Whitehall Township Police Department is creating a new opportunity for young adults interested in a career in law enforcement.

Officer Matthew Christman, a Whitehall-Coplay High School resource officer, will be leading the program. The Police Explorers Post will give young adults an inside look at the field of law enforcement.

“It will give them a really good opportunity to gain insight into what a police officer actually does on a daily basis because a lot of what these young adults are seeing now is stuff that they see on television. They may talk to a police officer briefly about what it is, but they don’t really have an opportunity to experience it. That’s what the law enforcement explorers program is going to attempt to accomplish - to help them decide if this is something for them or not,” Christman said.

Michael Marks, police chief of Whitehall Township, made the decision to bring the program to the department.

“He thought it would be nice to have something that could be afforded not only to kids here in Whitehall, but just more kids in general,” Christman said.

Two other local police departments, South Whitehall and Bethlehem, host the Police Explorers Post but frequently have to turn applicants away due to limited space.

Christman has been a Whitehall Township police officer for 12 years and is going into his fourth year as a Whitehall High School resource officer.

Christman always knew he wanted to be a police officer and discovered he enjoyed working with adolescents in 1999, when he worked as a security guard at William Allen High School.

“I worked pretty closely with their SROs (school resource officers), and I think that’s what really flipped my mind to thinking that this is really fun. It’s really cool to be able work with kids,” Christman said.

“I really thought that I could learn a lot from the kids, and I had a passion to want to work with them and guide them and help them and be that positive influence. I just wanted to help them figure things out. I just really enjoy believing that having a positive impact on a kid can help them stay away from that wrong path. For me, helping someone break that cycle is really important,” Christman said.

When Marks decided to create the program, it was only natural that Christman would be the one tasked with heading it.

“The cool thing about this is there’s going to be a lot of hands-on practical applications, so we’re going to hopefully be able to visit the district attorney’s office or the coroner’s office and really give these kids an opportunity to see all the gambits of law enforcement.

“We have outside agencies like the ERT (emergency response team), drug task force and auto theft task force come in and talk to the kids,” Christman said.

Explorers will learn what the police academy is and the requirements needed to get in, such as physical fitness standards.

The Police Explorers Post will not only teach young adults about the career aspect of law enforcement.

“We will be showing them leadership skills, citizenship, confidence building, things like that. I think that that’s a good added bonus to the program,” Christman said.

The Police Explorers Post will be run by seven advisers, including Christman. Six of the advisers are police officers, including a defensive tactics trainer. The seventh is a Whitehall High School government teacher.

“I was really fortunate to have a high school teacher here who was interested in this program. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Christman said.

An open house will be held 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Whitehall Township Municipal Building, 3219 MacArthur Road.

Police Explorers will meet monthly at the municipal building from September until June.

There will be a short informational presentation and demonstration, and students will be asked to complete an application, provide references and write a synopsis of the reasons for their interest in the program. At this time, the Police Explorer Post has space for up to 20 young adults, ages 14 to 20. Those over age 20 can apply to be an adviser. It is not necessary to live in Whitehall Township to apply.