Dora students participate in law-enforcement program
A group of 10 Dora students are well on their way to graduating from the first ever Ozark County Explorer program, a six-week course for 14- through 18-year-olds interested in pursuing a law-enforcement career after high school.
Ozark County Chief Deputy Winston Collins told the Times that the after-school program meets twice a week for six weeks, and students are exposed to a variety of different law-enforcement training, including fingerprinting, crime scene investigation, interviewing techniques and on-defensive tactics. The program is run by several Ozark County deputies who volunteer their time when they are off-duty. Donations from the Gainesville Lions Club provided T-shirts and fingerprinting kits for each of the participants.
Collins says he hopes the program will give students hands-on experience that may help foster future generations of law enforcement academy students and ultimately, local deputies and officers.
The program is only being held at Dora School this year, but the deputies hope to grow the program to include all Ozark County schools in future years.