As some of you may have known I started a thread saying that I'm entering the academy this February. Well, Monday was my first day and I survived the first week. The first day we've gone over firearms from the book. Next Monday we'll be at the range. The second and third day was intro to law enforment and today was intro to legal. The first two inscructors were pretty laid back. My current one however doesn't mess around but that's good. It keeps me in line.
Have fun! I was yanked from the police academy because my unit was called to deploy. I enjoyed the OC spray very much...
If I understand your question correctly yes I do. My academy requires me to have three books. One is the Florida Basic Recruit Training Program general book which covers stuff like legal and interview, the other is high liabilty which is the fun stuff like firearms and driving, and the other is the Florida statute book. I bought the general book early but the high liability wasnt in stock until after the academy started which wasn't a big deal. I still have to buy the statute book for my legal stuff.
A quick update from my second week. Monday was firearms and this time we got to shoot. It's been awhile since I've shot but I was pretty decent. Of course I want to improve. The rest of the week was legal and PT. in legal we learned about reasonable suspicion vs probable cause. Here in Florida you can only arrest or detain someone with probable cause. We also learned about warrents and searches, classes of offences, and a lot more.
Good work. It might be an idea to read what you can before instruction. It could be worthwhile making notes of stuff that you might not grasp by yourself and prepare some questions for your instructor(s). Showing understanding and interest and engaging with the topic is a good way of learning and also getting noticed in class. And have no doubt about it, showing interest in a session (even the sometimes tedious legal stuff) is a good move.
Congratulations! Work hard, smart, & keep your humanity. ..not an easy thing to do, when dealing with the darker side of human behavior..
Thanks for the advice but I've already studied throughout the week. I get a three day weekend and study then too.
They were REALLY stingy in the driving portion when I was in the academy. Hand placement on the steering wheel was actually graded. However, it is fun.
After watching a few videos on other academies I think I have it easy. The Miami academy looks like boot camp. Anyway I finished my third week. We shot from cover at 25,15, and 5 yards and also shot from the hip. In order to qualify you have to get 39 hits or more. I got 34. The rest of the week was finishing up legal. We have a test on Tuesday.
Yea the academy I was in was much like basic training. It was modeled after some really intense academy up north. Unlike Basic though, I was able to go home at night.
Mine is more like regular college only with less flexibility. BTW, I passed legal with 87%. And they scaled it up to 95%. I heard legal was the toughest class so everything from this point should be relatively down hill. Tomorrow we are starting communicating in diverse groups. And I also qualified with a pistol yesterday. The entire class passed both except for one who was absent in legal.
I was pulled out of the academy after legal exams (we had 3 of them) My military unit was on rotation and we were put on orders. Never did go back to the academy after.
Good luck with your training and new career. We need as many honest policemen as we can get. Make it a priority to never lie to make a case. I find it disgusting when police officers submit false reports and then lie under oath in court to circumvent the bill of rights to make their case stick. Sadly, it is commonplace in law enforcement today which is one of the main reasons that many people have little or no respect for law enforcement and the police in general. I sincerely hope that you have a long, safe and successful career and that you will be a real asset to whatever community you have the privilege of serving...
Thanks. I must clarify that you can detain someone with reasonable suspicion when conducting an investigative stop. For example if I see you acting out as if you're casing a joint to rob and I have reasonable suspicion that you're armed I can frisk you for weapons. If I find weapons I now have probable cause that you were about to rob a place. Though the mere fact that you're carrying a weapon doesn't allow me to frisk you. It must be coupled with actions that can reasonably be interpreted as a crime was, is, or is about to be committed.