The theme of this week is perseverance, how fitting with
what we are going through as a class this week.
Up to this point in the academy we have been doing a pretty good job of
policing each other. Agent Ruybal warned us about getting complacent when we
start to get comfortable, and think we are doing everything right.
This week
two recruits left their lockers open in one day. Now the reaction they got from
staff was a bit funny, just not the punishment we received as a team. The first
recruit had his jacket and keys taken by someone who wrote him a fake “ransom
letter” on how to get it back while the second recruit who left his locker
open after we had just had a 20-minute lecture on not getting complacent and doing that,
had a bucket full of paper shreddings left in his locker. Again, somewhat
comical, but the punishment wasn't.
On Wednesday we had to not only run down to
the pole and back with 25- to 45-pound weights (depending on our size) over our heads,
but carry that weight around for the rest of the day. Wherever we went, it
went! The point is that if you want to get complacent, and do this job at 50%,
someone is going to have to pick up your slack, or in this case, your “weight.”
I think after a day of that, LESSON LEARNED!
On Tuesday and Thursday, we had our now normal Arrest
Control and Firearms. Both classes keep adding more and more techniques, and
while I don’t get to see both squads, I have to say everyone is doing a good
job keeping up. Just when you think your brain can’t take any more learning, we
learn something new. We surprise ourselves every time with how much we retain.
On Friday we had our 9th test, and last one until
we get a much-needed week off from testing! Everyone passed, and Director Baca
brought us in doughnuts again! (I know non-law enforcement readers are now
stereotyping)
Lastly, I want to talk about our workout for Friday. We did
the “James Davies Memorial” workout. James worked for Lakewood, and was a very
good friend of our P.T. instructors. After hearing the instructors tell us
about what kind of police officer James was, I think we could all aspire to be
½ the officer he was. It made all of us take a lot of pride in doing this
workout, and you could tell it’s the hardest we have all worked. It also
reminds us that this job has a lot of dangers, and that the people who do it
and risk their lives are truly special.
TRUE BLUE HERO – JAMES DAVIES
1899 – EOW 11-9-12
After persevering through the first part of this week, I am
happy to say we all made it and we are on to Week 10. Slowly but surely closing
in on the halfway mark!
No comments:
Post a Comment