Blog - Recruit

You are about to complete or have recently graduated the academy. Congratulations. But, are you going to change your lifestyle now? I certainly hope not. While attending the academy, most officers follow a plan to fit their academics and physical training into their schedules. Your skills now are still green but sharp. Don't quit!

The other day a young officer emailed me with a problem. He had come upon some old college chums and they became "stand-offish" after they discovered he was a cop. The young lad told me that he had heard of this in the academy but could not believe it was happening to him.

There is not a cop alive who doesn't have a trunkful of good police war stories. In fact, I used to think the reason cops were invited to parties was for our great storytelling ability. But knowing when to use that ability is key.

Most all of us enter this vocation with the idea that we want to be a great detective, be a commander of the unit, or be some high-speed tactical operator. Sadly, some take the first job that they are offered and get into a rut and stay there.

Rarely in the hiring process or in the academy do your fears and phobias come to the surface. But out there in policeland, sooner or later something will manifest itself and provide you with a dose of reality.

There is an age old question that surfaces in this column of mine: How long will the FTO be my FTO? The first answer to this is that it depends on which phase of the training process you are in, but that is the incorrect answer. The real answer is, for life.

The FTO program is where you experience real-life application of academy training, and with this comes consequences. But there are some chances left for a "do over." Yes, in the FTO program you can get hurt, killed, sued, and all of the nasty things of a cop's life up to and including termination. Do not get faint of heart. Just know that this is still a learning program and you will make mistakes!

If you are getting ready to attend the academy, I want to share with you a philosophy that can help lead to academic success: Treat the academy as a full-time job. This premise may sound simple, nearly an overstatement of the obvious, but following this philosophy will give you focus throughout the academy.

Recently a reader contacted me about a personal dilemma. He told me his department issues a certain make and caliber of pistol and he doesn't like it. He further stated he did not like the holster, in addition to a laundry list of other items he was issued. What could he do now as his agency's newest rookie?

How would I deal with these unpleasant events? I'll tell you.

Back when I was in the U.S. Army MP Corps we were taught to set aside time for personal equipment maintenance. I highly recommend you do the same. Warriors need to prepare for their calling; policework is no different.