Weeks 8 and 9—Recruit Magor

Week 8 was great. We continue to practice shooting and arrest control. We got to practice pressure points on one another. I can remember my Dad teaching me a few of these pressure points when I was younger. They are quite painful and there are some pretty funny reactions when you do it just right. 

During arrest control we were practicing a kick to the inner thigh and Recruit Garcia successfully dropped Recruit FitzPatrick! Even though he would be just fine, Recruit FitzPatrick stayed on the ground for a while. The class stopped and had a good laugh. 

During firearms class we got to shoot at steel targets. It's rewarding hearing the "ping" when you shoot, you instantly know you hit the target. Everyone continues to improve on their target practice. The holes on the target are getting closer and closer to each other. 

The class did well on the test and next week we get our first break from testing. Director Baca taught our last criminal code section this week. It's hard to believe we're done with criminal code. Those were by far some of the most exciting classes I have ever been a part of. 

Wednesday of Week 9 was probably my favorite day of the academy so far. It was a day full of scenarios. The role players made every minute feel like a real experience. I even got in my first foot pursuit. It was very exciting. It is instinctual to chase after someone when they run from you. During the scenarios we got to practice our knowledge of the law, arrest control tactics and our gift of gab. Our job is all about how we can talk to people and these scenarios helped show that.

We continue to learn arrest control tactics and firearms. We got to do some barricade shooting and shot at steel, which was a blast. We shot at 50 yards, which was challenging, yet we learned it can be done if needed.

Everything we have learned so far is coming together so that we are able to do real life scenarios of in progress calls. There is still a lot of work to be done and every recruit continues to give their all. There are 13 weeks left and they will fly by!