Some of my regular readers have been asking me to address a few of the most enduring myths about police work. Tell us the “real story” they say. While I am no authority on every cop everywhere in every circumstance, I have seen the real side to many of the mystical beliefs out there and can share my own experience with you. Please understand there are more than 600,000 cops in the United States and I only know a handful. But that handful is from north and south, both coasts and everywhere in between. So here we go . . . the myths and the truth.
Police work is glamorous. Yeah? Ever had a drunk hurl in your lap? How about down your defroster ducts? Ever been beaten to a pulp by the very woman you thought you were defending. suddenly deciding she loves her abusive husband after all as you try to arrest him?
Want more glamour? Handle human tissue and internal organs tossed all over the roadway in a crash. Or perhaps you’ll find glamour when you are called to investigate a densely foul odor coming from an old, unvented apartment, where a quiet, older citizen has lived for many years but no one has seen around for a few weeks. Yeah, baby! Hollywood has nothin’ on this
Cops get free stuff. Well, if this one’s true somebody’s gettin’ mine! Other than the occasional cup of coffee or soda which, as I have written of before, is more a traditional gesture of respect than a payoff, I’ve always had to pay for my stuff. I am willing to learn, however, if someone is out there giving stuff away! Email me!
Cops just hang with other cops. While this one can be true in some places, it’s not so much the rule. This is due in part, I think, to the small communities and close knit neighborhoods. People here in Wyoming people don’t care so much WHAT you do, only that you DO work hard if you can. My friends include mechanics, firefighters, writers, schoolteachers, energy workers and miners and yes -- a few really demented cops.
A badge is a free pass for traffic tickets. Well, this one depends a little bit on what the meaning of is, is. If the meaning of is is “guarantees,” then this is wrong. The world is full of cops who’ve been hammered by one of their own. If the meaning of is is “can be,” then this is correct. While many cops do tend to let the minor stuff slide if they see “tin,” just as many get red hot at a badge being shoved in their face as though it represents automatic immunity. In fact, this move has resulted in cops citing other cops when the original intent was only a warning. Personally, I’m afraid I’d be too embarrassed I screwed up, to identify myself this way.
Police work is the most dangerous job on earth. Absolutely not. When it comes to occupational danger the stats say police work is way, way down the list. Know what’s first? Underground mining. These people -- and many in Wyoming who do this for a living -- must be absolutely fearless and have incredible calm. Convenience store clerks also face danger in today’s world, as do bank tellers and schoolteachers. Now, when you talk about the #1 chance of meeting a violent death -- well then, yes cops do lead the pack in that dubious distinction. What a bummer. I’m gonna try to beat that one.
These are just a few, but let’s face it -- the myth is always more fun. Now about that free stuff. Hello? Anybody?
One of the most common questions I get, is about the testing process and steps involved in being hired as a peace officer. Indeed it is tedious, difficult and lengthy. It should be.
The first step is the written test. Usually two hours in length, it is a general knowledge test, with portions covering math, language and logic. Believe it or not – this is the easy part.
Once you have passed the written test with a fixed minimum score, you advance to the oral interview. This is probably the most intimidating portion of testing to most applicants -- a face-to-face, up close chat with up to five cops. Before you are done, you will be convinced; they did not believe anything you said.
Usually these teams are comprised of stiff faced, seasoned, veteran officers and a supervisor. The questions are designed to test your skill at communication under pressure. Not so much what you say, but how smoothly and confident it comes out.
Questions involving law enforcement scenarios are asked, not to test your knowledge of police tactics, but your common sense and maturity. Questions regarding use of force -- including deadly force -- are used to judge not whether you know when or how to use force, but whether you would be sensible in applying it. While indeed nerve-wracking, this 30 to 45 minute interview really helps in selecting those applicants truly cut out for this work.
If successful in the interview, the next step is usually a medical exam, including a urine screen for drugs, blood tests and sometimes an x-ray of the spine or lungs. Once the Doc says you’re healthy, many agencies require a physical agility test, to measure your fitness to perform the usual tasks of a street cop. Distance running, sprinting, strength, agility and speed are tested, along with specific tasks of perhaps changing a tire, dragging an injured person from a building and even the ability to reach all controls of a patrol car can all be tested.
Okay. So far so good. We will assume you are still in the running!
Next, is the psychological testing portion -- both written testing and an interview with a police psychiatrist. For obvious reasons, this testing is crucial. It is NOT to determine if you’re nuts, but rather if your personality is suited to police work. Some of the questions -- about 1,500 of them on the written portion -- are bizarre and humorous, but apparently reveal things about you. Just answer them without laughing. They don’t like it when you laugh. As far as the interview -- you are on your own. I haven’t got a clue what they’re after. Just don’t laugh.
Finally, after a possible polygraph examination, your background is scrutinized intensely to include interviews with your neighbors, past employers, co-workers, parents, siblings and even school teachers. College transcripts are verified; multiple credit histories and visits with property owners also take place.
Then, if you scored high enough, you find yourself in the police academy taking a lot more tests. Up to six months later -- if all goes well -- you are given a badge and sworn in.
You have earned the trust of a community, and feel a humble pride. Cherish it.
A career in law enforcement when the dreaming, studying and testing are successful, usually starts in the police academy. This is a highly anticipated step in the young cop's life -- their long awaited and coveted training. This training received in the classroom is, like in many other professions, just enough to get started and then really learn how much you don’t know!
Further post-academy training of several weeks or months riding with an experienced Field Training Officer is just as critical as the theories and principles discussed in the unhurried and air conditioned comfort of the lecture hall. The academy really is -- kindergarten for cops. Without it, advancing to “first grade” would be out of the question.
Basic training is usually from three to six months long -- a mixture of classroom, physical training and practical exercises. All basic training classes will go into everything from professional orientation, to constitutional law. Criminal law, traffic law and civil law will also be covered. Rules of evidence, powers of arrest, and the laws governing searches and seizures and the regulations covering game and fish are explained and discussed.
Some topics receive more intense coverage as you might imagine. Some of these are the use and upkeep of firearms, techniques of surviving and winning armed combat, custody control, hand-to-hand pain compliance techniques and the rules governing use of force. All peace officers must pass this portion with very high marks to become certified. A perfect score -- 100% -- is mandatory, on the test for use of force.
More recent training includes pursuit driving liability, just as instruction on blood born pathogens and ways to avoid contracting them when we must handle and help bloody victims, suspects or bodies -- any one of which could easily have hepatitis, HIV or AIDS.
All cops become certified as Medical First Responders as part of this training. Some become approved for trucking inspections for driver health and fatigue, logs and documentation, as well as classes in livestock law. Of course, the use of RADAR adds to the academy experience -- with almost another full week of learning to use this tool of enforcement.
It is true that in generations past, old salty training officers used to tell recruits immediately after shaking hands on their very first day of patrol, "First thing I want you to do, is forget everything they taught you at the academy." Thankfully, today's training officers understand that without this solid foundation of knowledge -- provided by the exceptional instructors and guest lecturers at all police academies, the level of safety we now provide for our nation would be impossible.
On to second grade -- the Field Training Officer.
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