End of week 11

Well, I have been a little behind with my posts. I spent the first of this month moving. I am starting to get more organized, but things are still a little crazy. Samson and I have been in our new apartment since Sept. 6th. I think he likes all the space he has, but I think he is pretty lonely since he doesn't have someone around all the time like he used to. I have someone that comes and takes him for walks every afternoon so that might help a little.

Anyway, as for the academy. I left off pretty much at the end of last month. Week 9: On Sept. 2nd, we had an observation day. I got to spend my day in Sex Crimes. I think it is a great department, but it is nothing like Law and Order SVU. We did get to see them interrogate a suspect about a rape. That was pretty interesting. Then on Sept. 3rd and 4th, we were out at the range with shotgun training. Not a huge fan of the shotgun. It's big and heavy with some kick to it. I came home the first day with a bruise on my shoulder and cheek. It took me 4 tries to qualify. When I did finally qualify I got a perfect score. We even ran the course again that afternoon and I got a 53/54. At least I finally figured it out. However, not my weapon of choice. Then that Friday, we had reactive knife training. Mainly we spent all day blocking, deflecting, and throwing each other on the mat. I ended up with a swollen wrist by the end of the day.

Week 10: Monday and Tues. we had Verbal Judo aka Tactical Communication. Then on Tues. we had Robbery and Dealing with Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Wed. and Thurs. mainly dealt with traffic accidents and traffic code. Not a huge fan of working traffic accidents. So, if any of you are in an accident and I get called out, I will punch you in the face. =). Then on Friday we had Sex Crimes and SANE/SART (nurses who take the rape kits at the hospital).

Week 11: Monday - Wednesday we worked on more traffic accident investigations. We did do some PT this week. Monday we ran a little over 3 miles. Then, Wednesday we did our 300 FT dash and the Cooper Run. We ran the Cooper Run in squads. My squad can kick my ass at the 1 1/2 so they just let me pace it. We ended up being the squad with the fastest time. Then on Thurs. we got to do Close Quarters Combat. This was learning to punch and kick. Good stuff, but I'm pretty sure I won't be punching anyone anytime soon. I have little fragile hands. I'm more a fan of the heal of my hand and the elbows. Then Friday I did an observation day. I rode 2nd watch North side. I actually ended up riding with the officer that was Andy's primary FTO. He was pretty laid back. We really didn't get into anything too exciting. We did get to go fast and go to the jail.

I haven't written down next weeks schedule so I don't know what we are doing. I know Monday we have our next test. I'm gonna spend the day studying for that.

End of Week 8 - Handgun Quals

I just want to thank everyone for the e-mails, texts, and calls wondering if I passed this week. I did pass. I got a 180 out of 240. 161 is passing. This might be the only time you ever hear me say...well, at least I passed. My goal was a 200 because my highest score all week was 191. My hands are all beat up from all the shooting this week. Next week we have our observation day on Tuesday. I get to spend the day in the Sex Crimes Division. Then Wed. and Thurs. we are back out at the range for shotgun training. That should be fun since I have never shot a shotgun. Then Fri. we have reactive knife training.

Also next week, I will probably spend most of my nights packing. As soon as my new apartment is ready I am moving. I am staying in the same complex so my address won't change...just my apartment number.

I am at Table Rock right now hanging out with my parents. I get back into town Monday afternoon. Hope everyone has a good and safe holiday weekend.

End of Week 7

Well, last week started off pretty boring but ended really cool. We had our 4th exam on Monday. I covered that in my last blog. It ended up getting an 87%. They finally posted the class grades. I am #2 in class right behind my car pool buddy. She only has me by .3 points though. There are about 5 of us that are within 1 point of each other. I will have to stay on my game to maintain my GPA. Right now it is 91.5.

Tuesday we had a class on weapons of mass destruction. Pretty interesting, but for the most part I knew a lot about that because I watch a lot of military shows. We also had some more attorneys in for some classes...Use of Legal Force, Title 3 (Drinking Laws). Then Wednesday afternoon we had the gang unit in. I didn't know squat about gang activity, but after their presentation I know kind of what to look for. Also, it put another check mark on the side of never wanting to have kids.

Then Thursday and Friday morning we were out at the gun range. We were issued our weapons. I get to carry a 40 caliber Glock. Then Friday afternoon we got to go out to the bomb range. The WPD Bomb range is out in BFE. Basically you go to the Viola intersection at K42 and take 111th street west to the county line. They bbq'd some burgers and brats for us. Then we got a nice PowerPoint presentation that had some pretty gory pictures that I, of course, couldn't look at. Then they took us down range and blew some stuff up.

This week we are at the gun range doing our handgun practicals. Yesterday we went thru 300 rounds each. Not sure what we shot today, but it was alot. My hands are killing me. When I am done here I'm gonna go soak my hands in ice water. I have blisters on 4 fingers. By Friday I will know if I qualified. This week is pretty much do or die. If I can't shoot the course, I'm out of the class. No pressure though. I'll be out of town all weekend so I will catch everyone up on Monday night when I get back in town. Have a good holiday weekend.

End of Week 6

Another week down. It was another boring week with mostly classroom stuff. Here is what we covered this week: Juvenile Law/Custody, Financial Crimes, Admissions and Confessions, Rules of Evidence, Crime Scene and Death Investigations, Emergency Response & Pursuit Driving, Road Block and Barricades, and Title 5 (city ordinances). The most interesting class was the Death Investigations. We had Lt. Landwehr in a few times this week. He covered a few local homicides. We got the info (including very detailed pictures) of the Cornelius Oliver murders. This was the other quadruple homicide 5 days before the Carr brothers. Then we got all the gory details of the Carr brothers quadruple homicide. We also got details on the incident at the Crown Chase apartments out south where the lady was beheaded and the apartment set on fire. Let's just say, there are images in my head that I'm never going to get rid of. Lesson's learned...if you think someone is following you, don't go home. Duh!!!!!

We did have one day of PT. We got to run east on 37th street to where it meets up with the big ditch. Then we got to run up and down the burm. I ended up having a pretty good asthma attack and got to ride the Sheriff's police car back to the academy. I went to the Dr. the next day and got some new medications.

We had a big test today. It covered the last 3 weeks. We didn't get the results back yet, but I don't think too many people did very well. I did pass. That is about the only info I could get out of the Lt. Today after the test we got instruction on how to deploy stop sticks. Not as easy as you might think. By the end of the session, I was doing pretty well. Then we had more Title 5 crap. This week we finally get to go to the range. Will update more on Friday or this weekend.

End of week 5

Let's just say this week was the most boring week so far. I drank more caffeine than ever this week. We had 1 assistant district attorney and 2 Deputy District Attorney's in this week. This week we had KS Justice System, Criminal Law Codes, Constitutional Law, Laws of Arrest, 4th Amendment (search and seizure), Admission and Confession (more 4th Amendment stuff), Burglary, and we got our first round of hepatitis shots. That's about as exciting as it gets. Next week is more classroom crap. Lt. Ken Landwehr will be in a few days next week. I hear his presentation is pretty interesting. Tonight I am meeting some of the girls downtown for one of their birthdays. Then tomorrow we have a pool party for the whole class. Then Sunday I have a huge beat map to draw up. Should be fun.

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.