2 Days Left

It's been a pretty fun week so far. Things at the academy have been pretty laid back. Tuesday we took our group photos. Below is the WPD photo. I am on the 3rd row, 3rd from the left. I think they found the worst picture that they took and printed it. Then Deputy Chief Moses came in and taught racial profiling and we had a brief review of our city government. Then we went downtown and took our individual photo. Then today we had our final PT assessment. I did 48 sit-ups (in one minute). I did 41 in my initial assessment on day 1. I did 40 push ups. I did 21 on day 1. Since we had some crappy weather move in yesterday, we didn't have to do the cooper run (1 1/2 miles) and we didn't have to do the 300 yd dash. Then, we had our Chaplin and shrinks in. WE had our final exam. I got a 92%. Then in the evening, our families (mom and dad came) showed up for an Emotional Stress seminar. The main topic was officer suicide. Mom and dad got to tour the facility. Not that it is too exciting. It is pretty much an old elementary school.

Below is some info regarding graduation. Basically directions to the parking lots on campus that we can use.

Graduation Week - 4 days to go

Just wanted to update you on my FTO schedule. My first 2 weeks I will be on 3rd shift with Sat., Sun., and Mon's off. This means that I will be working Christmas Eve and Christmas. Then I switch to Phase 2. I will be on 4th shift for 4 weeks with Wed., Thurs., and Friday's off. That means I get New Years Eve and New Years off. Then, in Phase 3 I will spend 4 weeks on 1st shift with Sun., Mon., and Tues. off. Then, I will go back to 3rd for my final 2 weeks for my final phase of FTO. Here is a picture of Justin and I that I took this morning before we headed to class.

End of Week 22

Well, one week left. This next week is mostly administrative stuff to finish up the academy. We get to start wearing our tan uniforms on Monday. As for last week, Thursday we had Juvenile Intervention. We also had our blood drive for the battle of the badges. Then that night, Justin and I went into Hutchinson to watch Paige in her 3rd grade Christmas program. It was really cool. I hadn't been to anything like that since I was in 3rd grade and I had never been on the audience side before. I actually had a lot of fun. Then on Friday we spent the day at the range doing our tactical shooting. Since there were 33 of us out there we didn't get a lot in. We did get to shoot the tazer at an actual target. One of the range masters put on a suit and acted out a scenario. I was the one that got to deploy the tazer. We did more shooting from the ground and shooting if you are disabled. We did some drills where we shot, reloaded, and pulled the gun out of the holster with only one hand. Then, Friday night, the Sheriff's department group took their Sgt. and FTD out to dinner. It was cool hanging out with those guys. Their Sgt and FTD are really cool. On Saturday we had our class party. We went out to Blank's house that is a few miles south of Augusta. For the most part, the usual people showed up. There were a few people that showed up that surprised me. I think we all had a good time. Here are a few pictures. The first pic is and and Smith. The second one is me and Maxfield. The last one is me and Weidner.

Middle of week 22

Well, since I have lots of stuff to talk about, I decided to blog early this week (and mom was bitching about me not telling her about getting tazed). So, Monday we had our tazer training. I made sure I jumped in when they did the group one. Basically there were 3 of us. They hooked one probe (alligator clip) to my right hip. Then they hooked a clip to Richardson's left hip. Weidner was in the middle and we all held hands. We told him we only wanted to take a second. He hit the button and everyone said it sounded like choir practice. I felt most of the pain in my left arm. I just remember grabbing Weidner's hand with my right and trying to get her to let go of me. I don't know how many of you have accidentally been shocked by an electrical pug, but it feels like that but you don't let go. We only did a 1 second ride, but it felt like 10. Advice: if you ever get a Tazer aimed at you, comply!

Today we had our defensive tactics review. Basically we reviewed everything that we have done all 22 weeks in 8 hours. I feel like it got ran over by a truck. Also today, Deputy Chief Lee came in and gave us our assignments. I am going East. The basic boundaries for east side are...North boundaries: 13th to Rock, then up to 29th. East boundaries: city limits to the Butler county line. South boundaries: City limits over to 135. West Boundaries: 135 up to Kellogg then over to Hydraulic. Yes, we have Plainview. Little interesting info...there have been 3 officer involved shootings while we were in the academy. One was out west where an officer got shot. The other 2 were out east. No officers were shot in those...2 were pepper sprayed. I should know my FTO schedule by Thursday of next week.

Justin got his badge today. So, next Monday we are all wearing our regular uniforms to the academy. maybe I'll figure out how to use the timer on my camera and get a picture of us.

End of Week 21

We had a short week this week. On Monday we did our mock trial. Judge Paul Clark was our judge. I am pretty sure the guy has been doing this for 100 years. I didn't get to testify (not real heart broken). On Tuesday we had our 11th test. I got an 89%. Then we had Career Development, Racial Profiling, and EJustice (records software). Then Tuesday night, a bunch of us got together and had a game night. It was tons of fun. Then Wednesday, I worked from 4pm - 12:30 am. The first 4 hours I spent at the Jail. The first hour or so I got to roam around with a rover. We went into a few of the pods. I went into one of the pods where the Deputy sits right out there with the inmates. I could never do that. Then I spent the last 3 hours in Master Control. This is where they control all the doors, elevators, and all access points. I was down there for about 30 minutes when they had an incident in the pod I was just in. I guess they couldn't get one of the inmates to go to his cell. I am not sure of all the details, but the guy I spent the 1st hour with called down to master control and told me that the incident in that pod was all my fault. Not sure of all the details, but the guy ended up getting 5 days lock down for the incident. For the next 4 hours I was up in dispatch. I ended up spending the night with the EMS dispatcher. It was pretty interesting. It was interesting to see how you get one call from 911 and EMS, Fire, and PD all get dispatched. The room gets pretty crazy when something big comes in.

