Week Eight - Recruit Sebastian

Well I was going to pretty much let all the pictures I tookthroughout the week do the talking for week 8; however, my computer decided to delete all of the pictures I took. As a result, I will write some more about what happened this week and try the pictures again next week.

For this week, we were in the classroom for all of Monday. We learned about pedestrian contacts and how to handle them, what questions to ask, and what we can and cannot do. Depending on whether we just want to talk to somebody (consensual contact), have reasonable suspicion, or probable cause, dictates the actions we can take. On Wednesday, we took what we learned and put them to the test in a controlled environment. We were faced with several scenarios where current police officers played the roles of the ‘bad guys’. To put it lightly, it was quite the experience. For me, I found myself second guessing my decisions a lot and at times had trouble carrying on a casual conversation. Additionally, it was challenging to apply all of the search techniques and arrest control tactics we had learned so far in a ‘real life environment’. I realized that I still have a lot to learn, but that it will eventually all come together. The key words here are being prepared, rehearse possible scenarios, and practice; then practice some more.

On Tuesday and Thursday, we continued with firearms and arrest control. It is all starting to come together and you can tell that everyone is really improving, especially in the marksmanship category. We shot from about 15 yards out and I do not think anyone in my group missed the target once. Moreover, we continued with firearm fundamentals and malfunction drills. Thursday, we also shot some steel targets(instant gratification clings) and learned to shoot from several different prone positions as well as to shoot from behind cover. In arrest control, we honed and reiterated our cuffing and control skills and were introduced to all the different pressure points that are located in several positions throughout the human body.

On Friday, we had our 8th test and everybody passed. Five recruits even had a perfect score. Friday ended with another wellness lab and unfortunately, we lost another recruit due to medical issues. We all hope he will be back with one of the next academy classes once his issues have been resolved and wish him the very best. We are almost half way to graduation; on to week 9.