Explorer Post 32 returns to Northborough
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Northborough - After a 10- month hiatus, Police Explorer Post 32 made a triumphant return last month, hosting a meeting that was attended by about 10 young adults interested in law enforcement.

"It's a real good, positive way to spend some time - for both the kids and the officers," Northborough Police Chief Mark Leahy said. "It's great bunch of kids. They're interested in police work. They ask a lot of questions. They have a lot of enthusiasm."

Overseeing the program, open to Northborough residents who have completed at least the eighth grade and are between the ages of 14 and 20, are Northborough Police Officers Jeff Noel and Scott Maffioli.

Leahy said the post suspended operations in 2006 when its longtime advisor, Roger Wiseman, left the Northborough Police Department to take a position with the Worcester Police Department. Leahy thought he had found a suitable replacement for Wiseman a few months later only to learn that officer was unable to honor the time commitment because of family issues.

"He needed to be home as much as possible," Leahy explained. "He had young children at home and his wife, pregnant at the time, was ordered to complete bed rest very early in the pregnancy. He wanted very much to do it, but obviously family obligations took precedent."

Maffioli, a Northborough native, was an Explorer himself, having served in the post run by the Northborough Fire Department when he was a teenager.

Leahy said the initial turnout of 10 was a positive sign of interest in having an Explorer Post run by the town.

"That's a good, manageable size," Leahy said. "There's lot of interest in the program. Even when we were dormant, we still got a call or two a week asking if we had an Explorer Post or when we would be reviving it."

Prior to coming to Northborough, Leahy was chief of police in Suffield, Conn., where he started an Explorer Post.

"I really like the program," Leahy said. "It's a good program. It teaches kids about law enforcement, and does so in such a way that they can really tailor it to fit their needs."

The Explorer program is chartered through the Boy Scouts of America, but the program is completely focused on law enforcement training.

"The most an Explorer can do in the field is a ride-along with an officer," Leahy said, "but they have a whole set of training, mandated by the Explorer program, that they must complete before they can even go on a ride-along."

Leahy said he knows of a number of examples where young adults have joined an Explorer Post and ultimately became police officers.

"The best example I know of, around here, is John Noberini," Leahy said. "John grew up in town, was a member of the Northborough Police Explorer Post and went on to become a Northborough police officer, staying with us until 2005 when he left to become a member of the Boston Police Department."