Weeks Twelve & Thirteen - Recruit Sebastian


Weeks 12 & 13

I have been absent for a week; however, week 12 was rather uneventful. Aside from firearms on Tuesday and Thursday, we spent the entire week in the classroom. During arrest control, we learned how to manipulate our wooden as well as extendable batons. It was extremely fun and we were taught how to defend ourselves should the need arise. Wednesday was entirely contributed to report writing and I can say that it was eye opening as there were only two scenarios, yet there was plenty of paperwork. For the robbery scenario alone, 4 pages of paperwork along with a three page report and separate warrantless arrest affidavit were necessary. When all was said and done, a thirty minute scenario turned into about three hours of paperwork. While you will see a lot of unique things in this profession, most of your time will be spent on documenting what exactly happened. Monday and Friday of week 12 were allocated to Traffic Accident Investigations. There was a lot of information and we all now know how to diagram an accident, calculate skid marks, and reconstruct an accident based on the evidence presented to us at an accident scene.





Week 13 started surprisingly with a refresher on search and seizure on Monday morning with Director Baca due to a scheduling issue. The afternoon was spent learning how to deal with civil disputes. Tuesday began with arrest control in the afternoon for my squad where we continued to work on our baton skills. The evening was once more spent at the range for another night shoot. Some scenarios were thrown in towards the end of class which were more difficult than expected. We had only seconds to decide whether or not to shoot at a given scenario. Everything changes at night and many of us had some trouble to identify what type or if the individual had a weapon.

Wednesday was extremely fun as we got to direct traffic in the morning and early afternoon. After a short stint in the class room, we were thrown to the wolves at a major intersection (South Wadsworth, just south of 6th Avenue) to help out at a ‘malfunctioning’ traffic light. Everyone did a great job (even though some motorists tended to disagree) and we did not cause a major accident. We were also the first academy class that did not receive a complaint from the public. Some pictures of our adventure are attached for your viewing pleasure. Wednesday afternoon marked another day at Red Rocks for a torturous workout courtesy of our Academy staff J.






Thursday ended with some arrest control scenarios and another night shoot. You can start to tell that while there are still small kinks during the various scenarios (forgetting how to properly slap the cuffs on for example due to the adrenaline), we are all improving and starting to even out our personal weaknesses. Oh and before I forget, most of us passed our POST firearms practical with a few exceptions. There was a remedial class for those who did not pass on Saturday and everyone successfully completed the standardize course at that time. Everyone also passed test #11 on Friday and the day ended with us learning about emergency management systems. A rather dry class made fun by the Captain from the West Metro Fire Department.


 

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