Event: Drill Competition

Participation: All Explorer units that attended the conference are eligible to compete on a team basis.

Each post entering drill competition must indicate register 5-9 competing Explorers on the Competition Registration Form.

Teams may vary in size from five to nine members. The first-, second-, and third-place units will receive a trophy. Post registration is required; the Competition Registration Form found in the "Forms" section of the guidebook must be completed.

Narrative
The objective of drill is to

1. Move a unit from one place to another in a standard, orderly manner.
2. Provide simple formations from which tactical formations can be readily assumed (i.e., crowd control).
3. Teach discipline by instilling habits of precision and automatic response to orders.
4. Increase the confidence of subordinate leaders through exercise of command, by the giving of proper commands and by the control of drilling members of a unit.

Explorer units (squads) may compete in the drill competition as outlined below. It is recommended that Explorer posts interested in competing solicit the assistance of active-duty, retired, or former Marines, or members of the organized Marine Corps Reserve.

Note: No weapons of any kind will be allowed in this event.

Competition
The competition consists of three phases:

1. Uniform inspection
   1. Unit leader forming the unit for inspection/drill
   2. The inspector shall look for
      1. Neatness
      2. Uniform serviceability
      3. Grooming
      4. Unit uniformity
   A first-place trophy will be awarded for uniform appearance.
2. Stationary drill (i.e., left- and right-face, about-face)
   1. Emphasis on voice command
   2. Correct movements by the unit members responding to commands
   The senior inspector shall randomly select a member of the unit to drill the unit.
3. Drill (i.e., march to the oblique, column movement, march to the flank)
   1. Emphasis on voice control
   2. Correct movements by the unit The senior inspector shall randomly select a member of the unit to drill the unit.

Event: BeamHit Competition

BeamHit is the dry firing of a real semi-automatic handgun with a specially attached laser beam. The 6", international-style bull's-eye target feeds back a computer-printed target with automatically recorded data on: time of each shot, grouping dispersion calculation, mean-point-of-impact, sequence, elapsed time, total number of hits, and score. The target will provide an overall shooting analysis score.

The shooter will fire ten practice sighting shots that will not be entered for score. Each competitor will then fire three targets of five shots each for a score. The best scored target will be submitted for competition.

Top five scores will be recognized with awards.

Event: Bike Policing Competition

In many parts of the country, bicycle policing units are becoming more visible in a new and unique form of public service. This bike patrol competition will provide hands-on experience using skills to ride and break at the correct time. The Explorer will be given two runs of an obstacle course and two runs of the time trials. Explorers will ride and compete in age groups. The time trial is simply the fastest rider in measured distance (100-yard course, .70-yard marker radar gun will clock rider speed).

Mountain bikes with helmets will be provided. The obstacle course includes (not all-inclusive) some of the following:

• Ride twenty-five yards

• Perform serpentine maneuver between 10 cones

• Dismount, carry bike up stairs, ride down ramp

• Ride in circles around cones

• Brake in marked box

• Ride in soft sand

Awards will be given in the first four places in each age group for every division.

Event: Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) Practical Driving Exercise

Participation
This event will be open to any Explorer who is registered at the conference and who has a valid driver's license in his/her possession.

Narrative
This exercise is designed to emphasize the importance of efficient, safe driving when responding to a police call. Explorers will be required to negotiate a course that includes a series of stops and turns, as well as backing up and parallel parking situations. Explorers will be given a target time in which to complete the course. The objective is to finish the course quickly without sacrificing safety. A penalty point will be assessed for failure to use turn signals or for striking a course cone.

Course

1. Before driving, each Explorer will be given a brief orientation and a practice run.
2. The Explorer will start the vehicle from a parked position on the instructor's order. The Explorer must use the turn signal and check the blind spot before proceeding.
3. The Explorer will then drive the vehicle around a "parked car" (represented by cones) and come to a stop on the instructor's command. The Explorer then backs up the car beside a parked car. Proceeding forward, the Explorer will then make a left turn in the end box, signaling the intent to turn.
4. Moving forward and past the side road on the right, the Explorer will signal, honk the horn, and back up into the road. The driver will then signal a left turn and return to the traffic lane, making a right turn into the end box.
5. The Explorer will then proceed forward past the parallel parking exercise, signaling a right turn and backing up until cleared by the instructor. Signaling and checking the blind spot, the Explorer will merge into traffic.
6. The driver then proceeds around the decreasing radius curve, pulling past the start box. The operator will signal and back up into the start/finish box; the time stops when the vehicle is put into park. (Each time the vehicle is backed up, the operator will honk the horn once. If the driver does not honk the horn, a penalty point will be assessed.)

The instructor in the vehicle will talk the participant through each segment of the course. Explorers will get one practice run and one timed run. Best scores are obtained by smooth braking and acceleration and attention to efficient driving. Target times will be announced at the event to compensate for the actual vehicles used and prevailing conditions.

Seminars

A wide range of federal agencies and national law enforcement associations will be represented at the conference. All seminars are walk-in events (no scheduling required). Seminars could include:

• Bomb Investigations
• Combating Terrorism in America
• Executive Protection
• Exploring Leadership Development
• Fugitive Investigations
• Gang Recognition and Identification
• Hate Crimes & Terrorism on the Internet
• Narcotics Trafficking and Interdiction
• Protecting Our National Borders
• Protect Yourself: Self-Defense
• Psychological Profiling
• Surveillance Methods and Technology

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