DUI Patrol Shift

I had my first patrol shift the other night. It was an 8 hour shift and our mandate for the night was to arrest DUI drivers.

My partner asked me what I was comfortable with doing and I told her I wanted to do as much as she was comfortable with me doing. I really wanted to jump in and learn as much as possible. So I ended up running the radio and doing 90% of the paperwork.

I did not really have a problem with the radio and the area we were patrolling I grew up in, so I pretty much knew where I was the whole night. The paperwork was about what I expected, there was quite a bit to remember and there are so many unwritten rules that I am going to have to create cheat sheets to keep it all straight in the future.

So here is what I took from my experience the other night. I don't know shit. People have told me that your academy training is necessary, but your training does not really begin until you are out on the street. This became very clear to me as I was struggling to keep up with my partner during the night. She kept a fast and furious pace that kept my head spinning.

Now, I have been on many ride-a-longs as a civilian where some pretty crazy shit happened, but with the uniform on I have responsibilities and I was at high alert for over eight hours. To say that I was exhausted after eight hours of patrol would be an understatement.

In the academy they teach you how to properly exit a vehicle and do everything you need to do to keep you and your partner safe. It goes something like this for the passenger seat. Take off your seatbelt, turn on the spotlight and point it at one of the mirrors of the vehicle in front of you...etc. Now twice I went to get out of the vehicle and was jerked back because I still had my seatbelt on. I don't think my partner noticed, but I felt like a moron both times. I quickly realized that when you are sitting in a seat with a vest on you can't feel the seatbelt. So you don't realize you still have your seatbelt on. It is the little things.

We nabbed two drunk drivers, wrote 4 citations, did 6 traffic stops and one pedestrian stop. It was a full night when you consider that each DUI arrest lasted 3+ hours to write all the paper, tow the cars and conduct the investigation.

The good news is that I learned quite a bit and did not make any big mistakes. I pretty much just followed my partners lead and stayed hyper aware.

This weekend I have my first patrol shift where I will be working an area and responding to calls of service, domestic violence, loud music, fights...etc. So any comfort level I procured doing traffic stops will not apply. To say that I am looking forward to it would be the understatement of the year. It will be a long week.

Don't reach for an officer's weapon.

Ok, so I am at a concert last week and some drunken moron walks up to me and starts talking to me about how his cousin's brother's former roommate is a cop and at some point of the conversation he decides it is a good idea to touch my expandable baton. I am not sure why he did this, but let me enlighten you on my thought process and very discreet actions. He never noticed being alcohol soaked.

Step 1:
Man reaches forward towards my baton...my hand goes on my 40 caliber sidearm and I think, "Is he really reaching towards my baton?"

Step 2:
Man touches baton...my thumb on my weapon hand opens up my holster and unlatches it as my left hand holds on to my baton and I think, "Ok, don't panic, he is just drunk and a jackass."

At this point I am also thinking about step 3 where he closes his hand on my baton and starts to pull. My weapon would have come out of my holster and he would have been pistol pointed.

I don't know this guy from Adam. So I don't know what his intentions are and I still don't. I was too shocked that he even did that to ask him what the hell he was thinking. I am just telling you what was going on in my head when he did that.

What have we learned from this folks? Don't touch an officer's weapons...ever! I am not sure if it would be more or less dangerous if the officer in question wasn't a rookie and a bit jumpy from all the horror stories he had just heard in the academy. If you do, chances are I am thinking of ways I may have to kill you if you somehow are able to get out my baton and start swinging.

In general, while I am on duty and in uniform I do not like to be touched by people I don't know. If I am working and you walk up behind me and grab me by the shoulder to get my attention, don't be suprised if I do not look happy to see you. You probably just sent a little adrenalin shot through me and took a year off my life.

Rookies are jumpy. =)

Newbie

So I have been working now as a sworn peace officer for a few weeks now and I am just starting to feel like a police officer. The first couple of shifts I had I kind of felt like an imposter or just someone along for the ride. It has nothing to do with the people I work with or my training officer, it is just how I felt being in uniform.

Most of my shifts so far have been special events and airport duty with a patrol shift thrown in there. I think the airport has been my best learning experience so far as the training only lasted 2 days and then I was let loose to wreak havoc. There is really to that much to do at the airport and it is not very complicated.

So my first shift where I really dealt with the public was a concert. Myself and a more experienced officer walked around the concert for 8 hours responding to calls of service (if we could hear the radio) and monitored the alcoholics.

