Such Is the State of Things

I’m guessing that it’s natural to think of Spring, and the coming of Summer when Memorial Day hits. Recently we had an extra day off for the holiday. Besides being welcome, and NEEDED (my fellow recruits and I were teetering on the brink of collapse), all the downtime, the couch time, the beer-and-hot-dog time gave me an opportunity to dwell a bit upon my Academy experience, and to gawk a bit at the surprising realization that we’re getting near to the end.

Today we took our formal class pictures for graduation. The scene, by the way, was great. Picture a perfect Spring day in Colorado, skies blue, breeze blowing. 70 degrees. Red Rocks. Tourists. Lots of tourists. Lots of tourists watching as 41 bright and wide-eyed recruits came marching down the flag stone walkway, in full uniform (we’ve graduated to belts and guns even!) marching to a cadence sung by our own Deano, in deep baritone bass that rivaled even the stuff the guys down below doing a sound check for an upcoming concert could dish out with their subwoofers …

Firearms training; check. Arrest Control; check. OC Spray; check. We’ve done a lot. A lot is left to come – and even then we’re really we’re just beginning the journey as rookies. Mixed feelings. Daunted by all that’s left to come. I’m somewhat proud of our little accomplishments, proud at how we have all grown a bit in a relatively short period of time.

“Hell Day” PT with Sgt. W. It may not have been ‘Hell’, but …

A pull-up or two …or maybe 23?

Liquid FIRE.

We had to fight a dummy for 30 seconds after the spray. It gets your mind off the steadily increasing pain. Trent hitting away at what (at this point) he can’t see.

Yours truly wondering when the pain was going to REALLY hit. It did. Right after I had that thought.

Twitter

So this Twitter thing…have you heard about this, do you know about this? I thought to myself today that if, IF I were Twittering, today would have been a good one to Twitter about. In homage to Twitter, I’ve prepared some sample Twitters for the day…a true day in the life of an Academy Recruit.

(I promise I won’t use the word “Twitter” again!)

7:32am
Coffee. Glorious coffee. We have ‘scenarios’ in Arrest Control today. AC techniques, use of force continuum applications running through my head. Fear of failure, but motivated to hit it hard…

8:55am
First one down. Deputy S. was playing a drunk. I did ok, but talked too much, and used an arm bar to arrest when I should have used a simply, lowly ‘bent wrist’.

9:22am
Disaster! Deputy S. tripped on a mat, fell and broke his arm! We’re all outside of the mat room waiting for word on his condition. Rhod is inside splinting him up.

9:50am
Deputy S. just left for the hospital. He apologized to US. Unbelievable. Class. Pure class. Thanks, and GOOD LUCK!

10:12am
We keep on going, even after Deputy S.’s injury. Second scenario goes well. Garrett and I separate two ‘bar patrons’ who were going at it. We didn’t hesitate. I was proud of this.

11:15am
Scenario 3! Cody and I dealing with a domestic violence situation. Do well, no hesitation in arresting the guy, but could have been a little smoother, and could have communicated better. Cody’s a trip.

1:15pm
RAID active shooter scenarios in a vacant office building. The place smells like mildew. Dark. Dank. Creepy. And perfect. Using simunitions today. Suited up and ready to go.

1:55pm
Welts! These things hurt. Sergeant W. giving us some good instruction. We line up and practice shooting the simunitions on a partner, Tombstone “draw and duel” style. Rhod lays some head shots on my mask. Covered in orange paint!

2:35pm
First scenario down. We could have done better. Someone threw a round and missed the ‘shooter’. This could have been me, ha. Rhod, Jim, Chad and I in the contact group. We didn’t enter into the darkened room simultaneously (as we should have). Should have been slower, calmer, more methodical.

3:01pm
Second scenario. We rocked it. Emptied our mags into the shooter. I was point. Chad, Rhod right there with me. Situation was chaotic. SWAT guys yelling at us, simulating a real, loud, riotous scenario. We kept it slow, tight and organized. Felt good.

