Week 3 - Recruit Fratto

Finally on Tuesday we were able to get into our BDU pants, and Academy shirts. Everyone was dying to get out of their business attire, and I’m sure so were our loved ones who ironed for us! However the academy uniforms are a lot harder to up keep. You have to make sure the pants have a firm crease, and the shirt has to be completely wrinkle free, badge ironed, and belt tab on the right side. All of the recruits are doing a great job checking everyone over, and making sure we are all lint free. Especially because the pants attract everything!

Every day that we have roll call we seem to be getting a lot better. We are answering more questions correctly, than incorrectly.  Except Wednesday.  Agent Ruybal switched it up with a geography question.  If we answered incorrectly we had to go for a run to the light pole, and return. There is always a lesson to be learned. The instructors don’t do this as a punishment or to see us suffer.  They hope to teach us a lesson that might one day save our life, or another’s. The geography lesson is critical.  We need to know where we are, and know how to get to our call. If you can’t, you are no good to other officers, or the victims.

Friday marked test number 3, and all of us are starting to find our niche in studying, and performing on tests! Everyone is doing really well, and we had another 100 again!

Week 2 - Recruit Fratto

As week two started, you call tell that everyone is starting to get comfortable with each other. Everyone is doing a great job getting each other’s back when it comes to studying, keeping the lint off each other and shining boots. A few people made study guides, and passed them around for everyone. Just as we thought we had everything down, there is always something to put you back in check. One recruit left his locker open, after the day finished he couldn't find his car. The instructors like to play jokes.  Talk about a life lesson! If you leave your locker open as a law enforcement officer, and you have ammunition or guns in them, chances are you won’t find them the next day, so I’d say this was a lesson learned.

During the week we also had a couple wellness labs. One wellness consisted of 150 walls balls, and 150 squats, and the other was a 400 meter run, 150 box jumps, and 150 toes to bar leg raises. The PT instructors are really starting to turn up the heat on us. As a team we are doing a great job of cheering each other on, and making sure we finish as a team. No person gets left behind ever!

During Thursday’s roll call we learned from Agent Ruybal that you should never EVER say I don’t know to a question. So when it came to me, Director Baca asked, “What is crime prevention?” It always seems that Director Baca asks everyone else the questions I know, but then asks me the one question I didn't get to study. So, not wanting to say I don’t know I said, “Sir, crime prevention is the prevention of crime!” Every one proceeded to laugh, and it ended up pinning me the Captain Obvious Award.

Friday marked the second of fifteen tests. Everyone this week passed, and two people even scored 100 percent! One recruit was sick all week, but because of our teamwork, he was able to learn the material and pass. Due to our success on the test the Instructors decided to reward us with donuts, however due to our wellness lesson later in the day, one recruit gave the donuts back, right in front of the Commander's car!

 At the end of the day we handed out the rest of the awards for the week. ‘Mr. Bill’, which is our “funny dumb mistake” award went to a recruit who thought a Reno 911 clip was real! Our superman award went to Recruit Jones, and rightfully so, for again keeping us squared away another week. We also created our class motto, which is ‘service above self’, very fitting for a career in law enforcement. 

Week 1 - Recruit Fratto

First off I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Nick Fratto; I have lived all 25 years of my life in Upstate New York.  I went to school online, and graduated with a Criminal Justice Degree. Earlier in my life I raced sprint cars around the country, and internationally from age 13-19. Around six years ago my brother moved to the Denver Metro area, and every time I visited I loved it. I finally admitted that Colorado was the place I wanted to be. So I applied for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in July, and was lucky enough to be chosen.

Day 1 started on 01/12/2015, there were 48 of us that came in from all walks of life. Each of us in our business attire, ready to tackle the next 22 weeks, with no clue how it’s going to play out. Some of us were former Military, former law enforcement, EMT’s, Security guards, Lawyers, store managers, and so on. Each background very, very different, but all of us have the same goal. We are represented by eight different departments; Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood, Littleton, Arvada, Lonetree, Golden, Wheat Ridge, and Westminster.  The day, and pretty much the rest of the week was all about us getting our “balance,”  on what to do, and of course what not to do.  We sized our uniforms, and PT gear, and received our laptops, and set up all our administrative stuff. The day also consisted of Intro to Wellness, where we did a base test to see where we all were in term of physical ability.  The test consisted of a 400 meter run, 40 squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, and 10 pull-ups for time. I’d have to say that most of us were pleased with our times, but know we have a long way to go, and need to continue to push our pre-conceived limits. We must strive for perfection, and accept excellence. One tip to anyone looking to go through this academy; get used to cross fit, and train in it if you can. You can run, and lift all you want, but it won’t prepare you for the type of workouts here.

