Graduation

Everybody in the academy passed the POST test, which was a huge relief as we all put lots of time into studying for it. Then we were supposed to run up Lookout Mountain, but the snow prohibited us from doing so. Instead, we ran almost 5 miles around Golden, which was fun, especially after finding out that we all passed the test. Graduation was awsome. We put on our uniforms and all of our equipment inlcuding our guns, which was the best part. Then we got our badges.....and got sworn in as Law Enforcement Officers for the State of Colorado. It was an awesome experience to finally see this fruit of all of our hard work and training.

I want to thank Sergeant Beaulieu, Deputy Joselyn, and Deputy Ackerman for instilling their passion for law enforcement into us. They were by our sides leading us and sometimes carrying us for 21 weeks. They shared experiences close to their hearts with us and gave us knowledge and skills as they shaped us into cops. I also want to thank my brothers and sisters in my academy class who sometimes teased me but mostly helped me throughout this experience.

This academy was a great experience for me. I really grew from a man into a cop. I was challenged physically and mentally. I received effective tools and skills that will help me throughout my career. I learned to fight, shoot, and drive like I have never before done in my life. I did countless push-ups and burpies. I learned elements of crimes, state laws, and how to write reports. I stood straighter and taller than I ever have before during uniform inspections.

I am now proud to stand even straighter and taller as I wear my badge while I serve and protect.

Crime Scene Investigation

Forget the TV shows, this was the real deal! This was the final part of the academy and helped us apply many things we learned throughout the academy. Lots of time and effort was put into this and it was really neat. We started off by learning everything about processing crime scenes. We learned how to secure crime scenes, take photographs, collect and package evidence, and process fingerprints among other things. Then we got into groups that each went to a made-up crime scene where we had to put all of this to use. We got to interview victims and witnesses during this time, write reports and other paperwork, and finally testify in a mock court in a real Jefferson County court room. It was as close to the real deal as we could get in the academy. It was awesome and very much appreciated. Sorry I did not get any pictures!

DUI Stops

The one thing that stuck out to me about DUI stops is that the roadside tests that law enforcement officers administer across this country are standardized. They are the same in every state and thus must me done correctly. It is so important that we get people who are driving drunk off of our roads for the safety of our society. The highlight of the DUI training was the "wet lab" in which many volunteers drank various amounts of alcohol and then we got to practice recognizing signs of alcohol use and administer the roadside tests to them. This allowed us to get real life experience so thanks to all of the volunteers who helped us!

Building Searches and RAID

A couple of weeks ago we learned how to search buildings, houses, and other structures. When criminals are hurting people or committing crimes, we must respond to stop them.

We began by learning about a technique called RAID. To preface, Jefferson County unfortunately has had several situations with active shooters in the recent past. In order to respond to these calls, specific training has been developed and implemented. This is part of the academy training we receive so we will have the necessary skills and abilities to combat these situations. Luckily, Deputy Joselyn is one of our academy directors and is currently on the Jefferson County Regional SWAT team. He and many of his comrades of SWAT shared their experience and knowledge with us over several days in an abandoned building that we were fortunate to use for training.

RAID is used when active shooters are known to be in buildings or other structures. We must stop these threats immediately to save lives. This technique consists of forming a group of four officers with a point officer, and left, right, and rear guards moving together. The officers in the RAID formation each have a specific task and also constantly protect one another as they search and clear rooms. Their guns are drawn as they search for bad guys. On the final day of this training we were able to carry guns with simunitions, which are basically bullets filled with paint. Some of the instructors were bad guys who had guns loaded with simunitions and we got to go through real potential scenarios. These included some situations in which we had to use lethal force with our simunitions. We also experienced getting shot with them and continuing in the gun fight.

The second part of this training was learning how to search buildings. Many times we will perform these in response to alarms and burglary calls and may be by ourselves or with just one other officer. These are done much slower because there is not an immediate threat.

