The Lake County sheriff’s explorer post took home seven trophies – the most out of any other group in the state – at a downstate conference this past weekend.
The Illinois Law Enforcement Explorer Association (ILEA) hosted its 2025 winter competition on Saturday at the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) Training Center and Headquarters, located at 1701 East Main Street in Urbana.
24 groups of police explorers, consisting of over 100 young men and women from across Illinois, traveled downstate to participate in various competitions, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
Seven explorers from Lake County Sheriff’s Explorer Post #2066 competed for around 12 hours that day, winning seven trophies:
- First place in Tactical EMS
- First place in burglary in progress
- Second place in foot pursuits
- Second place in felony suspect arrests
- Third place in written police reports
- Third place in courtroom testimony
- Third place in de-escalation
Post #2066 won the most awards out of any other explorer’s group in the state, Covelli said.
The explorer post consists of young men and women between the ages of 14-21 who have an interest in learning more about law enforcement.
Many potentially see themselves in a career in policing.
The group meets twice a month and participates in various training exercises that are organized by their advisors.
They also participate in crowd and traffic control details at various community events and festivals in the county, with fundraising events providing the opportunity to attend state and national competitions.
The team was led by Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Evelyn Todd, the lead explorer advisor for Post #2066.
Todd was also a Lake County sheriff’s explorer herself through high school and beyond, Covelli said.
Lake County Sheriff’s Explorer Emma Ramirez, whose father is Deputy Vince Ramirez, said she is “so proud” of the team’s hard work and training.
“I cannot say enough great things about this competition. It was so much fun meeting other explorers from across the state. I am so proud of our explorer post for working and training so hard together and so grateful for the LCSO explorer advisors for being our mentors!” Emma said.
Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg praised the explorers’ success.
“I am so proud of this group of dedicated young men and women!” Idleburg said.
“They put in a tremendous amount of work preparing for the conference and that dedication certainly paid off with the number of trophies they earned!”
“We look forward to their bright futures in law enforcement,” the sheriff added.