1 week down 4.75 months to go. This first week has been a lot of fun. The academy is very well structured they are very focused on getting us ready to take our exam when we graduate. Over this past fisrt week, we mostly did classroom work over report and field note taking. We began to get a little bit into the law with the US and Texas constitutions. Then on Friday, we finaly began the PT (physical Training) aspect of our stay. We took the Cooper Fitness Test which consisted of the following / my results are in (___):
1 minute push-ups (32)
1 minute situps (45)
1.5 mile run (15:11)
Vertical jump (?)
300 meter sprint (0:49)
Bench press (180 lbs)
Pull ups (4)
These score put me in the "fair" range. A LOT of room for inprovement. We will be doing a lot of PT during the academy however I do not foresee it being enough to provide me the results that I want for myself. So Beth and I have agreed to undergo the P90X home training program. Yes, it is one of those infomercial things but I have been doing homework on it for about a year now and it is no joke. It is a raw HARD workout that seems to truely work. It is also a 3 month progam that is going to kick my butt! I'm actually looking forward to it. Once we get it in the mail, and begin the program, I'm going to take a an imberrising commitment step and post my "before" picture on here.
As far as more hands on training goes, we began to learn Arrest Mechanics (which is academic speak for how to handcuff and control a suspect). I have gotten pretty good at it and have actually recieved a few compliments on my ability. To give you an idea, I have a video showing the tecnique. However, the video is to large and I'll have to figure out how to make it smaller to post.
-Chris
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Day one...
Today was my fisrt day of Police Academy. I am in a class with 50 other recuits. They told us that ours was one of the largest classes they had ever had there. We didn't really do a whole lot today. We took care of yet MORE paperwork in the morning. Then, due to the size of our class, they gave us a full hour and a half for lunch. I had enough time to go home to grab a bite to eat.
I the afternoon we tied off a few loose ends and took a tour of the facilities, watched a senior class do PT and practiced some marching. The marching is painfully elementry for anyone who has ever been involved in any military organization higher than high school ROTC. But I know there are those that have never been involved in anything like this before. So I just took it at face value and enjoyed a nice easy day. (i know they are about to be in very short supply)
Our instructor was assigning class positions to various people when she asked us if anyone had ever served on a colorguard before. Me and one other guy out of the fifty raised our hands. She looked right at me and informed me that: "Good. Mr. Sanders, you are now incharge of the colorguard." = Uummmmmm...Okay. As far as class positions go, I think this is going to be a pretty good one for me. It a pretty cush job sence I already have a good idea of what I'm doing and it is a high visability leadership roll that will look good to my training Sgt. back at Plano! =)
We begin the "real" work in the morning with some classroom instruction and then some PT in the afternoon.
-Chris
I the afternoon we tied off a few loose ends and took a tour of the facilities, watched a senior class do PT and practiced some marching. The marching is painfully elementry for anyone who has ever been involved in any military organization higher than high school ROTC. But I know there are those that have never been involved in anything like this before. So I just took it at face value and enjoyed a nice easy day. (i know they are about to be in very short supply)
Our instructor was assigning class positions to various people when she asked us if anyone had ever served on a colorguard before. Me and one other guy out of the fifty raised our hands. She looked right at me and informed me that: "Good. Mr. Sanders, you are now incharge of the colorguard." = Uummmmmm...Okay. As far as class positions go, I think this is going to be a pretty good one for me. It a pretty cush job sence I already have a good idea of what I'm doing and it is a high visability leadership roll that will look good to my training Sgt. back at Plano! =)
We begin the "real" work in the morning with some classroom instruction and then some PT in the afternoon.
-Chris
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Let the good times roll !!
Well, I finally broke down and started a blog. This is one of those things that I thought I would never do. However it seemed like the perfect way to be as self absorbed as possible and still stay in touch with all of you. My intended point behind this page is to let all of you know about what my training is like as I set out to become a police officer for the city of Plano, TX. Being that this is my first attempt at anything like this, I more than welcome any feedback you might have to make this page better. I can't promise anything, but it is my intent to update this at least once a week. If you would just like to drop me a line to say hi, I'd like that very much as well. My e-mail is: ctsanders35@yahoo.com
After a two month application process that included background checks, panel interviews, polygraph exams, written exams, physical fitness tests, etc...I finaly got the job and began work this past Monday (28 Jan 2008) with the city of Plano Police Department.
This first week was very exciting. I'm sure most of the "excitement" came from me being in the toss of a new career outside of anything I've ever done before, because I didn't really do that much. But I'm jazzed none the less, and I'll share with you some of the highlights.
Monday morning at 0800, I reported for duty to the Plano Municipal Building where we met with the HR dapartment to have our ID's made and turn in all of our city employment paperwork. Here is a photo of the Municipal Building that I took as soon as I arrived:
That took about half the morning. In the second half of the morning is where the fun began. Me and the other three recruits went over to the Police Department's HQ building, to the supply shop. There I was issued all of my equipment, uniforms, gear, books, radios, etc... that I will need through training and while on patrol. Coolest of all, I was even issued my actual badge and duty weapon! I will be carrying a Glock 22, .40 cal. Unfortunatly, after lunch, we went to the Training Center and had to turn in our badge and gun. Oh well. =) The chief likes to make it a ceremony in presenting use with our badges when we graduate from the academy. I think it is a great idea. Yes, those are the REAL goods! This photo was taken in my car while at lunch! =)
That took about half the morning. In the second half of the morning is where the fun began. Me and the other three recruits went over to the Police Department's HQ building, to the supply shop. There I was issued all of my equipment, uniforms, gear, books, radios, etc... that I will need through training and while on patrol. Coolest of all, I was even issued my actual badge and duty weapon! I will be carrying a Glock 22, .40 cal. Unfortunatly, after lunch, we went to the Training Center and had to turn in our badge and gun. Oh well. =) The chief likes to make it a ceremony in presenting use with our badges when we graduate from the academy. I think it is a great idea. Yes, those are the REAL goods! This photo was taken in my car while at lunch! =) This first week was spent there at the training center (above photo) mostly in classromm instruction. We learned about police ethics and conduct, fitness and nutrition, how to prepare for the mental stresses and preasures, as well as a few rules and regulations that govern our line of work. All together not a very "high speed" week but I loved it. It feels so good to be back in touch with something bigger than profits and a bottom line, something bigger than myself. I feel like I'm going back to my roots and I can breathe again!
Here it is Sunday afternoon and I now have everthing ready to begin the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Police Academy (that's a mouth full) tomorrow morning. The academy is in Arlington, literally right across the street from Six Flags. I'll be there untill the end of June training to pass the State's peace officer exam. If you're interested in seeing what we are doing on a daily/hourly basis, here is a link to our classes schedule on the academy's website:
I think that will be enough for my first post ever. I need to pace myself, right? Feel free to write and enjoy the pictures!
-Chris
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