Starting Police Academy

[1s1k52]

Per a recommendation from nightmare69 I am starting my academy thread.

June 18th for 8 months for the city of Dallas. I have always wanted to be a police officer and have not had the chance to even apply for several reasons through out the years. My wife was a big support in pushing me over and over till I applied. I have reached out to several departments and Dallas was the one that chose me. I am taking a pretty large pay cut, loss in decent health care, a schedule that prevented using daycare that now we will have to use, and already facing obstacles such as car trouble, I am sick as a dog, etc so it should be a long road for sure.

The decision to make this change seems illogical in a lot of ways, but thankfully I have an amazing wife who got her old job back after almost 4 years of not working.

It will be a 46 mile drive one way, Monday-Friday 8-5, and I will fight traffic both there and back. I can honestly say I have never been more excited and scared about anything aside from the birth of my children. I write/talk a lot when I am nervous, this subject gets my nerves going, so I will stop now and update moving forward.

[spongeworthy]

What is the duration of the DPD academy? 46 miles each way (through metro traffic), every day, for 6+ months on top of health conditions (chronic or temporary?) is going to take a toll. Are you able to find temporary lodging nearby for M-F while you're in the academy? Just something I would consider if at all possible.

Good luck, though! I'm shopping around for openings myself.

[1s1k52]

What is the duration of the DPD academy? 46 miles each way (through metro traffic), every day, for 6+ months on top of health conditions (chronic or temporary?) is going to take a toll. Are you able to find temporary lodging nearby for M-F while you're in the academy? Just something I would consider if at all possible.

Good luck, though! I'm shopping around for openings myself.

8 months for the academy. I have kids and wouldn't want to be away from them or my wife (well depends on what mood she is in). I was away for a whole month in March and I hated it. Plus with the wife working nights etc not really a logical step. Dallas process was..interesting. They tell you if you move to the next step your going to most likely have a job. Problem is there are a million steps and sometimes don't know if you are moving on or not until the last minute or for awhile till you get a hold of someone. Example. I had no idea I passed the entrance exam until day 3 late in the afternoon. That was in November of last year. I didn't find out I was still even being considered after that until mid April of THIS year. Then I got a call middle of May for more testing. Than an email congratulating me midweek first of June. So if you apply patience will be your new best friend or worst enemy.

[LeakyWaders]

Best of luck to you with the career change. Life is too short, so do what makes you happy.

I read your "new job-bad time" post from the 11th and tried to reply but experienced an internet connection problem and I don't think the reply made it to you. You mentioned in the earlier post that you were wheezing, had a sore throat and felt exhausted. These are common symptoms related to a viral upper respiratory illness.

I work in health care and want to share with you, and anyone else on this board who is interested, a tried and true method of getting over a common cold in two to three days. I have been treating myself and my patients with the attached treatment plan for many years with great success. The key to the treatment plan is to start it within 2-3 hours of when you notice that you are developing symptoms of illness.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns.

Hope this helps you and others the next time you start feeling ill. If you try the treatment plan and get the results that I do, please let me know.

[1s1k52]

Best of luck to you with the career change. Life is too short, so do what makes you happy.

I read your "new job-bad time" post from the 11th and tried to reply but experienced an internet connection problem and I don't think the reply made it to you. You mentioned in the earlier post that you were wheezing, had a sore throat and felt exhausted. These are common symptoms related to a viral upper respiratory illness.

I work in health care and want to share with you, and anyone else on this board who is interested, a tried and true method of getting over a common cold in two to three days. I have been treating myself and my patients with the attached treatment plan for many years with great success. The key to the treatment plan is to start it within 2-3 hours of when you notice that you are developing symptoms of illness.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns.

Hope this helps you and others the next time you start feeling ill. If you try the treatment plan and get the results that I do, please let me know.

Well it turned into completely losing my voice but thanks for sharing! better late than never!

[LeakyWaders]

Sorry it was late. The loss of your voice is the result of the virus causing inflammation and swelling of your vocal chords. Here is the silver lining: try the treatment plan within 2-3 hours the next time you or your wife starts feeling ill and you will be surprised by how soon you are symptom free.

[1s1k52]

Sorry it was late. The loss of your voice is the result of the virus causing inflammation and swelling of your vocal chords. Here is the silver lining: try the treatment plan within 2-3 hours the next time you or your wife starts feeling ill and you will be surprised by how soon you are symptom free.

ah its all good. im just giving you a hard time. I bookmarked that page. This happens to me once a year it seems like. I usually go and get a steroid shot or something or other from ol sawbones and anti biotics because I wait to long.

Natures Way doesn't make the best of vitamins around I have found, but I have heard a lot about elderberry so I will check it out.

currently taking l carnitine and panothein for weight loss. waiting to order white bean extract and some BCAA powder from vitacost when all this works out.

[nightmare69]

In.

It will be a long road, twice as long as mine. Go into it with the mindset of Im going to give it my all everyday. At least you are getting paid to attend the academy, I put myself through and emptied my savings to do so. Keep us updated when you can, Im eager to hear how much PT you will be doing. Best of luck and welcome to the brotherhood.

