SLOW DOWN!!!!

Week 14, Day 5

Week 14….say it with me, WEEK 14!!! I can’t believe it. This training is flying and I feel like I don’t have time to catch up. I know I say this a lot, but it is so true. I just want to yell…SLOW DOWN!!! I can’t catch up with everything we are learning. Sometimes it feels like I am in slow motion and when the instructors speak…I hear “Blah,Blah,and Blah.” I will give you the recap of the week…so hang on!!!

We started our week with arrest control and building searches. I don’t think I have talked enough about arrest control in my past blogs, so I will give you a little insight. We have learned how to defend ourselves in a fist fight and we have learned handcuffing techniques. We have learned how to defend ourselves if a suspect gets us pinned to the ground…(Scary thought). But this week we learned how to defend a knife attack. Basically the common theme is…do the best you can…but you will get cut. I don’t know about any of you but, I don’t like the idea of being cut with a knife. We also covered what to do if someone is trying to choke us out. Again…I don’t know if I really like this idea either. Especially being a woman and thinking about someone coming up behind me and wrapping there hands around my neck. SCARY!!! I don’t think I will have any problems remembering these defense tactics.

So we also moved into building searches…which is really cool and very frustrating. Just when you think you have the movements down…something happens. So again…there’s not such thing as a routine call. Building searches can feel like a really intense game of hide and seek or for the new generation out there…a really intense game of “Solider of Fortune.” We enter a building with little or no lighting. We search every room (methodically), looking for someone who is just waiting for us to come around the corner. You should try this at home. Turn all the lights off in your house...have someone hide in a room (preferably someone you know) and then try to find them. I guarantee it will raise your heart rate.

So the rest of the week was centered on firearms. We had the written exam, which everyone passed. We then moved up to the range to cover the qualification course. I can say…the perfect score of 200 still eludes me. I scored a 195…not bad, but not what I was hoping for. In my firearms group, we had 8 perfect scores…congrads to the “A” Team. I will let my Blog partner talk about the “B” Team…I know they all passed…I am not sure how many perfect scores there were. The other portion of firearms training involved shotguns. I must say…I really like this weapon. I have shot a 12 gauge shotgun before and it is always an experience. If you have never done it, I highly recommend it (just please do it legally). We learned how to load the weapon, fire the weapon and how to shoot it in 3 positions. We start out at the standing, which is easy…then kneeling…even better because it’s a stable shooting platform. Then Deputy Johnson has us move to the prone shooting position. This position is basically for one reason…to feel the pain of your skin on your elbows being scraped off on the concrete. No…I am not kidding. I will prove to you in the attached pictures. We have to be able to continue shooting through any pain and I mean any pain. So this is a technique that is used to see how we will shoot and to keep our concentration as blood is running off our elbows. (Deputy Johnson loved this exercise a lot) But as we say in the Army, “It’s all good training, Sir.”

That is the weekly recap for…say it with me…WEEK 14!!! We are moving into week 15 with even more intense training. Now that firearms is done and over…arrest control will get more and more intense. We start moving into “Red Man drills.” I will talk about that more when we get to it. Oh and let’s not forget the big event we have to look forward to in week 15…OC spray in the face. I will say this again…I don’t know about you…but I don’t think I really like this concept. So until next time…be safe.

Building Searches

Is this Recruit Harris or George Lopez?

How to get out of a choke hold

Learning how to shoot an automatic rifle

Shotgun training

Prone position

The aftermath of prone position

WOW!!! Is all that I can say…?

Week 9, Day 4

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Well, we have completed another packed week and starting next Monday…we are officially halfway through this academy. WOW!!!

I have said in previous blogs, how busy we are…but really…we are busy. We usually have classroom lectures on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and arrest control and firearms training on Tuesday and Thursday.

Arrest control and firearms are always fun classes. We are learning techniques in arrest control that could potential save our life one day. Not to mention…it’s fun to go home and practice “wrist locks” on my family. I like the practice, but they are not really fond of it. Firearms is another part of the week that I have really come to love. I have always enjoyed shooting but what is great about this type of training…I am learning so many new techniques. Things I never thought I would be able to do with a gun and I am so comfortable with it that I don’t get as nervous anymore. Today we did a small qualifying round, where we had to shoot at certain distances, a certain number of rounds (bullets); at a particular part of the target and to top it all off…it was all timed. No pressure!!! Well, for my group we all did great and we even had a couple of people that did really well. The total number of points for this qualifying round was 180 and there were a couple of us that scored 171 and higher. (Yes, for whatever reason…I was a part of this group) I guess all the stars were aligned and no I am not complaining.