4:03pm
Third scenario. Failure! Scott was the ‘bad guy’, and armed with a sim-converted Glock. He definitely won. Tough scenario. We all got shot I think. Welts up the side of my chest. I had a weapon malfunction and took cover (which was WRONG!) and kind of screwed up the rest of my crew. Sgt. W. made us do it again….and again. Didn’t end the day on a high note…

*These last week has gone by extremely fast. We’re getting closer to the end of the Academy and can all feel it. I have a bunch of media that I’ll post soon, very soon. Sprayed in the face with pepper (OC) spray. Driven into the ground on our ‘Hell Day’ PT. And more, so much more. Stay tuned!*

Week 15!

5.12.2009

A few months ago I mentioned that I didn’t want to be a blog monopolist (blog-opolist). I meant it! I asked three of my classmates if they wanted to say anything about the Academy and their progress so far. Here’s what they had to say, as well as a little bit of info on them.

Lance

I grew up in northern Pennsylvania and am a graduate of Penn State University. I hold degrees in Wildlife Technology and Recreation and Parks Management. For the past 11 years I worked for a non-profit wildlife conservation organization as a regional director.

In 1996 & 1997 I was a Deputy Sheriff in Virginia. I attended a police academy in 1996 and enjoyed law enforcement but for whatever reason the timing wasn't right and I changed careers. Eleven years later I am back in law enforcement and am loving life. My former academy training was great but the caliber of training I have received at Jefferson County has far-surpassed the training I received in Virginia. The JeffCo academy training is incredibly intense and thorough. I know I've spent two, maybe three, times the hours on the shooting range and performing practicals. I can't think of a better place to train for a career in law enforcement. The emphasis put on discipline, training and perfection are key. I believe when I leave this academy I will be as prepared as I can possibly be for the career ahead. I am confident that I will know how to react in most situations I'll encounter. I also have the confidence to know that no matter what happens I will never give up and I will win. The cornerstone value of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is Integrity. Integrity is just as important as training...you'll get a healthy dose of both in this academy. I feel very fortunate to be a recruit here.

Dana

28 years old.
Born and raised in Wisconsin got certified a police officer there in 2001 and then left right after to join the Air Force.
Did 6 years in the Air Force as signals intelligence.
Masters degree in Criminal Justice.
Wife and mother of 3 (ages 3, 2, and 4 months).

It is intriguing how much information they can cram into 20 weeks. Now at 15 weeks into it, 20 weeks isn't nearly enough. I remember all my feelings and emotions of the unknown from the beginning of the academy like they were yesterday. They are slowly creeping back as we will soon be starting the next chapter of our careers. It has definitely been an experience of a lifetime, I am excited to apply everything that I've been taught. I know graduation is right around the corner and I am prepared and looking forward to the continuing challenges.

Jeff

Hello, my name is Jeffrey and I am currently attending the Jefferson County Police Academy for the Arvada Police Department. I moved to Colorado about 8 months ago with my wife from Boston Massachusetts. My wife and I always wanted to move to Colorado so we sold our house and traveled across the country. I managed my father’s car dealership for 8 years prior before its closing in April of 2008.

The experience of the academy has been unique and exciting for me. From day one we are taught to work and build as a team. The relationships that you build at the academy are forever lasting, which is exactly what everyone tells you from the beginning. It’s almost a given that the relationships are built because of the amount of time you spend with your fellow recruits and the whole mentality of success as a team. The other recruits are in essence your family for 20 weeks.

I don’t think that I am alone when I say that there are many tasks and skills that you perform in the academy that you have doubt on how well your proficiency will actually be. Through hard work, determination, good supervision, and fellow classmates you succeed. In most cases you don’t just succeed, you excel at these absolutely necessary skills. The skills on the surface may seem simple but when you add in some stress, they can be quite challenging but we all get through it.

