Day 21 - "Three": 7/29-8/6/09

So I passed phase 2 and it's on to phase 3, which means tons of responsibility and a much looser leash. I have found myself to come into my own, and a majority of my paperwork has been submitted with few, if any flaws. We have responded to a couple of interesting calls, and I have been handling them with very little assistance from my FTO. My car is doing very well, although I almost blew it up a couple of days ago. I went after a speeder and ended up doing close to 130MPH to catch him, when all of a sudden he realizes he's been caught, and slams on his brakes. I end up threshold braking at the above speed, and after pulling into the grass all I can see is smoke and all I can smell is brakes. The driver is like, "Your car is on fire". All I said was, "It's not mine, now let me see your license, registration, and proof of insurance". I am constantly keeping my eye on my vehicle, the violator, and traffic, just to be sure any one of those variables doesn't jeopardize my safety, or my job. Over the past four days I have blown through 25 citations, all for different things. However, a majority of them have been for speeding, passing in a no passing zone, seat belt violations, and other equipment violations. I never thought I'd say this, but I like doing traffic. I aspire to do traffic homicide, so hopefully a citation will prevent me from investigating a case later down the road. There is always a method to the madness, even if the violator doesn't see it at first.

I am now on my second week of phase 3, so all I have to do is prove myself for another week, then it's off to shadow phase, where my FTO sits there in plain clothes and judges me on how I perform "solo". After that, I am really on my own, and I am chomping at the bit for that time in my law enforcement career.

Speaking of which, I know this profession doesn't have a ton of room for opinion, but I'd like to shed some light on something. Recently, a couple of Broward County police officers were dealing with a DUI, and in the course of things there was a traffic accident... no big deal. However, the officers decided to lie about it, which is absolutely unacceptable and asenine. The only kicker in all of this is that the DRUNK WOMAN decides to go on National Television (insert OMFG comment) and broadcast "her story" like she's some survivor. It's like, "look at how plastered I was. How irresponsible am I. And now all of America knows it!!!!" Congratulations lady, a job well done. I'd like to extend the same sarcastic remark to the officers who will now never again see the joy of working in this profession. I mean come on, we work so hard and jump through so many hoops to be where we are, and then to even consider opening yourself up to a career-ending mistake is... well... stupid. Sorry, that's how I feel.

Life overall is good. I am planning the next steps in my life, and things are moving forward. All of my hard work is continuing to pay off.