End of Week 17 - Practical Week

This week was the most stressful week I have ever had in my life. We did hands on practical situation stuff all week with actors.

Monday and Tuesday, our group did car stop training. The first few were your average daily car stop. Then after that they just got crazy. The hardest part is stopping the car, and getting everything in the car where you want it to be in order to get out of the car (spot lights, lights, grabbing your flashlight, seat belt, putting the car in park, turning your portable radio on). I was the primary officer on 3 car stops on Monday. One went off without a hitch. Then they told me to come back and look in the car. Dude had a gun sitting right on the dashboard. Talk about tunnel vision. Then on Tuesday we learned how to do felony car stops. So, most of Tuesday had crazy scenarios. Some people got beat up, some people got dead. I think I was about the only one in my group that didn't get into any physical altercation.

Then on Wednesday, we did building search. We use Longfellow Elementary at Main and Clark. It is a very old abandoned elementary school. Most of the day we learned the fundamentals. Then we did some light scenarios. Then at night, after dinner, we got to do scenarios with simunition rounds. These are kind of like bullets, but they only come out of the gun at 450 FPS (330 MPH) and the bullet is plastic with a colored substance in them. Our groups first scenario was without sims. We were trying to get a vagrant out of a building. While we were watching him, his buddy jumped out of the back of the room that we hadn't cleared yet. He ran past all the guys on my team and tackled me. I had my gun out, but was having trouble reholstering (he didn't have a weapon so I couldn't shoot him). So, I just rolled over on my gun and let him beat the crap out of me. I just have a bruise (that i can feel, but no one can see) on my jaw. Our next scenario was with the sim guns. We begin clearing a room and start taking fire. We ended up barricading the dude in a back room. We made entry into the room and took him into custody. No one got shot in this one. Then we had our last scenario. It involved clearning a long hall with small rooms and a multi-purpose room. We cleared down to the multi-purpose room. Then they (3 guys from my team) left me and another guy in the hall to cover their backs. When they got inside they realized they couldn't handle it by themselves so they called us in. We were in the entry way when I took my first shots. Hit me in the thighs. I screamed out a lot of expletives, as I was taking cover. Then, next thing I know, I am being grabbed by my collar and drug backwards. I thought it was one of our guys until I took a bunch of close range rounds into my vest. Then I dropped and spun around and started shooting him. I ended up taking one round in the shoulder. Then I got back up and went back to my position. At that point I took a few more rounds in the thighs. Basically it was a cluster at this point. Oh yeah, did I mention that the shooters in this practical were the WPD/SGCO SWAT Team. They can shoot a gnat off a horses ass. They also had long guns instead of pissy little handguns. So, in the end, all but one member of our team got lit up. Below are pics of what sim rounds can do to ya. The first 3 pics are from that night. The last 2 are taken 24 hours later.

Oh yeah, I also took on to the ass, but I am not putting that pic up.

Then, Thursday night we did Domestic Violence scenarios. We used different rooms in the training academy as our residences that we went to. Each one was very interesting. I got to wrestle 2 chicks and one guy into custody. I only had to kill on person and I never got killed. I think I did pretty OK on these scenarios. I was getting my confidence up by the end of the night.

Tonight I have a 3rd shift ride along down south. It's Halloween so it should be interesting. Tomorrow, Saturday, I have the Newton volleyball tournament. Then Sunday I am going to be lazy. I've also got to get my schedule back on track because we worked nights all this week and next week are are back to days.

End of Weeks 15 & 16

Week 15 - Monday we did the pepper spray. Tuesday we had Officer Survival. We got to hear a lot about line of duty deaths and watch a lot of very scary videos of officer assaults. Wednesday we covered Interview and Interrogation. Thursday we had our 7th test. I don't remember how I scored. Then we covered Building Search lecture. Then the rest of the week we learned about Domestic Violence.