In summation, the academy is all about team building, routines, challenging yourself, and winning. You must learn to work as a team because it is the backbone of successful policing. You need to build a routine so that the important issues are focused on, not the petty things. You need to challenge yourself because someone out there is challenging themselves to beat you. Most importantly, we are hired, trained, and expected to win!

5.6.2009

I’ve been blessed with the honor of our Class Sergeant title this week (which really just means more work and more responsibility) and today on a PT run, I tried out this little cadence. The names mentioned are classmates, obviously. And yeah, the jokes are all of the ‘inside’ variety, but I thought some of ‘em were pretty catchy:

Mama mama can’t you see!
Just what JeffCo has done to me.
Push-ups ‘till our arms are blue!
This ain’t a place but for the brave and the few.

Building searches, in dark, vacant, creepy buildings.

Mama mama can’t you see!
Just what John Z. has done to me.
Bless us mother for we have sinned!
But with the Rev right here we can do it again.

More building searches!

Mama mama can’t you see!
Just what Bin-Diesel has done to me.
Vail better beware and expect a show!
When Bin-Diesel gets his new Volvo.

Mama mama can’t you see!
Just what the KING has done to me.
With a mouth and jokes, ever-expanding.
And oh yes Mama, he’s really standing.

Garrett, moving fast and looking intense.

Mama mama can’t you see!
Just what Trent W. has done to me.
Call I-T we need help with the printer!
Be sure to send your fastest sprinter!

Mama mama can’t you see!
Just what Rhodri L. has done to me.
This guy knows how to have some fun!
EVERY academy should have an Austral-IAN

Skills Class Update…!

We’re half-way through week 13 and it’s unbelievable how quickly time is passing (part of this is a result of the very small amount of time we have to reflect on this fact). BUT, for the last two weeks it feels as if we’ve been studying what most people think of as real police work. To say it’s been fun is an understatement. I thought I’d give a kind of overview…

Most of last week was comprised of CSI type stuff. As we were told, many times, you can’t take the burned-in image of a victim’s killer from their retinas, BUT, there are some seriously cool tools that we’ll have at our disposal. Think fingerprints. Think national DNA databases. Think microscopic fiber analysis. (Our crime scene investigators are every bit as attractive and engaging as Gill Grissom and the like, by the way).

Fingerprinting!

Footprints in the snow!!!

Our days on the firing range have been a ton of fun. We’ve done a bit of work on the tactical range (multiple close-range targets set up to mimic real-life shooting scenarios, barricades, mock building walls, mock active-shooter scenarios, etc). Today was a hoot: simulated active shooter scenario (school shooting) complete with instructors banging on buckets like drums, shouting at you with blow horns, grabbing at you and hitting you every time you were ‘shot’. Stress!

We go through these scenarios one at a time and every time, before it’s your turn, your stomach churns with butterflies. You wait. You plan your actions. You self-talk. It never fails though…afterward, when the screaming’s stopped, you immediately want to run the course all over again for the fun of it. (And I’ll have pics of today’s fun posted on my next entry, for sure).

(Oh, and before I forget, I’d like to thank Big Daddy (Jones) for some excellent advice on what not to do on the driving range…and for what definitely to do during a good vehicle contact!)

We’ve also begun fully evolved, more realistic police contact scenario training. Vehicle and pedestrian stops that bring it ALL into play; everything we’ve learned over the last 3 months (law, communication techniques, arrest control, firearms, etc). These are challenging, to say the least. Who ever said police work was going to be easy? The pics below are from last week’s pedestrian contacts class. Trent, Josh, Molly and Laura all played our contact ‘subjects’. They were good…take a look at what Trent’s wearing! All of these exercises are structured to simulate possible challenging ‘realistic’ encounters. We all biff it on these in one way or another (I need to work on my post-arrest suspect searches, for instance) but we all seriously value these learning experiences.

Trent doing way too good a job playing a stumbling drunk in the middle of the highway.

