A staff person’s random observations about Urban G0-Team’s Mini Police Academy [in no particular order]
– Watching students try on “drunk” goggles, I realized that, even sober, I could probably not pass the walk-the-line test or the one-leg balance test.
-I hope never to see any of these amazing students in real handcuffs. And I doubt that any of them would ever find themselves in that kind of situation. They are simply too good and too smart for that.
-Every police department should offer this kind of program on a regular basis: It makes you realize how complicated the police officer’s job actually is. [If only all police departments had the funding for this sort of activity…] Kudos to Creve Coeur for saying “yes” when we asked them to create a one-day police academy, and for putting Officer Grace Fico in charge.
-Who wouldn’t want to sit in the driver’s seat of a police cruiser and turn on the flashing lights?
-I’m not sure I’ve ever actually read the entire U.S. Constitution, and there is no way that, before today, I could tell you which amendments are the most relevant to police work [4th and 14th], even though I’m sure I’ve been told multiple times. The fact that most of the Go-Team participants knew something about these rules was very impressive!
-Highlight of the day: role playing. “Being” a cop is a lot harder than it looks.