This week started with our last Report Writing class. In seven classes, we have all come so far from where we started. It’s a good feeling to
know that your reports are deemed acceptable from some of the best report
writers in Lakewood and JeffCo. Again, this is one of the biggest and most
important parts of our job. If you can’t articulate and document what happened
on a call, you may lose the case. The biggest takeaway from this class was
something that Sergeant Brooks said: “Always write for your victim and you
can’t go wrong.”
Tuesday was a fun, but sad day. It marked our last actual
shooting day at the range. We started the day running through different
scenarios at the tactical range, and shooting out of vehicles. In the afternoon
we had our Top Gun Competition. I promised last week I would announce the
winner, and give them their much deserved week of fame! Congratulations to
Recruit Lineberger on the honors of being the best shot. A lot of times in competition, you may have a
“dark horse,” or someone who was just lucky that day. That was not the case
with Recruit Lineberger. He was in my squad for the entire Academy, and
definitely deserves the honor. He shot at a high level consistently throughout
the Academy. For his win, he was awarded with a signed copy of Instructor
Okada’s book “Survivors!”
On Wednesday, we had our class photo. Everyone was dressed
in their respective department’s Class A uniforms. Everyone looked great, and I
think we are starting to feel a lot more like police officers, and that the
Academy is really starting to come to a close. We have all made a lot of
friends from different agencies, and in seven short weeks we will have to start
over again. Wednesday ended with two classes, one on vehicle searches, which
taught us the art of finding the crazy hiding spots that criminals come up with
in their cars. The other class was on narcotics, where we learned how to
properly identify certain narcotics, and how to test them.
Thursday started with our last 4-hour block of Arrest Control drill training. This was the run phase of our practicals. So all of our
scenarios were high risk. All of the recruits in my squad had such a drastic
improvement from the first time we did our scenarios. We are all starting to
become comfortable in our contacts, and it shows in how we handle each
scenario. 
To end the day, we had our very last day at the range. We had our
class on simunitions. This is where we turn guns that shoot bullets into guns
that shoot plastic, soap-filled rounds. The fun part is that we got to hunt
each other down, and face off against our classmates in a dual-type setting.
The point of the exercise is to show recruits proper cover. You find out real
quick if your cover is adequate enough. It also shows you that once your
adrenaline kicks in, your tactics and fundamentals can go straight out the window. 
Friday ended the week with our 12th test. Everyone passed and we had a few 100s. To end the day, we had lecture, and a
practical on crowd control. This class is extremely essential due to the latest
events involving police, such as the Ferguson, Missouri shooting.
I used to think
that crowd control was like an every-person-for-themselves-to-save-lives-and-break-up-the-crowd job. It is actually very structured, and organized. Every
person has a job, and a job to fill once someone goes down, or has to leave. I
have to say, this was a great week and great to end it running through a field
with a 42” baton like I was in the movie ‘300.’
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