Police Academy Adventures

[garodrig1]

Sorry if you have answered this before, but you going to corrections first and then head on to patrol for the sheriff?

And going through the academy is like a self sponsor sort of deal?

[nightmare69]

Sorry if you have answered this before, but you going to corrections first and then head on to patrol for the sheriff?

And going through the academy is like a self sponsor sort of deal?

Yes I will be most likely be a jailer first before I become a deputy doing patrol or whatever else. Only people I know that went straight from the academy to patrol had family inside the department.

You have to have a law enforcement agency sponsor you at ETPA. I have a non employed sponsorship with a local PD, all they did was fill out the paperwork and get me in the academy.

[srothstein]

Our area TCOLE rep came by to talk to us today. He said you are not licensed until you are sworn in as an officer. I thought that once you pasted the state test you were licensed, guess not. Even if I go to work for a county as a jailer after graduation I guess the 30.06 signs will still apply to me until I get the badge.

Well, it is really sort of both, and after you get licensed, it gets even more confusing. When you first past the test, you eligible for a license. The rules say TCOLE will not issue the license until your first job and include the other requirements (physical and psychological and such). When you graduate the academy, a sheriff can license you as just a jailer or as a peace officer (actually, I think he can only give you a temporary jailer's license until you go through a jailer's academy but I am not as up on that side of things). But then you are both licensed and commissioned and are a peace officer for Penal Code purposes. Now, when it gets confusing is if you leave the first job and do not go into a second right away. Then you are a licensed peace officer, but you are not commissioned since you are not working in the field. You are not a peace officer for the purposes of the law. And, as long as you keep up your training, you can be commissioned forever (or until the law changes). But you would only be a peace officer if someone commissions you and you are working in the field.

And, as I wrote this, I thought that you might need to be really careful and check into how the agency commissions you. You could be a real peace officer even if you are assigned to the jail. But you would have to be very careful about the agency's rules and what they allow you to say or do.

[nightmare69]

The county said they will hold our commission as long as we work for them and it will not expire. If you know any specific questions I could ask on the subject let me know.

[srothstein]

My only question to ask would be their rules on your peace officer status. Will they allow you to carry off duty, work part time jobs as a peace officer, etc. To make it more appealing to them, ask if they will allow you to start riding with an FTO on your own time while you are working the jail so you can finish learning how to be a patrolman. That last one is tricky because it is technically a violation of the FLSA with you working more hours and not being paid, but if you don't point that out they may let it slide.

[nightmare69]

Ok I will keep those questions in mind next time I talk to the caption.

[jmra]

Ok I will keep those questions in mind next time I talk to the caption.

Do you speak to captions often?

[nightmare69]

Captain. iPhone auto correct at work.

[jmra]

Captain. iPhone auto correct at work.

Gotta love auto correct.

[twomillenium]

I wanted to speak to a caption once, but I realized it would not change so I just walked away ---- slowly.

[jmra]

I wanted to speak to a caption once, but I realized it would not change so I just walked away ---- slowly.

[nightmare69]

Tomorrow we have juvenile law and family code all week. Going to be our last hard test other than the state exam. Anyone else in east Texas getting this flood of rain?

[jbirds1210]

Juvenile law is tricky. The bottom line is they never reallly get what they ask for and a Judge reads their rights before an interview instead of you. Can't be in sight or sound of the jail.

[nightmare69]

We have a great instructor but she gives out 600 pages of extra info when she teaches. Lots of studying this week for the test on Friday.

[nightmare69]

Juvenile law is tough and we have a 80 question test tomorrow. Ive been studying all week and I feel pretty good about it, Im just ready to get it over with and move on to handguns next week. This is our last hard test of the academy, from here on out we get into the fun side of LE.