More pedestrian contacts

Vehicle Contacts! These are tougher than you think…

Preparing to contact a citizen in a car

A little advice from a veteran instructor

A laugh to lighten the mood

The Myth of Sisyphus, Version 2.0

I just got a text from a buddy of mine who ran the Boston Marathon today. The guy finished it in 3:08, which, for those of you out there who don’t run, is a GREAT time. (I typically run a mile in a long distance run at around a 7:30 pace. My friend did the entire marathon, 26.2 miles, averaging something like 6:55 per mile!). I do have a point here…

Vehicle Searches!

Anything you do, anything you think you’re good at, anything you’ve been told you’re good at…well, there’s someone out there, probably many people out there who are better at it than you.

The connection that I’m making here between law enforcement, this academy, and this somewhat (negative) observation is this: Our instructors, our coordinators, our peers – they’ve all been working pretty hard to get it into our heads that the only way to succeed in this, the only way to grow, the only way to shine is to keep at it. Keep trying. Keep learning, keep practicing, keep getting better. Keep fighting.

Ian and Chris about to be made examples of…
(but doing an awesome job, as always…our stars from Arvada).

No one can be a master of all his trades, but through hard work, through grit and sweat and blood we can get better, and we can get close to mastery. If we’ve been taught anything these last 12 weeks, we’ve been taught that a continuous pursuit of perfection is absolutely necessary for this line of work…

The Sgt. giving us a tour of the old JeffCo Jail on a cold, wet morning. I bet there were many (clients) who felt a bit cold and wet when they entered into that building…

(Pushups are a favorite tool of our coordinators, along with a few choice words spoken at high decibel levels, in instilling this in us).

Looking at the graffiti scratched into an old dining table in the jail.
I won’t be posting what it actually said. :)

And behind this pursuit can only lie a kind of boiling determination. Sure, the guy that you have to lay hands on to arrest may have just spent the last 10 years pumping iron 4 hours a day in a Department of Corrections bed and breakfast, but he’s not going to care, he’s not going to want to win as much as you. And consequently, naturally, undoubtedly – he won’t.

“A Failure of Memory …”

Ok, so this image is a few weeks old, but I was scrolling through my picture files and was surprised that I hadn’t posted it (time flies, and distractions happen, in law enforcement academies!). This was a good experience. As our instructors said, if you can shoot well in a blizzard, imagine how you’ll shoot when it’s 72 degrees and sunny.

And, the picture really doesn’t have to do with this posting, but hey, it’s a good one.

For most of the evening I’ve been grinding the mental gears, attempting to will a good posting into existence. Imagine my mind as an old Ford truck…from the 60’s maybe, rusting away in a field. An old farmer gets in, starts the engine grudgingly and painfully puts it in gear, lets out of the clutch with a squeal and slowly, cacophonously, the machine creeps along through the dust and mud and the weeds…

My brain hurts.

I read somewhere once which spoke to the lack of pain receptors in the human brain. I think now that this was fictitious. Some doctoral student playing a prank. My brain really does hurt.

In previous postings I’ve touched on the shear amount of information we’re required to learn and more accurately MEMORIZE during this academy, but I’ve only hinted…

Currently I’m working on my last column of street rotations (streets in JeffCo along with their block numbers…approximately 300 streets in all). I’m working on memorizing the Bill of Rights and our firearms safety rules verbatim. I have the JCSO mission statement, values, and vision statement down (I think) as well as most of the names of departmental command staff. That leaves the material for our fifth test due tomorrow, including mountains of traffic code, various facts on domestic terrorist groups, performance data on less-lethal weapons as well as strategies in dealing with suspect interrogations and confessions.

We’ve all been weaned off of bottles and mere glasses full of the stuff – we take our mental nourishment through fire hoses ONLY these days.

And, incidentally, the title of this posting – “A Failure of Memory…”. Well, when we miss a question on a quiz or a test we’re required to write out a disciplinary memo to our coordinator elaborating on the REASONS behind that (failure). I’ve found myself relying on this phrase more often than I’d like to admit. It is, however, accurate. It’s honest. (Now if I could just get it to NEVER happen again…!)