Tuesday, November 18, 2008

T-minus 12 days!

12 academy days left and its graduation time! We are so close I can taste it. I can’t believe we are here already. It seemed like only yesterday we were in business attire. The past 18 weeks have flown by.

We are completely finished with the skills side of our training, last Thursday was our final testing for arrest control. We do still, however, have a couple of hurdles ahead of us before we got that badge pinned on our chest. We have one more PT assessment, a five second taser ride (voluntary), and the Lookout Mountain run. Besides that it’s all downhill from here.

Crime scene investigation is the topic for this week. We have 24 hours of everything from crime scene preservation and documentation to finger printing and photography. It is really a lot of fun, and I’m learning a great deal. Investigations are something I would really enjoy doing later on in my career. The whole process fascinates me, the investigators we have here at the Sheriff’s office are very talented and I enjoy studying previous cases that they bring into our lectures for us.

Thursday and Friday is DUI class. From what I understand we have some live subjects come into class, they get drunk and we get to deal with them. I hear it is a very interesting couple of days. I will let you know all about it, and just in case you were wondering all the positions for drunks are filled so save yourself the time of filling out an application!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Qualifying Lap

We are now wrapped up with driving. It was a great week. I feel I learned so much in the five days we were at the track. We took the POST (Peace Officer Standards of Training) exam on Friday which consisted of a written test and a driving exam.

The driving test was a timed course around the track; we had to get one lap in within 4:10 order to pass. Sounds easy right, just hang on and drive fast; well it wasn’t that straight forward. Along the track five separate courses were set up for us to drive through. We had the reverse serpentine, shuffle steer, and lane change to name but a few.

If you hit a cone at any stage you have to get out of the car and fix it, doing this will cost you about ten to fifteen seconds, if you hit more than one cone the chances are you will not qualify in time. Also, you cannot drive off of the track or roll over the center divide at anytime, any violation is an automatic disqualifier.

The good news is we got lots of practice and excellent training, I am happy to say that I completed the course in 3:36, not the fastest time but top three of my group. I was talking to one of my class mates about the training that we have received here at the Academy. From the driving to the firearms instruction and everything in between, it would cost us thousands to do this privately! It truly is an honor to go through the Academy. If you are trying to get here or have been offered a place here, then give it everything you have as there are a hundred people who want to take your place.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Driving


Driving is awesome. I’ve heard plenty of people say that this is the most fun you have in the Academy; I’m beginning to see why. We are learning so much and we have only been driving for two days.

High speed braking at 60 mph is probably my favorite right now, that and the reverse serpentine. The reverse serpentine is either done on a straight course or on a “snake” track. Cones are set up about every thirty to forty feet and we have to reverse around them without knocking any of them over.

We start off slow and eventually have to pick up speed. The idea behind this and a lot of what we have done so far is to get us used to not only the dimensions of the car but also its limits. The reverse serpentine for example, if you get going fast and push the vehicle you will spin out, which is not only fun but very educational!

Our instructors are very laid back and really promote an atmosphere for learning. Friday we test for driving, and Thursday night we have high speed, pursuit driving. The pursuit driving we get to chase an instructor around the track at night with lights and sirens.