On Wednesday we started the Criminal Code Articles 1 & 2, and found out that we would already be tested on it two days later. From what I understood the last class was tested on it a week later, so it definitely put us all on edge. However, Director Baca is an incredible instructor, and makes understanding all this a lot easier. Along with the criminal code, we were tested on 5 different subjects. I remember telling my brother that my ethics class in college was an 8 week course, and that I just learned the same amount of information in 8 hours. So needless to say, we all realize that the material we learn in the academy is going to be like drinking water from a fire hose.

As Friday rolled around, everyone looked extremely nervous to take the first test. We didn't have a clue what would be on it, or how it was administered. After the test was over we found out our scores immediately, and all of us did pretty well, our high scorer was a 98. That was very impressive, like I said we had just learned article 1 & 2 less than two days ago.

To end the week, I’d like to give a huge thanks to Recruit Jones, he really got us squared away from the get go. As a Retired U.S. Air Force Major he had our line ups, and roll call near perfect, which saved us from any unnecessary physical lessons. Well, one week down, only 21 to go, but who’s counting?

Weeks 21 - 22- Recruit Sebastian

Week 21 started with four days on Crime Scene Investigation. Over the course of the next four days, we learned how to photograph and sketch a crime scene, take and develop latent fingerprints, and how to interpret blood spatter.

Friday was OC day, the day most of us dreaded since the beginning of the Academy. Once you were sprayed, you had to fight with your hands and baton, handcuff a suspect, and go through a shoot/ no shoot scenario. Only then were you allowed to be decontaminated. As I said earlier, I wanted to experience OC before making my decision on whether or not it was worse than Taser. For myself, I’d rather be tased twice then ever having to go through OC again. Not only did it burn for over three hours, but it also lasted until the evening when I foolishly decided to take a shower and reactivated the OC.

The following week, we were certified on the Intoxilyzer and prepared for our POST exam on Wednesday. When Wednesday came around, we all passed our exam. With the new system, you knew immediately if you passed or failed. As a result, all of us knew our scores before the tradition of running Lookout Mountain. Once we did, we were released for the day. The next day was graduation and all of us looked great in our Class A uniforms.

To end my blog, I just want to thank the staff and all of the other recruits who have made the last 22 weeks fly by and taught me everything I need to know to be successful throughout my career.

Weeks 18-21 - Recruit Sebastian

First off, I would like to apologize for my absence, but I have been beyond busy the last few weeks.

Starting with week 18, we had two written and one practical test. We were finally able to put the arrest control skills we learned over the past fifteen weeks to the test and had our practical as well as written final. Everyone passed with flying colors and it was amazing to see how far we have come since the beginning of the Academy. Additionally, we were taught how to search cars for contraband, when we can search them, and where the most likely hiding places might be. Friday morning marked written test number 13, which everyone also passed and a class on IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices). It was fantastic to see what the Jeffco bomb squad had in store for us and they were very knowledgeable to say the least. Aside from the fact that anything can be made into an IED (i.e. toys, remote control cars, teddy bears, etc..) the power that these small items have was astonishing.

Week 19 began with courtroom testimony and hostage/crisis negotiations. Unlike in the movies, the likelihood that there will be a crisis negotiator on scene within minutes is highly unlikely. The first responders, i.e. us, will be the first on scene and the probability that we would have to talk with the subject for an extended period of time is almost guaranteed. On Tuesday, we were given our study guide for the POST exam by Director Baca (all 400 pages of it) and ended out the day with a class on domestic terrorism. For the rest of the week, we spent our time learning how to do Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST’s). The first day was all classroom based with some time spent on practicing the nuances on how to apply them to a suspected drunk driver. The next day, we all passed our written and practical test on the subject.

On the same day, some of us were tasked to write a report based on dash cam footage from a real traffic stop. The next day, they were given the chance to defend their reports on the stand at the Jefferson County Court house. Several ADA’s (Assistant District Attorney’s) were gracious enough to play the role of the prosecutor and defense attorney. I think they had more fun than we did when they destroyed our observations on the stand. Afterwards, we drove to the Jeffco fairgrounds for our wet labs, i.e. other people get drunk and we get to perform our SFST’s on them, at which we have to decide whether or not we would arrest the subject for drunk driving. Let’s just say that we all had a great time.

