Bruises

Ok, I finally got some bruises to show up. However, it still doesn't look as bad as it feels. The picture on the left is of my common peroneal nerve strikes on my left leg. The picture on the right is the same strike. You can see I kind of had to rotate my leg over so you can see the bruises. I also have a bruise at the tibial nerve (upper calf) on my left leg. I also have a ton of small bruised areas on my upper arms. I have a pretty good bruise on my upper left arm from swinging the baton incorrectly and whacking myself. I can see a good bruise there, but I don't think it will show up on pi cutes. I also have a few small bruises on my femoral nerve (inner thigh). Just think, tomorrow is suppose to be worse. Can't wait.

Middle of Week 4

So, I figured if I waited till the end of the week to write about this week I'd miss something cool. This is what I call ass whoopin' week. Monday we had a defensive driving course. It was a real snore. The only good thing that will come of that is that when I get my certificate I can send it to my insurance company and hopefully get a discount. However, then I have to let them know I'm in law enforcement and they will probably hike up my life insurance rates. Tuesday we learned handcuffing. Don't know how many of you have ever been handcuffed, but it isn't a pleasant experience. Well, try being hand cuffed over and over again for 6 hours. First we learned how to fall. Yes, there is a technique to it. Then we went into take down moves and speed cuffing. My right wrist is sufficiently bruised and swollen. The crappy thing is that I don't show bruises that well, so I can't put up any pictures. However, I learned some great take down moves with the cuffs and without. I'm ready to hit the bar and have someone grab my ass. Just kidding. We did do some PT along with the handcuffing. I went to sit down this morning at the computer and about jumped out of the chair my ass hurt so bad. I figured it was from the fall stuff, but then I remembered I did one squat yesterday. One 10 count squat. 10 counts down....10 counts up. It sucked. Today we learned about the mechanics of an arrest. Just classroom stuff. Then we got to have our baton training class. First they gave us foam batons. They showed us where to hit on the legs and arms that would make someone buckle. However, being hit with a long metal stick I think would do the trick. So, for about 3 hours we beat the crap out of each other with the foam baton. I have nice bruised areas on my upper thigh, my forearm, bicep, and my upper calf. Then we got to beat the crap out of a dummy with our real batons. I could have played with those foam batons all day long. It was fun. Tomorrow, we have the Mechanics of self defense. This class is all classroom. Then Friday, they we get to beat the crap out of each other again using pressure points. Andy says this is the class that is really going to hurt. I'm thinking that sucks since the last two days have been pretty brutal. I'll let you know how the rest of the week goes on Friday...or Saturday if I am too wore out. If any of these spots on my legs become good bruises, I'll take pictures.

End of Week 3

Well, it was another boring week of sitting in a classroom for 8 hours straight listening to lectures and viewing power point presentations. By Friday, my brain was fried. We did have a test on Tuesday covering week 1 & 2 stuff. I got a 92%. We have another test this Tuesday. This week we learned about Cultural Awareness, Fingerprinting (I suck at pulling prints), ID of Suspects, Larceny, Tittle 11 (city traffic ordinances), Crisis Negotiations, Felony Assault, Intro to Community Policing, Problem Solving, Arson, ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children), Infectious Disease, and Crimes in Progress. Luckily, Friday afternoon we got some PT time. We did a 30 min Plyometrics workout and started with some defensive tactics basics. The type of martial arts we are learning is called SYSTEMA. It is a form of Russian martial arts used in the Russian Special Forces. The other girl in my class that is closest to my build and physical ability is like some black belt in martial arts. We got to spend some time hitting some hand pad things. I look forward to next week when we get to do a lot more stuff out of the class room.

End of week 2

Well, this week wasn't nearly as exciting as last week. This week was mostly classroom stuff. We learned about ethics, dealing with special populations (mental illness and elderly), Office of Central Inspection (housing codes), Kansas Incident Based Reporting System (KIBRS) (basically the foundation for all our reports), Field Notes, and Professional Standards (previously known as IA). I welcomed the 2 days we had of PT. I will spend all of my weekend finishing up reading our Policy and Regulations Manual. Then we have a test on Tues. that I also have to study for. The academy is definitely tough and I am mentally exhausted. I pretty much go to class all day and study, do homework, and polish my shoes every night. Next week looks like more of the same. We get a little reprieve from the classroom in a couple weeks because we have a few days of defensive tactics and handcuffing. Maybe I'll have some nice bruises to take pictures of.

Academy

I decided to try on all my gear for the academy tomorrow. I spent 20 minutes ironing my shirts perfectly yesterday. I have nice creases in my sleeves. I also probably spent 2 hours polishing my shoes. That isn't as easy of a task as I thought. I have gotten lots of different advice from lots of different people. I put them on today and got a bunch of creases, so I had to buff them out some more. We will see how the Lt's like them tomorrow. I spent most of the weekend studying. We had 2 study groups. We had about 7 show up yesterday and about 11 show up today. We will probably do study groups every weekend. If not just to study, but to let the group get to know each other better. Anyway, I told mom I would post a picture of me in my academy uniform. You can't really see my shiny shoes in this pic.