Week 16 - Monday we had night fire qualifications. We learned how to shoot in low light and no light conditions. We also learned to shoot with while using our flashlights. I qualified on my 2nd try. My instructor says I have focus issues. Then Tuesday I was up on the 6th floor with investigations. I got to sit with the Larceny group. Wednesday, we had the class I had been dreading since day one...ground fighting. We learned the basics of Brazilian Jujitsu. After we learned some stuff we got to fight the instructors for a while. I got punched a lot in the ribs and I took a few shots to the face. Then by the end of the day we were fighting each other. By the end of the day, I ended up actually liking it. I kind of got over the issues I had with being so physically close to other people. Thursday we had our 8th test. I got an 86%. Then we covered Pedestrian Stops and Prisoner Transport. We each got to handcuff someone and shove them in the back of a police car. I don't know if you have ever been in the back of a police car, but there is no room back there. Then on Friday, we had our Traffic Stop lecture.

This next week should be pretty eventful. On Monday and Tuesday I'll be at the KS Coliseum doing our traffic stop practicals. I hear they take all the bad things that can happen and put us thru those scenarios. Then on Wednesday we do our building search practical. On Thursday we do our Domestic Violence practicals. Then on Friday, Halloween, we get to do a ride along. I am riding south side, 3rd shift (5 p.m - 1 a.m.). It should be an interesting week.

Then on Saturday, November 1st, I am playing in the Newton volleyball tournament.

Pepper Spray Day

OK, so pepper spray is the worst thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. First they give you a nice spray across the eyes. Then, you have to run the gauntlet. It consists of getting a suspect to the ground, beating on some pads, beating the dummy with the baton, then handcuffing. All while my eyes were burning like an MF. So, lucky for me, one of the guys had his camera there with video. You will see as I am trying to reholster my gun when the pepper spray kicks in. Then, I beat on Villegas, then I give a good slap to my Lt. Then J. and Justin finally lead me off to water. Here goes. This will be pretty entertaining.

http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/Coldblue_01/?action=view&current=sept-oct08220.flv

End of Week 14 - EVOC

This was one of the best weeks so far. We spent Mon., Tues., and Fri. up in Hutchinson at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC). Monday we spend most of the day, in the rain, driving thru some slower courses. Working on our precision driving. We did a 90 deg turn at 35 MPH. We did a forward slalom course, then we had to do it backwards. It was actually easier backwards. Then we did a long back thru a tight course and then we had to back into a "garage". I did very well on the first day. I knocked down my share of cones, but made all the courses in the required times. We did get to work on a few parts of the qualifying course on Monday. We worked on zone 2 first. This includes a slalom, a Y back (driving in a garage and backing up), gates (basically another slalom type course), then forward into a garage. I loved the slalom course. It was still pretty wet when we did it so it made it twice as fun. Next we got to work zone 1, which is the beginning of the course. Basically, you have some cones you have to go thru at at least 40 MPH. Then when you are halfway thru they would say left or right and you would make an evasive maneuver thru some more cones. Also, another one of my favorite parts cuz you get to go fast. Then you drive into a garage and back into another garage. Then you pull out into an S turn. We were at KLETC from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the first day.

On Tuesday, we were at KLETC from 10 a.m. till 10:30 p.m. We started the morning by putting zones 1 & 2 together. Then we started on zones 4 & 5. This includes an S backup into a long, fast back up and immediately into a garage. Then you pull out of the garage into a serpentine (S curves with cones on each side). Then you speed ahead into another garage. Then a 90 deg back up into another garage. Then you pull out of there and head for a stop sign. Then, you pull out of there and weave thru some more cones to the finish. In order to qualify you have to do all that in 3 min. One Tues. I didn't have any trouble with times and most of my runs were clean.

