I’d like to start off by saying this was the fastest
week by far. I don’t even know where the days went. All the recruits are
starting to realize how fast paced this academy really is. The instructors are
starting to turn up the pressure, and expect us all to keep up.
This week we had three Arrest Control classes. On Monday, we
all looked completely out of place, and unsure of what to do. By Thursday you
could tell we all had a major improvement. We are still making minor mistakes
that allow us some physical reminders that doing the wrong thing, and acting
like citizens, could get us hurt, or worse, killed.
This week we also had two firearms classes, but instead of
practicals we were actually allowed to get some lead through our weapons.
Tuesday ended up in the 40s, which is perfect shooting weather for me. However
on Thursday, it was a mere 7 degrees. I could have sworn that wind and snow were
blowing from all directions! I quickly realized that being near perfect on
Tuesday was not the case on Thursday. All I could do was concentrate on how
cold my hands were, and I made a lot of little mistakes. However, all recruits
are loving our new classes. The death by PowerPoint is now limited to three days a week at most!
On Wednesday we had a full day learning about domestic violence. I
circled this one on my calendar so that I would bring a lot of coffee. To my
surprise, it was one of the best classes I had all year. To some extent, this
alone taught me a valuable lesson: Never make assumptions, because assuming in law enforcement can get you hurt. Lakewood Police Detective McKone, and Jeffco Detective Turnbull are
some one the most entertaining instructors! They made a tough subject interesting, and
really easy to understand. Domestic violence calls are very important because
not only are they high risk, but a very high percentage of the calls we
go on.
On Friday we had our 7th test, and again all of
us passed! To end the day, we had another day of report writing. The instructors
finally gave us a little bit of appraisal, letting us know that we are
drastically improving. This is great to hear because your reputation as a
police officer--most of the time--comes from how good
or bad your reports are.
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