Police Academy: Week 11
We're half way through with academy. The days here drag by, but I'm always surprised when the weekend comes. If the second half goes by as fast as the first half has, I'll be out on the road in no time.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we learned about Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST). We learned what to look for to tell if someone is drunk, how they'll drive, and we then certified on administering the different SFST. The three tests that we'll be giving on the side of the road include horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk and turn, and one-leg stand. Horizontal gaze nystagmus works every time with everyone who has been drinking. Nystagmus is an involuntary jerking of the eyes when looking to the side. If a person has been drinking and you have them follow your finger to one side and the other you can see the eyes jerk
back and forth at the sides. We had to take a written test at the end of the course and then administer thethree SFST. I made a 100 on my written test and the instructor said that my administration of the three tests was the best by far.
Thursday and Friday were spent on the range again. We were scheduled to shoot at night so that we could learn to use the weapon mounted light or a flashlight while shooting,
but they started tearing down the department's range on Monday so they can build a bigger and better one. That left us with a couple of choices. We could use a neighboring department's range, or we could use the indoor air conditioned range at the GLOCK factory during the day and just turn the lights off. Wisely, the range instructors chose to use the range at GLOCK. GLOCK is the manufacturer of the weapons t
hat we carry, and since there are over 600 officers in the department who each carry two GLOCKS, and since all of the weapons are made right here in Cobb County, they let us use their range. We started qualifying after a short classroom demonstration on the different methods of using flashlights while shooting. I scored a 100 on my first try and a 98 on my second. From then on out for the rest of Thursday and Friday I shot 100s.
Shooting on the range is always a lot of fun. I've never been a big fan of guns, but it's really fun to shoot them and do well at it. We're going to be shooting shotguns pretty soon, and after that we'll learn to use less than lethal guns. I'm really looking forward to the last half of academy.