Then that night we got to do some night driving thru the course. The first run was with normal headlights. The second run was with brights on. During this run the instructor in the car asked questions to try to stress me out. Then, the last run was with lights and sirens. During this run the instructor is yelling about an officer in trouble. Some instructors got more animated than others. My instructor was pretty calm. That was my best run all day. Also, while we were out at KLETC we got to eat in their cafeteria for free. I felt like I was back in college. The food was actually pretty good.

On Wednesday, I did a ride along. I was out west for this 2nd shift (11 a.m. - 9 p.m.) ride. It wasn't very eventful. We did get in a chase. It was low speed thru a residential area. The guy just drove an extra 3 blocks just to park in his driveway. Then I had Thursday off. That was really nice. I pretty much did nothing.

Friday we were back out at KLETC to qualify on the course. We had to be there by 9:30 a.m. We weren't sure how long we would be there. It just depended on how long it took everyone to qualify. The morning went really well and everyone from WPD qualified on their first run. I was up first after lunch. My first practice run was pretty clean except for I overshot the garage on the long back and I had to make a correction. I still made it in 2:40. My second practice run again was good except I screwed up the 90 deg back and had to pull forward and back up again. I did that one in 2:45. My qualifying run went really well. Again, I screwed up the 90 deg garage (something I hadn't screwed up once on Tues). I did qualify on my first run with a time of 2:50. We ended up getting done by 3:30 p.m.

Since we were done early, I went with Justin into Hutchinson (he lives there). We decided this would be a good time for me to meet his daughter. We picked her up from school and took her to dinner. She is pretty awesome. She reminds me of me when I was that age. Then we took her to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Today I did pretty much nothing. Tomorrow, we were voluntold to do the Walk for Unity. I convinced Justin to bring Paige into Wichita and they could walk it with me. I think most of our PD class will be there.

As for next week, we are back at the academy. For all your entertainment, Monday I get pepper sprayed. If my eyes aren't swollen shut I will blog about it Monday night. Please have me in your thoughts because I hear it isn't a great time.

End of Week 12 & 13

Week 12 we had another week of classroom junk. We did have our 6th test on Monday. I got a 98%. Monday we learned about booking into the SG Co jail. K-9 was in. I really enjoyed when the dog destroyed a cabinet with wood doors looking for the bag of marijuana they put in there. Then we went over Civil Process Serving. Tues. we had our CSI group in. Wed. we had narcotic and controlled substance. We did a controlled burn of Marijuana. That stuff is nasty smelling. We also learned about Surveillance and Informants. Thurs. the CSI unit was back in. We also covered traffic enforcement and traffic control. We got to go down the street and do traffic control at an intersection. Luckily we have a lot of people in class and I didn't have to get out there. We also covered Alarm Ordinances, Crime Stoppers, and Clandestine Labs. Friday we also covered Civil Liabilities, Forensic Computers, and Alcohol Beverage and Control. Then on Saturday, a few of us from the academy ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I actually ran the whole 5K without stopping. I finished it in 35 min. I was glad to have my new boyfriend Justin running with me. If he weren't there, I probably would have walked a lot more. Then on Sunday, I volunteered for the WPD Show and Shine Car Show. I was there for a few hours in the morning to help set up.

Week 13 got pretty interesting. On Monday and Tuesday we did Standard Field Sobriety Testing. For those of you who didn't see channel 12 news on Monday, we had a bunch of volunteers come in and get drunk for us. Then we did a battery of field sobriety test on them. On Wednesday, we actually got certified. We also covered driving while under the influence of drugs. Then on Thurs., we did handgun retention. Then, Thursday after work we played a little flag football. It was WPD vs the Sheriff's Office. It was a lot of fun, but in the end, they ended up beating us. On Friday we covered Legal Aspects of Emergency Vehicle Operations and Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics. This was the classroom course for the stuff we get to do this coming week. Monday and Tuesday I will be up in Hutchinson at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center for Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC). This is another Pass/Fail class. I have to finish the obstacle course on Friday in under 3 minutes. I'll try to blog next weekend so I can let everyone know how this week went.