Week 20 and 21—Recruit Magor

Week 20 we had our very last Academy test, now it’s onto the state test! It’s hard to believe how fast time has gone. Every recruit successfully completed the requirements for all 15 written tests that we took throughout the Academy. In just about two weeks there will be 42 new Peace Officers that are ready to help in any way we can.

We had a great training day for Tactical Casualty Care where we were taught how to properly pack wounds with gauze and apply a tourniquet. We got to run through three different active shooter situations where we made the scene safe and then applied medical assistance to those that were injured. It’s amazing at how many people come to help make these scenarios as realistic as possible to better our training.

Friday we had our Taser class, which included volunteering to be tased. Seeing over 30 different reactions to this was very beneficial for the class. The feeling is quite hard to explain, but the best description I can give is every muscle in your body locks up and you feel an electrical current run back and forth throughout your body.

It was painful and probably the longest five seconds of my life, but I’m glad I got to have this experience to learn exactly how people react. Recruit Frink took it like a champ; he demonstrated multiple times how he was able to rip the probes off while being tased.

Week 21 finished up nicely with just a few days to go until graduation! We studied and practiced SFST (Standard Field and Sobriety Testing). This is the standard way of testing people that are suspected of driving under the influence. There were three full days of practice. It is nice how standardized and routine this testing was, so that we could learn the tests efficiently.

The last day of this class we had the opportunity to witness a mock trial for a DUI case. Two recruits were lucky enough to take the stand and learn what it’s like to testify. I give both Recruit FitzPatrick and Recruit Brough credit for what they went through. The cross examination was rough, but for a purpose. We got to see how a defense attorney can confuse witnesses and get them to answer to questions they don’t even understand.

The last portion of the SFST class was called a “wet lab” where individuals were closely monitored while consuming alcohol so that we could practice our roadside maneuvers and determine if they were too intoxicated to drive. I was actually impressed with how well these tests work. The entire class made great determinations for the level of intoxication. If people are drunk, in most cases it does not take long to see it.

We have a weekend full of studying ahead, the state test, a final run and then we will graduate. We’re down to our last week.