Today was one of the best days I've had since I've been appointed. After sleeping for 9 hours before my shift, I felt very well rested. Just in case, I grabbed not only some orange juice, but a nice big can of Red Bull. I spoke to my girlfriend on the way down which was very relaxing, and showed up early as usual. However, I did something a little different after arriving. Instead of getting out into the humid air, I decided to run my vehicle's A/C for awhile to keep my skin cool. The reason being that mosquitoes don't tend to bite people who don't radiate heat as much. I personally give off more heat than most, so keeping myself nice and cool keeps me under the radar.
I grabbed my stuff, hopped in with my FTO, and away we went. We headed to a detail, where I decided to take the lead. I made sure I was on my P's and Q's, and everything went fairly smoothly. From there we went to the station for a bit of paperwork. I realized I needed a flashlight charger, so I, in accordance with agency policy, drafted my first memo. I made sure that it was perfect. I made sure I had all of my forms and that all my ducks were in a row. I finally felt like a member of the Department; walking around, getting stuff, accomplishing tasks without a lot of FTO involvement. It felt VERY nice. I also managed to down 2 cups of coffee to give myself some energy.
We did some area checks, and I did all of the radio transmitting. I did everything properly, and I really felt like I was progressing. A couple of hours later, we were on a checkpoint. I studied new material and went over traffic stops with my FTO. In this time I began to look at statutes and practice the fairly complicated way to call out a traffic stop. Here is how it is supposed to go:
1. Identify violating vehicle
2. Pull behind vehicle
3. Begin to call out traffic stop using Q codes/signals, location, description, and wait for dispatch to receive.
4. Dispatch acknowledges receipt, and allows you to send the license plate #
5. Send the license plate number, get out of the patrol car, and conduct the traffic stop, keeping in mind officer safety
6. Run the driver's license and driver for possible problems (wanted, DL expired, etc..)
7. Determine whether or not to cite, and if so, cite properly
8. If a citation was issued, pull a case number
9. Break contact with the violator in a professional manner
10. Go back in service.
It took a bit of getting used to, but I began to catch on. At around 4AM, I still felt good, but began feeling myself getting slightly tired, so I had my Red Bull to pep me up. A couple of swigs later, I was back in business.
My FTO filled out my first weekly evaluation, and my grades are good. He said I had a great attitude, was dressed professionally, I was confident (but sometimes overconfident), had good memorization skills and was learning quickly. The only bad thing I saw was that I was having "difficulty staying alert in the morning hours", which I saw coming because I've never worked a night schedule and last night was no picnic for me stayin awake. I never fell asleep, but he saw that getting out of the car every 10 minutes wasn't the best. I signed the bottom of my weekly evaluation, and felt really good.
Tonight I am riding with someone different as my FTO has a day off. I am very excited for another night in law enforcement!
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