Week 20 began on Tuesday, after a long weekend thanks to Memorial day. Tuesday was rightfully named Taser Tuesday as we finally had the long awaited Taser day. Unfortunately, I cannot post any pictures, but suffice it to say that I have never felt so much pain in my life after being tased. People say that they would rather be tased than pepper sprayed, but for me, the jury is still out on that one as we have our OC day next week. On Wednesday, we had our Fitness Challenge at Red Rocks and the name does not do it justice. The average time to complete the workout was about 60 minutes and the 85 degree weather at 0800 did not exactly help. I was still sore two days later. The rest of the day was spent on POST review. The next day, we had our CPR/First Aid class with some smaller scenarios thrown in. Friday marked Test #14, with an average Recruit score of 95 (only one more to go until the big one) and some more POST review in the afternoon. You can tell that everyone is doubling down on studying from the high grades. Due to the off day on Monday, we spent half a day each (split into our respective squads) at the CSP track performing high speed maneuvers. Another fun day, but unfortunately a short weekend before our return on Monday.

I think I have talked enough. Only one and a half weeks to go until our POST exam and hopefully graduation the next day. Nobody from this Academy has failed the POST yet and none of us plan on being the first one. On to week 21. 

Week Sixteen and Seventeen - Recruit Sebastian

Week 16 began bright and early on Monday morning with Sexual Assault Investigations and how to handle them. In the LE profession, these types of cases are referred to as ‘shift killers’ due to amount of time spent on the investigation as well as the questioning of the parties involved. They are also some of the most gruesome, especially if children are involved, and unfortunately not that rare. On Tuesday, we spent half the day on High Risk Vehicle contacts, aka Felony Stops and the rest of the day on some more Arrest Control procedures.

High Risk Vehicle contacts were extremely fun and I have attached some pictures for your pleasure. Not only was communication important, between the officers and towards the suspect, but also the amount of time spent to properly execute them. Towards the end, we were able to see a K9 in action and every time I see them, I am in awe at how well trained and useful in several different scenarios they are. 

The rest of the week was spent mostly in the classroom with a lecture on Driving and some POST review. Friday morning, we were transported to the Law Enforcement memorial at the Colorado State Patrol Academy. There, we honored the fallen officers of Colorado and those that came before us.

Week 17 was entirely devoted to driving at the Denver PD track and the motto near the entrance “You can’t help if you don’t get there” best describes what this week is all about. Most officers are not killed by gunfire or other means, but die during traffic accidents. It was a fun experience and all of us had a great time overall along with sore muscles from picking up conesJ. 

Every day offered a new challenge and all courses offered a challenge. Most of the time was dedicated to backing and slower, skilled maneuvers. Aside from those, we learned emergency braking, high speed lane changes, and reactionary type drills. I will let the pictures do the talking and show you what you can expect while in the Academy as I am getting more and more busy with preparing for the final POST exam.

Only five more weeks to go; times is really starting to fly by now. 

Week Fifteen - Recruit Sebastian

Monday marked our last day of report writing class. We have come a long way since our first class and most reports are as close to perfect as possible. Also as I have noticed for myself, a report does no longer take almost two hours but closer to about a half an hour now. Our last scenario was a first degree trespass (into a vehicle with a crime committed therein) and it is all coming together. From knowing what questions to ask and what crime to charge all the way to putting it down on paper has become a lot easier altogether.

On Tuesday, we had our last day for firearms as a class. In the morning, we continued to work on how to exit vehicles and engaged a threat. We also shot a variety of different firearms the instructors provided to us and were granted a long lunch which we used to have a small barbecue.

The entire afternoon was spent to figure out who the best shot in the class was; the top gun competition. Congratulations to Recruit DeGesualdo on taking home the price. Wednesday morning we assembled at Red Rocks, not as usual for a ‘butt kicking’ workout, but for our class photo in our department issued class A uniforms. I have to say that as a class we looked sharp in our uniforms. In the afternoon, we learned about SWAT and were able to see a lot of ‘cool’ stuff; e.g. all of the equipment they use.

We finished of the week with simmunitions on Thursday, where we hunted each other around some containers and sustained some bruises. It is as close as training gets for being shot at and despite the sore body parts the next day, was a lot of fun.

The afternoon, at least for my squad, was spent at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for our last round of Scenario based training. All of us did great and all of us will make great officers at our respective departments. Friday marked test #12 in the early morning followed by a Crowd Control, aka Riot control, lecture and practicals in the afternoon. Only 6 more weeks and a couple of days left until we take our POST exam.