A day at the lake

Yes, it sounds real fun, but it isn't what you might think. After Monday, the rest of the week was mainly classroom stuff. Pretty boring. I kind of like the PT at the end of the day because it give me energy for the evening. If we don't PT, I just want to go home and crash after 8 hours in the classroom. So, Friday, they took us out the the WPD SGSO (sheriff) range out at Lake Afton. This is where SWAT does all their PT training. Most people driving by have probably never seen it, but there is a huge obstacle course behind the shooting burm. It has about 10 obstacles. First, me and my partner (I picked one of the bulky guys), had to go over a privacy fence high gate. Then, you have to jump a chain link fence; climb 3 rungs to a window, go thru and climb down the other side; run thru a cement culvert; then there was a 4 ft wall; then was the worst thing on the course, it's hard to explain but the top level you had to jump to was about 8ft off the ground. Doesn't sound too high, but when you are jumping horizontally to the next rung...it's high. I got a nice abrasion from that obstacle. Then we had 3 low step logs to go over, they are about knee high. I did pretty well with those because I have long legs, so I was able to just bounce right thru them. Then was the dreaded monkey bars. I couldn't do them in middle school and I can't do them now. Next was a couple long balance beams at a couple different heights. Not too easy with 25 MPH winds. Then we had to climb up about 4 rungs that were about 10-15 ft high. Get over and climb down. The last obstacle was about 6 stumps at different heights that we had to bound over. Then we went for a jog around the lake to the south end where the dam was. We did some sprints up and down the dam. Then we jogged back around to the swimming area on the west side of the lake. We got in 2-row formation in the water. I formed up in the back row first. Then, they went along pushing the person in the front row and we had to catch them. I got a skinny guy and I only dipped him in the water once. Then when I got on the front row, they never pushed me. So, he never had to catch me. Then we did some push-ups. In the water, they aren't that bad. Then we had to run out and around some of our fellow recruits that were out further in the water. Then we had a nice easy, soggy run back to the range. At the range, we had to do some push-ups, flutter kicks, and pull ups (I can't do pull ups). Then we had to lunge about 50 yds. That was it. I personally didn't think it was too bad. I had a good time. They talked it up like it was going to be hell. We have our first test Monday. We have study groups set up today and tomorrow for everyone. Hopefully with some teamwork everyone will do good on the test Monday. At the study group today, we are not only going to study, but we are also going to learn how to polish our shoes and iron nice lines in our uniforms. We get to wear our blues on Monday. I'll make sure I get a picture so I can post it up. The blues aren't too exciting. They will be more interesting looking when we have our vests and duty belts strapped on.

On another note, Friday got police radios to take home for the duration of the academy. I listened to mine most of the night Friday. I turned it off at about 11:15 to go to bed. Andy called me at 1:30 a.m. to see if I had been listening when the Officer Down call came out at 11:30 p.m. He wanted to let me know it wasn't one of our friends from the West side. I missed it by 15 min. I guess a west side WPD officer was checking a suspicious character and the guy pulled a gun and shot him. Luckily, he only got shot in the leg and he is going to recover. The suspect however, ran a ways down the street then turned the gun on himself. He died early this morning. Andy said it took 9 seconds for it to go from a suspicious character call to an officer down call. I am sure this is something that will be discussed in length on Monday in class.

First Day

The first day wasn't too bad. We had PT immediately when we got there. Push-ups and flutter kicks are no fun in slacks and dress shoes. Then we had 1 hour with the chief. He mainly went over WPD goals, objectives, and expectations. Then we spent forever reading over WPD Policy and Regulations. We do a lot of that the first few weeks....a real bore. After lunch there were the academy rules and regs. We learned how to write our first report. Then the crappy part of the day started. Our squad started with a 300 yd sprint. They say it is like running 2 city blocks. They were really big blocks. I could barely make out our FTO (Field Training Officer, heretofore to be known as FTO...that was for mom) standing at the finish line. I did my dash in 1:25. Then we had push-ups, sit-ups, and a sit and reach. I did 41 sit-ups in 1 min; 21 push-ups; and I maxed out that sit and reach (measures flexibility). They needed to add another block for me. I am not sure how I am suppose to improve on that. Then to the dreaded Cooper Run. It was about 95 degrees by then with a brisk 15 MPH southern breeze. I did it in 15:35. They didn't expect us to make land speed records today with this weather. These tests today were to set a benchmark for the rest of the class. Basically, by December when we graduate, we are to improve on these numbers. We had some homework. Nothing that took me too long. I came home and got right on it. I was appointed treasurer for our water jug program. We have a water thingy and we have to pay to refill the jugs. We went thru a whole jug today. I am kind of excited to be able to do a spreadsheet and keep track of money. Those are the things I will miss the most with this job. Well, that's it. Nothing to eventful to report. I hear Friday is going to be hell. If I can still move, I will post again Friday to report on the week.