Being that this was my first experience walking around a public area with my uniform and bat belt, it turned out to be a very surreal day. I don't think my hands ever left the vicinity on my weapon for fear of some drunken a-hole grabbing my weapon. In the academy the TAC staff or drill instructors are constantly trying to take your weapons off of your duty belt and if they succeed you pay dearly. So the thought kept popping into my head all day even though logically I knew that it would not happen.

The other thing I am just getting used to is people coming up to me and asking me questions like I have all the answers. Now, at the airport after only working 3 shifts there I pretty much know where everything is, but at the concert I had no friggin' clue where anything was. The good news was that my partner had no more of a clue than I did.

I haven't really done anything super exciting yet, but that is probably a good thing while I am just getting used to being in uniform. I have yelled at a few people and threatened citations, which I cannot write until I get the training, but they don't know that.

I do have to say that everyone I have met at the department has been really cool and patient with my stupid questions. I learn quick, so I am sure that helps.

I will post more as more exciting things happen. I am sure it is just a matter of time as I have some patrol shifts coming up.

Sworn In

I was sworn in last week and I had my first shift on Friday. I am buried in training and paperwork, so I am not going to write anything lengthy at the moment. I will post a full report of my first shift when I have a free moment.

OMGWTFBBQ POLYGRAPH!

I read the law enforcement message boards periodically and one of the common questions I see is about the ever dreaded polygraph. There seems to be quite a bit of fear surrounding this magical device. Now, I am no expert on the polygraph, but I have been through it three times now and have passed each one.

In my opinion, there are two types of people that are concerned about the polygraph. The first type is the person who has something to hide and wants to know how to beat it. This type is boned and shouldn't be in law enforcement to begin with. I will be addressing this post to the second type, the normal applicant who has nothing to hide, but is concerned that the polygraph will call them out as a liar even though they are telling the truth. The first time I did a polygraph, I couldn't help but think the same thing.

The first step in the polygraph is a huge questionnaire. There are questions regarding your drug past, criminal past, gang affiliations and much more. If I recall, this took me about 20-30 minutes to fill this sucker out.

As you are filling out this monster quiz, the most important thing is to detail everyting ad nauseum. They will tell you to write next to questions you answered yes to and detail the events. I also like to write down the questions numbers which were unclear, so I can ask the investigator about it afterwards. Let me give you an example from my list. The question was something like, "Have you ever stolen anything?" I put down that I stole $10 from my mother when I was younger, I also stole candy once from 7-11 when I was really young.

Now, you might be thinking, do they really care that you stole something when you were 8 years old? Don't they just want to know about your adult life? Put down EVERTHING. If you think of anything, put it down on that paper. This is very important. You will see why later.

Ok, now you have completed this questionnaire. You may have even revealed some embarassing facts about your person sex life. Have you ever had sex in a public pool? I have, and I had to put it on my polygraph questionnaire. Yeesh. That is a difficult thing to explain to a complete stranger, but they know you are human and expect that you have done some stupid things in your youth.

At this point the polygraph investigator, who is more than likely an ex-police detective, is going to read through your list and ask you specific questions about each incident, just to make sure he has everything straight. This is your opportunity to ask about any of the questions that were unclear to you. Make sure you do this and get everything off your chest.

Now he is going to hook you up to the polygraph computer. Each one is different, but usually there is a thing that goes on your finger, a strap that goes around your chest, a blood pressure monitor on your arm and a pressure sensitive seat...so hold in that fart, because he will know if you don't. You think I am kidding, try it. =)

He is going to ask you about 10 questions while actually hooked up to the polygraph torture device and he will ask the series twice. I forget exactly how it was worded, but it was something like, "Did you lie about anything in your drug past?" You will answer, no. The answer to all the questions is no.

Here is the key to the polygraph. After he asks you each question, he will wait approximately 30 seconds before he asks you another one. You have to remain completely still and stare at the wall. You can not sniff, fart, move or jostle. If you do, he has to start over. This gives you time to think about your answer. If you suddenly remember that you did have sexual relations with a sheep in college, you may show some kind of reaction to the polygraph. That is why it is so important for you to feel like you have told EVERYTHING to the investigator. So you can relax and just answer no to each question. You know you have told the truth ad nauseum and therefore so does the polygraph.

That is it folks. It is a very easy process. After I got my first one done I was amused at how worked up I got about it. It really is no big deal. If you are lying or hiding something, then you will fail. Reveal everything about the subjects they ask you, no matter how stupid, and you will pass. The department may then disqualify you for that sheep thing, but you will have passed the polygraph.

