Academy Tips & Tricks

[That Guy]

After writing parking tickets for 6 months myself and the other "officers" along with 17 new hires are starting our academy on Monday the 18th.
I am asking any tips that you learned to do to help you along with your academy or any studies. Like better ways to memorize laws, staying awake....etc.
Any and all will be much appreciated.

[D. Ridley]

Study, study, study...oh yeah, coffee.

[JKT]

Pay attention in class, study hard. Coffee. As to remembering details in the laws, you might consider forming a "study group" where you can quiz each other. Coffee. you will undoubtedly have at least a few Instructors that are very, very dry (boring), or the material is dry. Those are the hardest (to stay awake in) to pay attention to. Coffee. Those are also the ones that usually wind up being important. A good Instructor can really make a difference in the subjects. Coffee.

Try to use your imagination in memorizing laws, to make them easier to remember.

Did I mention coffee? http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Best of luck, and keep us posted.



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Optimistic pessimist: Hope for the best, but expect the worst.

Jack

[terminater]

I agree with JKT about the "study group" it helped me in the acadmy. Index cards helped a lot,My wife helped, she would ask me questions off of the index cards and from the material from the academy. I spent most of my free time studing it did not matter where I was at I came up with a way to study. The hard work will pay off and before you know it the academy is over.

good luck
terminater

[Don]

Rules for The Academy.

1. Every person there that is not a classmate is

[D. Ridley]

Remember to that the Academy is just the foundation for your training. Take the information you learn and use it on the street. Keep in mind though that your experienced officers are the best source of information. As in any profession, there is the book way and the real way. After the academy, pick a senior officer - a 5% officer - to learn from. Remember, you will never stop learning. Dont stress to much when you make mistakes - YOU WILL MAKE THEM!! Just dont make big mistakes and learn from the small ones. Good luck and always watch your 6.

[That Guy]

Thanks for all the advice. I am not a regular coffee drinker but I am sure I will become one.

[Dukeboy01]

Dukeboy's rules for police academy survival:

1. Remain anonymous for as long as possible. Do not get caught up in competing with your classmates and trying to win awards at the end. There is no long-term advantage to it. If you can make it all the way through the academy and have your instructers look at each other and say "Who?" when your name is called during graduation, you will have succeeded.

2. All classes (at least at my department) end up with a "Golden Boy" that the instructers seem to think shows good leadership capabilities and try to make the unofficial class leader. Their decision making process as to what makes a Golden Boy is flawed. Around here, height seemed to be the most important consideration. You do not want to be the Golden Boy. Your classmates will despise you, the instructers will always be giving you extra crap to do as "leader," and all the Golden Boys around here have been spectacular failures when they hit the street. In addition, being Golden Boy will violate rule #1. If you suspect that you are about to be ordained as a Golden Boy, make a really stupid, obvious mistake fast. Be careful, however, not to violate rule #3. Also, if you are tall, wear low-heeled shoes.

3. All classes have an "Idiot Boy." You do not want to be the Idiot Boy either. Keep up with your studying, take good notes, and remember that there ARE stupid questions, especially ones asked around 1700 hours on Friday after an especially hard PT session. Being Idiot Boy also violates rule #1.

4. All classes have a Smarty Pants. Do not be the Smarty Pants. No one likes a know it all and it violates rule 1. You may have a law degree, but you don't know crap about how to apply it. When tests are graded, do not feel the need to argue some miniscule point with the instructors to the point that they throw the question out, reducing the average scores of the whole class. See rule
7. You may be able to take the hit from a 98% to a 95%. The Idiot Boy may need a 78%, not a 75% to continue in the academy.

5. Remember, the police department needs you. They are investing a substantial amount of time and money in your training. They cannot afford to fire you "just because" even though your instructors will threaten you with it. If you have trouble with a particular skill, such as shooting or driving, relax. They will work with you and worrying about it won't help. Do not get worried about demerits and any of that other character building disciplinary crap. The cold, hard truth is that when your class got hired, your city council approved 10 fewer officers than your chief requested. The department was already short handed and needs your warm body in a cruiser. You will have to be a Premium Idiot Boy, as opposed to a Regular Idiot Boy, not to make it.

