Do or Die

I am soooo nervous! Tomorrow is the first of my three tests. I have to pass each one or I am out of the academy. This time tomorrow I will be a very happy man, or a very upset one. I will let you know what happens ASAP.

Good Guys Wear Blue

Here is a link to the article I mentioned below or the article itself if you don't want to click on the link. http://www.lindoncity.org/good-guys-wear-blue.htm


~Note~ This newsletter article was written by Chief Cullimore in August 2005.

Good Guys Wear Blue

Rarely does a week go by that we don’t have a parent who wants to bring their child in to the police station to let them sit for a few hours. Sometimes this is only to get the kids to mind better at home or to clean their room. How many parents out there have told your children to “Put on your seat belt or the policeman will get you” or “Stop hitting your sister or the police will come and put you in jail”. While these tactics may seem to solve their behavioral problems at the moment, take a minute to stop and think about what you’re teaching them. What you’re doing is reinforcing to your kids that the police are to be feared, an organized group that can and will take small children away for wrong-doing, no matter how slight.

When we get these “scare them straight” requests at the department we will politely refuse. Instead what we will do is sit down with you and your child and talk about their behavior. We won’t yell at them, make them cry (on purpose), or be the bad guy. The reasons for this are many, but the best reason is that we can’t imagine why you would want them to grow to fear a police officer. Think of recent news stories where lost children actually hid from rescuers because they thought they were going to be in trouble.

Beyond you as parents, policemen are the first people that your kids should feel comfortable in approaching when scared, hurt, alone, or in trouble. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to be the bad guy when a child victim is involved and any policeman that I know is looking for you. There aren’t enough places to hide. We take the safety and security of all of our citizens very seriously, but we make an extra effort to look after our kids, and trust me… they are all our kids when they’re hurt or scared.

Some kids make serious mistakes, and at times we have to interview them, charge them with serious offenses, and, occasionally lock them up to protect the public, and themselves, from their actions. We try to never forget that they are kids and that they’ll make mistakes.

So, if your child needs to talk about their behavior and how to fix it, we may be able to help. We can’t do much about them chasing a muddy dog through the house, but we can do some good with small thefts or after they’ve punched out another 5 year old. Please do your part on the small things first and use us for more serious matters. Teach them that policemen are their friends and to wave at police cars. They might spot one for you so you can slow down!

Chief Cody Cullimore

Love, Hate Relationship

I was reading an article that mentioned how there are more TV shows about law enforcement than any other type of genre. I am curious as to how people looove shows about law enforcement in the fantasy world, but hate law enforcement when they come back to reality. The reasons why people do not like law enforcers has actually been puzzeling to me since high school. I have yet to find a logical answer. Part of this journey I will have in law enforcement is getting a better understanding of why there is such a rift between the public with law enforcers. The Chief of Police in Lindon wrote a great article about how parents will use the threat of police to scare their kids in obeying or straightening up. He mentions how that shouldn't be. How when officers find a missing child the kid gets scared, hides, and/or runs away from them because they think they will be in trouble. That shouldn't be the case. The whole purpose of the police is literally to "Protect and Serve". Hopefully I will be able to help peoples perspectives on law enforcers be more focused in the positive light and bridge that rift by the end of my career.

Last Saturday we had the test I was most worried about. Defensive Tactics and Arrest and Control. This was a test of technique and skill. Arresting a person isn't as easy as it looks. Honestly, I was really worried how I would do since I didn't get a lot of practice outside of class. My friend Austin and I teamed up to perform the test together. We had Cpl. Brad McFarland from Summit County Sheriffs. We ended up passing the test! There were some techniques about getting a person into prone control, but I can work on that through out the next 6 months and perfect each technique since we will need to perform them all again in the second block of the academy. We also had our CPR/First Aid/AED test and everyone passed. So far our class is doing really well. Now I have to go study for my law test we have on Monday.

Joke

This is a joke that was told to us last night that I thought was pretty funny.

Why did God give us cops? Because even firemen need a hero! :)

What A Policeman Is...

Last night our instructor from the County Sheriff showed us this video and all of us really liked it. I hope you do as well.

The Academy Begins

So the Academy started last Tuesday. I wasn't sure what to expect and I honestly was a bit nervous. I am one week into the Academy and am loving it. This week they have really killed us doing Physical Training and I am more soar than I have ever been. We have learned how to arrest someone under total control, and will be learning more arrest tactics tonight after our 3rd night in a row of doing physical training. It has been fun to see how we work as a team, and how we encourage each other, and help each other in the academy. As soon as you have finished running we go back and run with those who are behind to cheer them on and keep them motivated. So far I am really liking the academy. It just gets me more motivated and more excited to be a police officer.