Last night I started training a new rookie, Ze. He was born and grew up in Morocco. He moved here in 1998 with his brother. He has 8 other brothers and sisters living all over Europe. His mother still lives in Casablanca, Morocco. He speaks four languages, English, Moroccan, Arabic, and French. He is married and has a 16 month old baby boy at home. At the House of Pies last night, our usual waitress Dawn, gave him the nickname of Zorro. She gives everyone nicknames.
We started phase two of training last night. That means that he has completed the academy and only three weeks of field training. I have not trained a phase two rookie in quite some time. I have been mostly evaluating lately since we only have three evaluators on the shift. Those that I have trained in the last year have all been third phase rookies. It is amazing to experience the difference in knowledge between second and third phase rookies. The difference might not have been so dramatic to me if my last two rookies were just merely average. But, they were not, they were exceptional. It is completely different to train a phase two rookie. They know some of the basics, but not all. They still need to be spoon fed information. I have to watch myself to make sure that I do not assume that they know how to do even a basic task. I have to make sure that they know. To me, it feels like getting a new puppy. You have to take care of them and watch over them so that they do not hurt themselves as you train them to do the behaviors that you want them to do. It requires lots of patience and positive reinforcement.
Last night was very slow and mundane. Tonight was a little better. We took a 17 year old male back to CPS. He ran away from his placement earlier in the day because they would not let him brush his teeth. He decided that he had been gone long enough, and called the police to return him to CPS. We called CPS and sure enough, they wanted him back. CPS told us that he had been in their system since he was 9 months old. On the drive to CPS we talked about basketball. He was very polite and articulate. I hope that he is able to overcome his circumstances.
On our way back from CPS, we were driving northbound on 59 when a white Honda Accord flew by us in the left lane. The Honda was driving without their headlights on at night and was weaving back and forth between two lanes. I told Ze to catch up and stop the Honda. The Honda was going between 85-90 MPH. The Honda pulled over to the left on the freeway. After Ze talked to the driver, I spoke to her for a few minutes. I thought that she was drunk from the way she was driving, and that conversation confirmed it. She also had a six pack of Olde English 800 Malt Liquor in the back seat. She even tried to hide the open beer in the center console. We got her off of the freeway and a DWI task force officer came to the scene. She became belligerent with the task force officer and tried to do a test or two but could hardly stand still or upright. The task force officer took her for processing and told us a little later that she blew a .314 BAC. .08 BAC is the legal limit. She was almost 4 times the legal limit. That is the highest I have seen in a little while. It was Ze's first experience with a DWI, good training.
We ran a few more calls and traffic stops, but nothing very interesting. I am looking forward to training Ze while I learn a little more about his homeland and culture.
We started phase two of training last night. That means that he has completed the academy and only three weeks of field training. I have not trained a phase two rookie in quite some time. I have been mostly evaluating lately since we only have three evaluators on the shift. Those that I have trained in the last year have all been third phase rookies. It is amazing to experience the difference in knowledge between second and third phase rookies. The difference might not have been so dramatic to me if my last two rookies were just merely average. But, they were not, they were exceptional. It is completely different to train a phase two rookie. They know some of the basics, but not all. They still need to be spoon fed information. I have to watch myself to make sure that I do not assume that they know how to do even a basic task. I have to make sure that they know. To me, it feels like getting a new puppy. You have to take care of them and watch over them so that they do not hurt themselves as you train them to do the behaviors that you want them to do. It requires lots of patience and positive reinforcement.
Last night was very slow and mundane. Tonight was a little better. We took a 17 year old male back to CPS. He ran away from his placement earlier in the day because they would not let him brush his teeth. He decided that he had been gone long enough, and called the police to return him to CPS. We called CPS and sure enough, they wanted him back. CPS told us that he had been in their system since he was 9 months old. On the drive to CPS we talked about basketball. He was very polite and articulate. I hope that he is able to overcome his circumstances.
On our way back from CPS, we were driving northbound on 59 when a white Honda Accord flew by us in the left lane. The Honda was driving without their headlights on at night and was weaving back and forth between two lanes. I told Ze to catch up and stop the Honda. The Honda was going between 85-90 MPH. The Honda pulled over to the left on the freeway. After Ze talked to the driver, I spoke to her for a few minutes. I thought that she was drunk from the way she was driving, and that conversation confirmed it. She also had a six pack of Olde English 800 Malt Liquor in the back seat. She even tried to hide the open beer in the center console. We got her off of the freeway and a DWI task force officer came to the scene. She became belligerent with the task force officer and tried to do a test or two but could hardly stand still or upright. The task force officer took her for processing and told us a little later that she blew a .314 BAC. .08 BAC is the legal limit. She was almost 4 times the legal limit. That is the highest I have seen in a little while. It was Ze's first experience with a DWI, good training.
We ran a few more calls and traffic stops, but nothing very interesting. I am looking forward to training Ze while I learn a little more about his homeland and culture.
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