Then on Thursday (Thanksgiving), I went with Justin to Hutchinson to be with his family. He had warned me about his crazy family, but I really didn't think it was any different than any other family. Here is a picture of us that Justin's daughter Paige took.

We were pretty lazy the rest of the weekend. Thursday night we set up the x-mas tree. Friday went to see Four Christmases with some of our friends from the academy. Then on Saturday I drug Justin to the Arts and Crafts Fair at Century II. We got some new x-mas ornaments. Then that night we went cosmic bowling with Rebecca and her family. Then Sunday we just did some chores around the house.

We have 2 weeks left of the academy. This week is going to be pretty fun. I got tazed today. We have a full day of defensive tactics on Wednesday. On Thursday we have the blood drive for the battle of the badges. We have tactical handgun on Friday. Friday the sheriff's department is taking their instructors to dinner so I get to tag along to that. Then Saturday is our class party. But you will have to wait till next blog for all of that.

End of Week 20

I'm about a week behind. Week 19 wasn't too exciting. Monday we had grade crossing accident investigation and HAZ-MAT. Tuesday we had the day off for Veterans day. Wednesday we had NCIC (National Crime Information Center) and MCT (Mobile Computer Terminal). We also had our 10th exam. It got an 87%. They posted our grades before this test and I am in 3rd. Thursday we had Child Abuse and Critical Incident Team. Then on Friday we did our Crime Scene practicals. I had a different role in each of the 3 scenes. I was the detective, then I was the photographer, then I was the Supervisor.

That weekend (Nov. 14-16), Justin and I went to KC for the weekend. We figured it would be our last chance to get out of town together for a while. I got to eat at Manny's. We went to Bass Pro Shop and the Legends Mall.

Week 20 (Nov. 17-21) - Monday we were out at the range. We did some stuff with the shotgun, but most of the day we did handgun drills. Tuesday, in the morning we had NIMS (National Incident Management System). Then in the afternoon we were back at the range. We got to do a tactical course. That was fun. We got to use cover, transition from shotgun to handgun, drag a body, and shoot multiple targets on the move. Then we got to use the $50K simulator downstairs at the range that only works every now and then. Luckily for me it works when I was down there. It was tons of fun and I got to yell at a screen in an empty room. Then I got to shoot some people. Wed. we had Interview and Interrogation practicals. We just got to do more interviews from the Crime Scene practical from last Friday. Then we had our classroom portion of Active Shooter training. Thursday we had Crime Prevention, Conceal and Carry, and Drug Test Kits. Then on Friday we got to go back to Longfellow for Active Shooter training. This training was lots of fun, very stressful, but fun. When we got to our sim scenarios at the end of the day, I only got shot once...in the ass, again.

Here is the info on our graduation:
Date: December 12, 2008
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Friends University, Alumni Auditorium, Davis Hall, 3rd Floor. (clock tower building)

End of week 18

Well, this week we finally got to gear up and do some rides with our uniforms. Monday we had some classroom stuff. We learned about crowd control, 911, and court testimony. Also, Deputy Chief Moses came in and gave us all our badges. Then, Tuesday, I rode up North with a community policing officer. Usually they work special community projects in their area, but we ended up making quite a few calls. We got 2 cases. Both were for vandalism. I got to help out at my first injury accident. There were 9 people transported code green. Three of them were children. I know what you are thinking, was it a bus, nope, it was a suburban packed to the max.

One Wednesday, I rode with one of the female officers up north on 2nd watch (11 a.m. - 7 p.m.). We weren't nearly as busy as Tuesday. On both of these days the officers let me drive. They worked the radio and other buttons. I just drove. The only case we pulled on Tuesday was a burglary report. I got to write the report and I am pretty sure she turned mine in.

Thursday, I rode 3rd watch out west (5 p.m. - 1 a.m.). I didn't drive, but I was OK with that. I got to work the radio all night. We made 2 traffic stops and I got to radio those in. I did much better this time than I did on Halloween. We got sent to 2 domestic disturbance calls. At the end of the night we assisted at a cutting (which was in the news the next day...that was cool). We were at the cutting location for a while. Then we went to find the suspect. One of the other officers found her and we were there just after she was taken into custody. She decided she wanted to go to the hospital so I got to ride in the ambulance with her. We spent a while at St. Francis. Then it was time for me to get off so we headed back to the station.

Friday, I rode 4th watch out west (9 p.m. - 5 a.m.). It was a pretty slow night. We did some club checks. We also had the pleasure of investigating Vegas Video. We immediately go in and head to the booth area. The thing about those "booths" is that you do not have an "expectation of privacy". Therefore, we are able to just go busting into the rooms without consent. Luckily, there was no one there. I didn't want to see any of that. I saw enough of it on the floor and walls. I still feel dirty. I finally got to drive after 3 a.m., but there was no one out. We were about done when we were dispatched to check the welfare of someone sleeping in their car at Meridian and Orient (the railroad tracks there). When we got there, dude was passed out in his car sitting in southbound traffic. Probably went to sleep while waiting for a train. I tapped on the window and he didn't wake up. So, I opened the door and was hit with a wall of alcohol stench. I told him to turn off the car and take the keys out. He did. Then one of the other officers took him into custody. I did get to do a search of the car. Then, since it was after 5 a.m., they sent another officer to pick me up and I was toted back to the station. Since I made first contact with the guy, I have to call in a tape. It will be my first.

This week we have more classroom stuff. We have Tuesday off due to the holiday. Then on Friday, Justin and I are headed to KC for the weekend. We figured we might as well get a short vacation in now before our schedules get all jacked up. I am looking forward to Manny's.