The Police Academy: A Graduate's Impressions

For people who are looking for a profession that helps others and is kind of dangerous I recommend the Law Enforcement profession. Before becoming a Law Enforcement officer and getting the cool duty belt, the awesome car with free gas and the food half off you need to attend a place where all the best cops have went. What is this place you may ask? It is the Police Academy.

In the Police Academy you get to experience things that normal average everyday citizens do not get to do and experience. In the beginning when you enroll at a Police Academy other then going to the doctor and getting a physical along with other things you need to get tested you may be required to complete a BAT which is the Basic Abilities Test this test, test your language skills. You may also be required to complete a PAT test which is a Physical Abilities Test. This test is a test that tests your strengths for the Police Academy.

After completing the Pre-requirements for the Police academy you will find out if have been accepted to become a recruit at the Police academy. After being accepted to the Police academy you will go to an orientation. At the orientation for the police academy you will find out what is expected of you from the director of the academy and the teachers. You will also then go and try on and order uniforms for the Police academy.

Once you arrive at the Police academy for classes you will learn many different things. You will also have a Physical class. In the Physical class you will do such exercises as the Push up, the Sit up, Six inch killers where you lift your legs in the air six inches, you will also do a variety of stretches before you begin doing the sit up and push up. You will also run the Mile and a Half. While running the mile and a half the most of it is seeing if your time gets any better, the other part of running the mile and a half you will run as a team and sing cadent. This helps build your team work.

While attending regular classes at the Police Academy you will learn things that are critical to know while you are out on the road patrolling such as how to deal with Child abuse, how to conduct traffic stops both Unknown traffic stops such as stopping some one for speeding, You also learn how to do felony traffic stops which are the most dangerous of the two. Some more things you learn at the police academy are how to deal with gangs, the elderly, the mentally ill, and people with disabilities. Other things you learn at the Police academy are how to talk to people and how to write reports along with how to deal with weapons of mass destructions.

The hands on learning you will learn at the Police Academy are driving, first aide, shooting, and defensive tactics. In driving you will learn to drive fast and break fast, you will learn what to do if you start to skid out of control; also you will learn how to weave in and out of cones going different speeds with out hitting them and how to make a turn last minute with out wrecking or flipping your car.

At the Police Academy while you are in the fire arms portion you will learn to shoot paper targets, metal targets, you will also learn at the Police Academy how to run, jump over a wall with your duty belt on that has your gun holstered. Along with how to hide behind different objects and shoot.

In first aide at the Police Academy you will learn how to do the basic first aide such as CPR and first aide. This will help you while on patrol until the EMS get to the scene of the accident you are at.

At the Police Academy you also learn defensive tactics. In defensive tactics you go head to head with your class mates. Females go up against guys who are twice their size in defensive tactics size does not matter it is all about technique. At the Police Academy in defensive tactics you also learn how to hand cuff people in different positions along with what it feels like to be pepper sprayed. When being pepper sprayed you have to fight with what ever they put in front of you and you have to go wash the pepper spray off which hurts very bad. In the Police academy after getting pepper sprayed you get State Certified so when you go to your agency unless they require you get pepper sprayed again you don't have to.

After you graduate from the police academy you will be required to go to a testing site and take your state certificate exam. The prices of these tests vary. In the state of Florida the state exam cost One-Hundred dollars. The test is Two-hundred and fifty questions over all of the material that you have learned in the Police Academy.

If you are looking for a fulfilling career in Law Enforcement you should attend the Police Academy near you. The Police academy accepts both Males and Females they do not discriminate against any one. You must be able to complete all the requirements before you get to become a student at the police academy. The only advice I have for you is when you are at the Police Academy do not go out partying and drinking alcohol. Study a lot while attending the police academy the written exams is very difficult. Always remember when you become a Law Enforcement officer that drinking, lying and the opposite sex will get you in trouble faster than anything and it can also get you fired and make you loose the state certificate that took you so long to earn.