ALL LEO'S

[ZDL]

oh yeah. Final word of advice from a LEO.

Be a firefighter.

[C5CE]

Integrity and discretion. NEVER forget them.

Stay away, as much as possible, from the disguntled. They are the ones who talk about how bad things are, how the sups suk, the job sux.....they are easy to find!! Don't let them influence you.

Enjoy your new career!!!

[signal4l]

1. Abandon the concept that it is the best and brightest that get promoted.

2. Enjoy life as a patrolman. It is, in my opinion, the best job most municipal departments have to offer.

3. Dont get fat

4. Dont treat your wife like shit.

5. Try to leave work at work.

6. Have non cop friends

7. Train

8. Remember #1

9. Spend less money than you make

[George Mac]

big ears, small mouth.

[C-Fish]

Congrats, one of my employees just left our company to join the academy in NM.

He was hired by APD. Can't wait to visit him in uniform and have some BBQ...

[MichaelJ]

Congratulations! Well done!

Well, after 23 years in this business and making it to Lieutenant, I will keep it pretty simple:

• Keep your eyes and ears open.
• Only answer something if asked.
• There are only four responses: Yes, sir. No, sir. No excuse, sir. I will find out, sir.

You don't need to be first, but you definitely don't want to be last, either. I've seen plenty of the Top Students at the Academy fail Field Training. Just take it all one day at a time.

The academy is an artificial training environment. Not everything you will learn applies to real life. Most of us have to unlearn some of our academy training when we actually hit the street.

Again, good job! It's not easy getting hired in this litigious environment.

Good luck, and be safe!

you have 10 seconds to make a good first impression.

it takes a lifetime to build a rep and 2 seconds to loose it.

Be the Humblest of the Proud, and the Proudest of the Humble.

Learn the difference between: The Letter of the Law, and the Spirit of the Law

once you put the uniform on, normal rules of civility and social norms do not apply to you; a higher level comes with the badge.

Never do something that you wouldn't be proud to tell your children.

.....and Smile!!! you made the first hurdle. congrats.

1. Abandon the concept that it is the best and brightest that get promoted.

2. Enjoy life as a patrolman. It is, in my opinion, the best job most municipal departments have to offer.

3. Dont get fat

4. Dont treat your wife like shit.

5. Try to leave work at work.

6. Have non cop friends

7. Train

8. Remember #1

9. Spend less money than you make

+1. Also, Don't take ANYTHING personal. The academy is just a mental game to prepare you for things that you CANNOT imagine happening to you in the future but being prepared to handle them mentally. As stated above, don't stand out...if you finish first, you must always finish first or be labeled as "slacking off"...finish last and well...that is self explanatory. Be the middle of the pack and ALWAYS help your classmates with ANYTHING that you can because the best officers ALWAYS backup their partners...even if they don't like them personally off the clock.

Keep a low profile, do your homework, stay in shape, eat healthy (this will actually provide you with the much needed energy to get through the day because you don't want to nod off at any point during the day), get enough sleep at night (the game will be replayed on sports center, your buddies will be going out another night, etc.), don't quit...but if your heart isn't in it...just leave because someday you might be backing me up and I don't want anyone with half a heart in the job to back me up.

Good luck, stay safe and congrats!

p.s. - Remember ... start and end all sentences with sir/ma'am, don't "eyeball", speak when spoken to and study/practice in your personal time. Remember that EVERYTHING they do is for a reason and you will see it someday. Defensive tactics will save your life on the street, but report writing will save your ass on the stand/IA office/etc. BE HONEST!...you only get one chance at it.

[Tipy]

Officers lied when they shouldn't have. Stupid stuff, poked a hole in the seat of the new patrol car and went in and lied about it. Take a hit and tell the truth and keep your honesty.
Idiots scratch the patrol car and go and get typewriter whiteout and cover the scratch and dump it on the next shift.
Don't do those things and for gods sake don't act stupid. Harassing a dirtbag in handcuffs and then find out two months later that the suspect had a recorder on him that was found incident to the arrest, but not turned off. If the dumbass (cop) hadn't acted the fool, he wouldn't have to worry about someone recording or video taping.
Don't voice an opinion when you could have kept your mouth shut.
Sgts. and shift supervisors know who the bullshit artist are.
Tell the truth in court even if you have to take a hit for it.
Be nice to your records clerk, dispatchers, payroll employees, and parking officers and staff, but don't kiss ass.
Don't belittle the arrestee's, you may meet them later in your career.
Hell give the guys you transport to jail fifty cents so they can make a phone call when they get into jail. I had a guy standing in line at 7-11 start giving me shit about a six month old arrest I had made. Another guy I had arrested was standing in line behind me and stepped forward and told the shithead "leave him alone, he's a good officer". Treat people, suspects, victims, witnesses like you would want to be treated, but for god's sake be safe. Handcuff first and then search. Subscribe to law enforcement journals and read them. Stop drinking totally. Cops get DUI's. Don't screw around on your wife/girlfriend and then ask other ofcs. to cover for you.
Obey the dept rules. If you can't carry off duty when you are a probationary officer, don't do it. Keep your paperwork extra neat and get a good reputation for doing so. Learn how to do very good traffic accident reports, that will prepare you for being a det.. Become a computer nut.
DONT TALK ABOUT FAMILY AND PERSONEL STUFF IN FRONT OF SUSPECTS AND WITNESSES, they will rmemeber your wifes name and where you live.
Become a gun nut, but don't talk about it, dept staff will remember the "gun nut".

[Longhorn]

.357sigger, congrats on this.

I don't mean to hijack but as my name implies I'm trying to become a Texas DPS Trooper, and start my endeavour on 1/12 for the first part of my acceptance into the Academy.

So I'm sure you're appreciative of the words of wisdom offered by others within this thread but I am too.

Stay safe, and good luck in the future.

[iroc_dis]

Learn how to talk to people if you dont already possess that skill. Dont loose your mind out on the street because you are dealing with some drunk with a hyper-active mouth.

I've been LE for about a year and a half now and this is probably the biggest thing that I've come upon. If you can't talk to people before you start, you are going to need to learn to really really quick. You'll end up talking to all manner of people. Otherwise, have fun and good luck!

[ZDL]

You were asking for academy advice on the onset. That's all been covered. My be a FF comment was a quasi joke. The public's reaction to them stands in stark contrast to us so often it becomes funny. I had one the day before I wrote that so it was fresh in my mind.

Career advice: Be nice till it's time not to be nice.