6. Remember the old adage "Those who can't, teach." Despite all their posturing, your instructers are human. Some of them also probably really, really sucked at street police work and it's easier and cheaper to hand them a police skills text book and say, "Here. Teach this and try not to #$%& it up!" than it is to fire them. Some instructers will be very good. Learn to know the difference.

7. Teamwork is what it is all about. Support your classmates. Do not be the class Rat Boy. Respect the thin blue line of silence in the academy. If some of your classmates screw up, the instructer will probably punish all of you anyway. If the only way the instructer learns about the mistake is because you told, you will still be punished for not telling sooner. Make the instructers work for it before they give you pushups. You owe them nothing.

8. Do the right thing. Put your classmates first. Pull your own weight and a little more. Do not put them in a position where they will have to cover you. Be on time to inspection. Most importantly, do not cheat on exams. When you cheat off a classmate's test, you put his career in jeopardy for not telling on you.

9. Do not get so wrapped up in academy life that you neglect your loved ones. This job is absolutly not worth sacrificing your spouse and kids. They MUST come before all of the B.S. at work. If they can't handle it, you should not force them too. Find another career.

10. Always remember that the academy will end. When it does, you will be assigned to a FTO and will have to quickly unlearn 98% of the crap they taught you in the academy. That's right, most of your time spent in the academy is wasted time when it comes to practical street policing. You can't do anything about it, so shut up and blend into the wallpaper. It WILL be over someday.

[cajuncop]

If you do carry a weapon while in the academy, remember this while having an inspection:

AN EMPTY WEAPON IS A USELESS WEAPON.

Good luck.

[KenM]

DukeBoy,

You are my hero!

http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif



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"Trust me. I'm from the government, I'm here to help."

[fanter]

Most Important,

DON'T LOSE YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR!!!

PS - For Dukeyboy: "WORD!"

[That Guy]

Well so far so good. We are wrapping up the admin stuff and will be hitting the range and Defensive Tactics next week. All of my classmates seem to be pretty good people. A lot of experince from the laterals.

[BrickCop]

Please try to remember that we all went to the academy too. I had one new Officer who constantly bragged about how tough his P/T instructors were (as if no other class ever did P/T). I assigned him to a foot beat since I figured he'd think driving a marked unit was not manly enough for him....just kidding http://www.officer.com/ubb/wink.gif

[vbrenner]

All this academy talk reminds me of the fun we had 12 years ago. One day, about seven weeks into the academy, our class T.O. shut the door, and told us three things. "My name is Jim, not Officer. Quit standing up every time I walk into the room - I think the academy director is coming in behind me. And get rid of those ties - they look stupid."

Our class was perceived as undisciplined and a bunch of goofs, but we had the highest academic and practical performance of the three classes there.

Just remember, when some instructor starts telling you where to go and how to get there, just nod and grin like an idiot and say "Yes, Sir!" It's only for a few months.

And if you screw up something out in the street, just say "but that's how they taught us to do it in the academy."

And don't tell anyone where you got this advice.

[vbrenner]

I forgot to mention, this is in Northern California - that would never fly anywhere else. And no, we don't wear spit-shined sandals.

I'm going to pass on all the advice on this thread to my brother. He starts the academy in two weeks, also.

[RaychelR]

LOL Don! Those are great!

[Guard Dog]

TO Dukeboy.......well said!!!!

To Thatboy,
I'd add one thing. Don't compromise good judgement by to covering someone else's ***.
The honor code may get you both booted out.

Never forget the rule to CYA, and always "Admit nothing, deny everything, and demand proof!!!" http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Good luck!

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"What we have here is failure to communicate" ..Strother Martin (Captain ,Cool Hand Luke 1967)