Lots to be Grateful For

This seems like an appropriate topic since Thanksgiving is coming up next week. I am very thankful for the opportunity I have to be going through this academy right now. I had to wait almost two years, but it was well worth it. I am thankful for the wonderful men and women who are my instructors and my classmates. They have stood by my side for about 18 weeks now and have helped me, supported me, and yes, even laughed at me sometimes. I owe the success I have had in this academy and the success I will have in my career to them.

Veterans Day recently passed and I want to express my appreciation and respect to those who have fought, continue to fight, and will fight in the future for the the freedoms of our country. I want to thank the men and women who proudly put on the badge of law enforcement everyday and bravely walk the line of duty. I am grateful for those who have made the ultimate sacrafice for our society: those serving in the military, those working in law enforcement, and those doing other acts of goodness.

I want to thank my wife and daughter for standing by me as I embark on my journey as a cop. I am grateful that they love me and support me.

This academy has been a great experience for me. I encourage those of you who will be attending future Jeffco or other academies to take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity. It is an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that will help us serve our communities everyday. We can also build character and acquire attributes that will help us serve beyond our jobs as cops.

Traffic Stops

Almost everyone has been pulled over for speeding or other violations. This is frustrating but we must realize it is for the safety of our roads. Stopping vehicles for traffic violations is a big responsibility we will have as law enforcement officers. Through this procedure, we can also find evidence of crimes to help us get criminals off of the streets.

In the academy, we have spent several days learning the proper way to stop vehicles for traffic violations. As cops, our first focus is our safety. This includes parking our patrol cars and approaching the other vehicles in a cautious manner. There is really much more than I realized that goes into a stop. I have often heard that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous things we will do as cops. We have watched many videos in the academy that show how quickly things can go down hill during these stops. Many officers have gotten into full-on fights or even gotten shot after pulling over a vehicle. It is critical that we be at our very best each and every time we pull someone over.

We worked on what we will say when we make contact with drivers. In essence, we have worked on coming up with a "spiel" that identifies who we are, why we made the stop, and the action we take. We also must give drivers specific instuctions regarding safety for them and us, and what they must do for their violation. We got to get in real cop cars and go through everything from notifying dispatch of the stop to writing tickets while pulling over real cars driven by our instructors. We also got to go through scenarios, which have really occurred before. This forced us to think on our toes and use the skills that we have learned so far in the academy.

Here I am speaking with a driver who was speeding

Officer D from Westmintster did a good job setting up this safe stop

Officer B is going to keep the roads safe in Lone Tree

This is a high-risk stop in which two patrol cars are needed because the driver is under arrest

Deputy H keeps her gun pointed at the suspect during this high-risk stop

Officer O safely clears this car of any other occupants

Tasing Day

One important piece of equipment that cops carry is a taser. We recently had a class where we learned about how tasers work and how to use them. As part of the training, we got to be tased if we wanted to. The purpose of this is to know what it feels like because we may have to tase people in our careers. We will also be able to tell a court of law that we know the effects of a taser firsthand.

I think those of us who wanted to be tased were ready to get it over with at the beginning of the class. Instead, we go to learn about tasers and their effects for about eight hours first. During this time, we got to sit and think about getting tased and how it would feel. We also had plenty of time to decide whether or not we wanted to be tased.

I decided that the experience of being tased would be invaluable for me as a law enforcement officer and went through with it. Although it only lasted for 5 seconds, it seemed much much much longer. It is difficult to explain how it felt but I definitely know I never want to get tased again. It is not fun, but I would definitely recommend doing it at least once for training purposes if you become a law enforcement officer. Apparently my class thinks I had one of the best reactions but I will just say that physical and verbal responses from a taser are entirely involutary!

Recruit H is ready to deploy her taser to this resisting individual who is padded up for this part of the training

Recruits E and S use their tasers simultaneously to get compliance from these fake bad guys

The following pictures illustrate the intensity and effectiveness of a taser: