My Life in Law Enforcement: A True Life Story #13 Graduation Day

Hey guys and welcome back to another installment of my personal stories about my law enforcement career. Today I will be finishing the rookie school section by leading up to graduation day.

It's been an exhausting, yet interesting several months of hard work. The POPAT test has come and gone, claiming two victims. We had two females that failed to pass the POPAT test. It was an awkward moment because the same day everyone knew that the two ladies wouldn't be graduating with us, we were also having our class picture made. The two females were naturally upset but they acted immaturely by pouting and not wanting to participate in the photo. For some reason they appeared to be angry at the class because they failed to get in shape for the course. Several other cadets were patting them on the head like children, trying to get them to join in on the photo. Me on the other hand, didn't feel a bit sorry for either of them and couldn't care less if they were in the photo or not. One of the females actually tried to trade sexual favors in return for passing the course, believe it or not. So I'm sorry, but I had zero respect for either one of them.

The final state exam tore my stomach all to pieces. I was confident with most of the material but there were a a few key blocks that I was worried about and they were also large portions of the exam. The "First Responder" block (first aid) was my biggest weakness. This block went deeper than just learning CPR and involved identifying and treating several types of injuries. This was not my favorite block by far and it showed on the exam. "Civil Process" was another hell block that was just a blur. Everyone should experience going to school on Friday evening, then go in to work right after class and work all night, and then go sit in a classroom for 8 hours trying to concentrate on learning civil process...Can you say BORING? How I stayed awake during that part of my life I will never know. Nevertheless, I passed the exam and a ton of pressure had been lifted from my shoulders.

Remember in one of the previous chapter where I mentioned that a cadet would have one year to become sworn in after he/she graduates the program and if not, they would lose the rookie school certification and have to go through it all over again? This was a huge amount of pressure as you could imagine because just think if you went through the program and couldn't get on anywhere and a year lapsed? That would have killed me! Luckily, I was hired before I even graduated the program. I was so excited that I got my foot in the door and my dream was starting to come true. I was hired by a sheriff's office part-time to work in the jail/detention center. Okay, so now I'm still working a full-time 3rd shift job, trying to finish up the BLET program and starting a new job in a jail...Talk about stress!

As I mentioned before, you don't have to be sworn to work in a jail, that's how they were able to hire me and work me some. Typically, the norm for the "average" officer coming out of rookie school that is hired by the sheriff's office is for the officer to work in the jail for around a year prior to assuming a patrol position. This will give the department an idea if the officer will be able to handle the streets or not. If he can't handle working in a jail, then he won't make it on the road and the department will save a lot of time and money in training by cutting the officer loose while in the jail or by simply leaving him or her in the jail to work. I was nervous as hell about working in the jail to be honest. I had already seen what it was like and I knew that I wasn't going to like it. But, I also knew that it was pretty much a have to do thing if I wanted to reach my ultimate goal which was to become a patrol officer. I was told by my recruiter to just do my time so to speak and it will all work out. I was still stoked that I had already been hired and that pressure has now been alleviated. After I passed the state exam, my department was able to swear me in as a sworn law enforcement officer. This also meant that I got to wear a different badge on graduation day :) A detention officer badge is different from a sworn officer's badge, at least it is at this department. This also meant that I could wear my gun on graduation day where if I wasn't sworn, I wouldn't have been able to. That might seem petty but to me it meant the world. I was proud that I had already achieved so much prior to even graduating.

The actual day of graduation! I was so excited and couldn't wait to get my certificate and award! I have a small family but they were there to support me and that meant a lot. I received my firearms award and I was on cloud 9, I really wanted that award lol! After the awards and certifications were given out, the director and a few instructors spoke a few words of wisdom. One particular officer spoke that I will never forget. He was a good man and unfortunately ended up dying from cancer a few years later. After everyone was finished with their speeches, the class recited the "Code of Ethics" one last time before being dismissed.

POLICE OFFICER CODE OF ETHICS

As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.

I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all and will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to me or to my agency. I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed both in my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the law and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.

I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, political beliefs, aspirations, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.

I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of police service. I will never engage in acts of corruption or bribery, nor will I condone such acts by other police officers. I will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.

I know that I alone am responsible for my own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve my level of knowledge and competence.

I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession… law enforcement.

I hope you have enjoyed these stories about my experiences during rookie school. In the upcoming chapters, I will be writing about my experiences while working in the jail and so forth as my career progresses. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I will also post links to the previous articles at the bottom of this page, starting from day one if anyone would like to read those as well.
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