What do I need to do to prepare for the academy?

I have recently graduated from the police academy and a question I get quite a bit is, "What do I need to do to prepare for the academy?" Since I have no actual street experience, apart from the ride a longs I have been on, this is one of the few areas I can speak with some experience.

Now, all academies are different, but that being said, the academy I attended is one of the hardest out there...or so I have been told. I do not doubt that. So if you prepare with the following in mind, you will either be over prepared or just prepared enough.

I would say first and foremost you need to be in good physical shape. I do not know that all academies are as physically demanding as the one I attended, but better to be over prepared than struggling. You have enough to worry about during the academy without having to worry about being separated because you can't hack the PT. Give yourself at LEAST six months of preparation beforehand. Find out what style of PT your academy is focused on. My academy was very much into Crossfit type exercises and some running. There are other academies that are very heavy on the running.

I got a call from a friend of mine a few weeks back that was starting the academy and he asked me, "What learning domains should I study to get prepared for the academy?" Ignore the learning domains until you are in the academy. You will learn everything you need to know about the learning domains in the classroom and you will learn them correctly. For my academy I had to know The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics , Weapons and Handcuff Speeches, radio codes (200+ codes), exercise and stretching speeches, academy chain of command and the department chain of command all on day one. Believe me when I tell you, this is a hell of a lot of stuff to memorize. So just concentrate on that or whatever your Recruit Orientation Manual tells you to memorize.

Read the recruit orientation manual over and over again. Know it well. At one point the Tactical Sergeant asked one of the guys how many remedial instruction reports he could give us in one day. He answered, "Sir, as far as I know, as many as you want to, sir!" Funny, but incorrect. We did some cycles of discipline for that one.

Practice the academy protocols. You are going to look like a nutjob doing it, but it helps. If you can, get together with your classmates and practice this stuff ahead of time. Also get in touch with someone from a previous class and have them act the part of the Tac Staff and practice your marching, formations, etc.

Your goal is to know this stuff backwards and forwards and perform under high stress. The first time the Tac gets in your face, you will forget your own name. It happened to me, it happens to everyone. Just take a second, compose yourself and move on.

The first time I had to report to the Tac office I had to say two lines and the second one I couldn't get right to save my life. "Sir, Recruit FlyTrap request permission to pick up the academy clipboard and Class x's remedial instruction report folders, sir!" Now, I knew ahead of time exactly what I had to say and I practiced it over and over again in the classroom, but damned if I could do it in the office after the Tac staff rattled me a bit. The only advice I can offer is just stare straight forward and turn your brain off.

You will get used to the stress after a week or so and getting yelled at won't be a big deal. If you know your shit, the Tac staff will generally leave you alone. It is no fun for them if you know your memorization work. I guarantee you that after they yell at you for a bit and go back into their office, they laugh their asses off. Cops have a great sense of humor and some of the stuff that the Tac staff says is hilarious. DO NOT LAUGH! =)

Some of the worst moments are the funniest. I always used to think of that fact while I was getting hammered. That was the best part of the academy, after something horrible had just happened to you, going back to your fellow recruits and laughing your asses off about it.

The first week will suck eggs and every day it gets easier and easier. Do not quit, no matter what they tell you. They will tell you that you are the worst class they have ever had, that you should not be there and that you should quit now as you will never make it to the end. DO NOT QUIT.

While you are in the police academy, act accordingly even outside of the academy grounds. Do not go out drinking on Saturday night and get in to a bar fight. Drive according to the law. Do not pick up prostitutes while you are in the academy. That last one actually happened to one of my fellow recruits. Do not ever EVER lie to the Tac staff. They will find out and your career will be over. The academy is a grueling 5-6 month process. Don't waste all your hard work by doing something stupid.

Oh, and one more thing. For those of you that think I am exaggerating or think that you will worry about all this nonsense once you get into the academy, stand by. You will not be well liked by the staff and your fellow recruits, but that is ok. You won't be around for long, anyway.

My file has moved!

It has been a while since I have posted. I was hoping my next post would be that I was being sworn in, but alas I am still waiting.

I received a call from my background investigator about a month ago that my file had moved from the Sergeant's desk to the Lieutenant's desk. I am assuming now that the Lieutenant has caught his fingers in a chinese finger trap and has been working diligently this last month to remedy that dilemna. I like that scenario better than the probable truth, which is that my file is a low priority and they will get to it when they have time.

So for now, here is a picture that made me laugh today.