So now that we are moving through this academy at lightening speed the lectures that we are receiving now, are geared more towards procedures. What I mean by procedures is; report writing, how and what to look for when we pull a vehicle over, etc. Procedure classes are less about text books and more on techniques. Before when we had the law classes, we had our trusty “Blue Book,” to look things up and reference. But procedures is where we begin to develop our skills and for a lack of a better term, our Police Officer Personalities. This is where we start looking at how and what to say, when we pull a vehicle over. This is how and what to say, when we are talking with a suspect we are about to arrest. This is what to look for when we are called out to a domestic violence call and what we are going to say to de-escalate the situation.

We go through the motions here in classroom to practice and get that “muscle memory.” We come up with different things and my partners in class throw some crazy scenarios at me. But really…how and what will I say to that young child, as I am arresting their father or mother on a domestic violence call. Will I remember to cover everything and do a good job? Only time will tell, but I can’t help but think as I am running through scenarios in class, what it will feel like to actually do this job. What will it feel like to handcuff someone for the first time? What happens if a situation gets out of hand and I have to defend myself? Will I remember what to do and how to do it? I know that is why we practice so much, but I still have the “What if’s” in the back of my mind.

So I want to touch on something that has been happening lately here in this country. There have been so many shootings and so many police officers killed in the line of duty, I can’t help but think about this scary reality. This is the profession I have chosen and the reality is…I could be killed. At the end of this academy, I will take an oath to support and defend the citizens of Jefferson County. In other words, I will help and assist them any way I can and even give my life for a stranger. Scary...Yes, it is. But something I have been asked to do and I am willing to do. I know I have talked in previous Blogs about this profession and if you think you have what it takes to be a Sheriff’s Deputy…then you should apply and give it a shot. But you really need to take a look at what this profession is all about. Look at the world we live in and look at what is happening in this country. It is slowly getting worse on our streets. The front page of any given newspaper used to be covered with articles on the death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan, now it’s Pittsburgh, Oakland and New York.

Who is going to protect those streets? Who is going to make sure it’s safe to go to the bank or the immigration office? The answer is…the Police Officers and Sheriff’s Deputies serving the communities across the nation and soon…that will include me and my partners in this academy. Just to let you all know…we are all training hard and looking forward to pinning that badge on and going to work. We are preparing to do this job to best of our abilities and hopefully one day…we will be able to help someone or even save a life. Until next time…stay safe and enjoy the photographs.

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The serious training begins…

Week 8, Day 5

Part of Group A getting ready for the range

Well, this was a strange and intense week. We are starting to get into the actual weapons portion of our training. We are going to the gun range and starting to get the feel of our weapons and what it is like to have live ammunition. No more “Dummy” rounds. So this is not only fun and exciting…it can be a little unnerving, because of the live ammo. We have split the academy class into two separate groups, which is also strange. We have trained as a whole group for the last 8 weeks and now we are split up. It’s good because we get more one-on-one instructor training, but still a little different to have only part of the class together. My group was first up on the range this week and we as a group did well. The instructors were impressed with how we started out and we will only get better. I guess all the practice I have had with the Army has some benefits…but it also has its negatives. I have some bad habits when it comes to technique, so I not only have to concentrate on what I am shooting at…but I have to re-train my brain to Jefferson County Sheriff Dept standards. But I still love it and weapons’ training has always been my favorite part of training.

We also started getting more into the arrest control portion of our training. This is the hands-on training that teaches us how to protect ourselves. It too, can be fun, exciting and REALLY unnerving. I say this because…if we as peace officers…have gotten into a situation that requires “Hands-on” then usually something has gone wrong. The instructors are really good at making sure we get that “Muscle Memory” with each technique and that we are doing them properly. We don’t want to cause undue injuries to anyone; we just want to maintain control until the situation is under control. These techniques are relatively easy to learn and practicing on each other, makes them stick into memory.

At what point do we tap out??

The instructor shows a new technique

I think my classmate gets the new technique

So we had a great week of training…until the Blizzard of 2009. We were in arrest control training on Thursday morning when the snow hit. Due to the amount of snow that was falling per hour, the Jefferson County Sheriff Dept went on emergency alert. This means…we got a snow day. I haven’t had a snow day since…I can’t remember when. We had to cut the training day short and head home, but I wasn’t complaining and I don’t think any of my classmates were either. Like I have said in some of my other Blogs…we work very hard in this academy and when we are not in class working, we are at home preparing for the next day. So an unexpected snow day…was a pleasant surprise. I used my snow day accordingly…I caught up on some much needed rest. Thank you, Mother Nature.

It looks like the training schedule will include arrest control and firearms, from now until May when we get into driving. So the training has now started to shift from just classroom lectures, to a little of both. I can honestly say I would rather be outside in the snow…then be in the classroom all day.