Nate Krebbs and Josh Lee looked every bit the part of California High Patrol officers during a felony traffic stop exercise on Friday.

There’s a reason for that. The two Sierra High students in the Careers in Law Enforcement class have plans of entering the field sometime after graduation.

Krebbs is involved in the Manteca Police Department’s Explorer Program, which is made up volunteers between the ages of 14 through 21. He hopes to join up with the local police force.

Lee, who also grew up around law enforcement, is aiming towards a career with the nearby Stockton Police Department.

The exercise took place in the parking lot of the Regional Occupational Program located at the Manteca Unified complex.

“Our job (as the arresting officer) was to eliminate any threat during the traffic stop,” Lee said.

Included was the officer’s safety, which didn’t always pan out.

“We had a lot ‘killed’ in my earlier classes,” instructor Joe Waller said.

Officer James Smith referred to this as a “curveball” to the exercise consisting of the use of the two CHP vehicles.

The command team rode in the squad car while the arresting team arrived via the SUV.

True to form, Krebbs, on the command team, barked out orders, in a loud and clear voice, to the suspect, using Waller’s car in this case.

He instructed the suspect – Estevan Lopez of Lathrop High filled in here –to show both hands out of the driver’s side window and toss out the keys. From there, the suspect was then guided to step towards the arresting zone.

Smith, who was joined by Officer Victor Garrido – both are CHP-Stockton – provided the same instructions to all three of Waller’s classes.

The CHP scenario also included a search of the vehicle, which, according to Smith, was scratch due to time constraints.

Smith and Garrido were joined by CHP Explorer Martha Navarrette. For Waller, she’s a familiar face having been a student in his ROP class at Weston Ranch High.

Navarrette, who is a 2012 graduate of the school, took classes at Delta College and is now looking to become EMT certified.

She heard about the CHP Explorer program about two years ago from one of the officers. Navarrette, who helps with recruitment, attends weekly meetings and takes part in the various scenarios and physical fitness activities.

She also does the ride-along with CHP and is involved in the various service events.

“It’s always great to see one of my former students continuing on (in law enforcement),” Waller said.

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, email vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com.