Police Academy

[Endur]

It's been a journey. Finished my degree last March and have applied to multiple departments since then. Finally got through the process with one after almost nine months of weeding out phases. I start the academy on June 4th. For the LEO's on here, any advice?

[Averageman]

Don't sit next to Cadet Tackleberry?

Good Luck.

[Endur]

Don't sit next to Cadet Tackleberry?

Good Luck.

Haha. Thanks.

[ggammell]

Bust your ass.

Don’t be THAT guy.

Bust your ass.

[CoryCop25]

Congrats!
It takes a tough personality to begin a career in Law Enforcement these days.
I graduated the police academy 20 years ago this month. I had to go for 13 weeks. I think my state is 26 weeks now. I wish it was 26 weeks back then!

My advice is this....
Eat right and stay on top of your physical fitness requirements.

Flash cards helped me immensely for studying for tests.

Don't go out to bars with friends that are going to go "Hey my buddy here is in the police academy!". You have to hold yourself to a higher standard for the rest of your career starting RIGHT NOW!

NOTHING you learn in the academy is going to teach you how to deal with people on a daily basis. The academy will give you ideas but until you put the rubber to the road, you won't have it down. Don't worry, this will come with time and experience.

BE super alert and observant on the range. You will be with cadets that have never touched a firearm before! Watch your muzzle and everyone elses too! The first time we went hot on the range, the first time we drew our weapons, one handgun went rolling down range on the grass like a bocci ball!

Good luck, keep us updated on your progress!

[Endur]

Congrats!
It takes a tough personality to begin a career in Law Enforcement these days.
I graduated the police academy 20 years ago this month. I had to go for 13 weeks. I think my state is 26 weeks now. I wish it was 26 weeks back then!

My advice is this....
Eat right and stay on top of your physical fitness requirements.

Flash cards helped me immensely for studying for tests.

Don't go out to bars with friends that are going to go "Hey my buddy here is in the police academy!". You have to hold yourself to a higher standard for the rest of your career starting RIGHT NOW!

NOTHING you learn in the academy is going to teach you how to deal with people on a daily basis. The academy will give you ideas but until you put the rubber to the road, you won't have it down. Don't worry, this will come with time and experience.

BE super alert and observant on the range. You will be with cadets that have never touched a firearm before! Watch your muzzle and everyone elses too! The first time we went hot on the range, the first time we drew our weapons, one handgun went rolling down range on the grass like a bocci ball!

Good luck, keep us updated on your progress!

Thanks. The academy is 26 weeks, 6 months FTO, 2 more weeks back at the academy and then a year of probationary. I am probably in the best shape of my life now minus coming short of my fastest mile time (7 minutes at fastest and now at 8). Working on knocking that down now but that prior Infantry life put work on my knees haha. I've heard similar range stories. A lot of young people were in the process; makes me feel old at 29. A few other vets too so that will hopefully be beneficial.

[SeriousStudent]

Bless you for taking on a job that while often thankless, needs to be done.

And done well. I am sure you are that man.

[C-grunt]

Three things that get cops fired.

Money, booze, and women.

While you are in the Academy be a hermit. Don’t go to the bar. Don’t go clubbing. Do low key things and study your ass off. The two biggest things that got guys booted from my Academy were test failures and doing dumb shit out on the town.

[Endur]

Bless you for taking on a job that while often thankless, needs to be done.

And done well. I am sure you are that man.

Thank you. I sure hope so. I would be severely disappointed in myself if that weren't the case.

Three things that get cops fired.

Money, booze, and women.

While you are in the Academy be a hermit. Don’t go to the bar. Don’t go clubbing. Do low key things and study your ass off. The two biggest things that got guys booted from my Academy were test failures and doing dumb shit out on the town.

I was waiting for you to hop in haha. Good thing I don't bar hop or club. Though I might head bob like a tweaked out rooster once in a while to "What Is Love" haha. Emelio! And what about money now?

[SteyrAUG]

And what about money now?

You won't have any, get used to it.

As a supplier I'd offer this. If it's something that might save your life one day, (vest, firearm, shoes you can run in) and it's coming out of your pocket, buy the best you can that works the best for YOU. Things that are dept. issue you don't have much say in, but if you shoot Gun A much better than Gun B and both are approved, buy Gun A. Hopefully you'll never need it other than qualifications, hopefully you'll never need to test the structural integrity of your vest and hopefully you'll never need to speed test your feet because everything is going sideways fast...but if those things happen it's a lot more important than your choice of Peerless vs. S&W handcuffs.

Learn everything you can at the academy and from the experiences of other officers, but at the same time you are responsible for you, if something feels terribly wrong and everyone else is saying "it's not a problem and everything is under control" continue with your preparations for everything to go to shit without warning. You can always be wrong and buy the beers later, but NOTHING is worse than knowing you are right and letting a bunch of other guys talk you down from your posture and THEN everything goes to shit and you could have been in a position to shut it down as soon as it started.

You are responsible for you at the end of the day. Everything you say, do and even think. If the music suddenly stops, don't expect for anyone to save you a chair.

If you are lucky, you get to make some really bad people go away and if you are very, very lucky you get to help somebody who really needs it and they actually DO something with the opportunity you provided them.