How old are you if you dont mind telling?

[1s1k52]

These postings may not be very detailed or lively for awhile. I am only on day two and tired as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest.

The first two days are all learning processes and mental prep. Basically tested on every little thing including how we walk down the hall. Punishment PT was on first day, no PT today, tomorrow is supposed to be a weed out day. We already had two people quit. A guy laughed at an instructor after being told to do something. Our punishment for that had me muttering things to myself that would violate many rules on this forum.

I haven't had to shave consistently in over 10 years so even using no scent no die sensitive skin lotion and a sharp schick quatro I am razor burning bad making sweating miserable.

Aside from the health care expenses we have to buy our own uniforms, boots, some schooling supplies, I think possibly our pistol as well. I am not upset about the majority of expenses because I know they could be worse. I am upset that we were told about none of this. In fact many of us were flat out lied to about a lot of things.

I will say one thing about the health care, it is expensive and making me question whether I should try and go back to my old job. That is the only thing really tripping me up. The physical and mental hurdles ahead are all expected so I fill fail out before quitting.



I am 28 years old BTW.

Thanks for all the encouragement to many people to single anyone out. Thank you very much.

I need suggestions on the following-

Police boots
Police large duffle bag. for gear books etc
electric razor (I have had a beard for a better of 10 years)

[LeakyWaders]

I tried three different electric razors over a period of about 15 years and each time I ended up returning them because the razor burn was worse than with a razor. I finally learned a trick from a buddy who was in the military during the Vietnam war. He told me to use hot water to wet the face and clean the razor between swipes and then rinse the face with cold water to close the pores. I have had much better results ever since. If you already shave using this method then I am out of suggestions.

[nightmare69]

These are the boots I wore in the academy and they are light weight and comfortable. I still wear them on the job. Academy sports and outdoors carries them.

http://www.batesfootwear.com/US/en-US/P ... mensions=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For a bag just get a nice strong backpack at walmart, you will have 1 big lawbook and I bought a 4in 3 ring binder. Get pens, highlighters, paper, flashcards for studying, dividers, etc.

Sucks about the health care and having to buy all your own stuff, I had to also. When DPD came to our academy trying to recruit they said they supply your firearm and a Sig p226 at that, I just bought one for my duty weapon. Im sure the recruiters will say anything to get you to sign up as they get a bonus, Im sure some stretch the truth also. The one that came to our academy was a joke and the sloppiest recruiter Ive ever seen, he is not welcome back due to his appearance among other things he said in his speech.

I personally wanted to go to DPS academy in Austin. DPS academy is 6 months long but afterward they could send you anywhere in Texas so you would have to be ready to pack up and move. Up side is they have arguably the best academy in Texas and even if you got out of DPS you would have no trouble finding a job with another department.

Hang in there man, its going to be the hardest the first few weeks. They are trying to weed out those that don't really want to be DPD. Its going to be a hard road ahead, you will have to put a lot of things on hold in your life and your family will have to make the sacrifice with you. I know it sucks but I promise if you stick with it you will have a rewarding career in law enforcement.

What was the hiring process for Dallas?

[SQLGeek]

I haven't had to shave consistently in over 10 years so even using no scent no die sensitive skin lotion and a sharp schick quatro I am razor burning bad making sweating miserable.

You might want to consider using a badger hair brush and a high quality soap such as this http://www.badgerbalm.com/p-526-shaving ... ganic.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . You mix some soap and water in a mug and work it into a lather with the brush.

It will cost a little more and take a little more time, which I'm sure is at a premium but your face may react better to this. Brushing on the soap helps raise the facial hair off of the skin, making it easier to shave. Also if you're not already, make sure you shave with the grain of the hair on the first pass. That may help also.

I will say one thing about the health care, it is expensive and making me question whether I should try and go back to my old job. That is the only thing really tripping me up. The physical and mental hurdles ahead are all expected so I fill fail out before quitting.

I take it you are COBRAing your old plan? Not knowing your financial or personal situation at all, would it make sense to search for a high deductible plan that has a lower premium? The obvious downside is that you'll pay more out of pocket for regular medical services. I'm just spitballing some ideas for you.

electric razor (I have had a beard for a better of 10 years)

This may or may not work for you. I never have been able to get an electric to give me a close enough shave to be acceptable. Usually it looks like a 5 o'clock shadow after finishing shaving.

Take some names!

[DocV]

electric razor (I have had a beard for a better of 10 years)

Safety razor, sharp blade, let the blade to the work and don't push the blade into your skin.
Also, don't cut your nose when shaving or slice a finger open when you put the blade in the razor - don't ask :)

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[1s1k52]

Alrighty got a lot more energy to be more descriptive on whats going on. In regards to the shaving thing I just washed my face with some anti bacterial soap and twice that day used lotion and it helped a lot. I think it will get better since I am doing it now everyday. One of the things was also my fat butt gained to much weight so all my dress shirts fit me like a noose and trapped sweat around those areas. Anyways moving on.

So yeah survived the "weed out" PT day. Did I want to? NO! I was praying I would just die about half way through. I didn't though and stuck with it. Being a stubborn redneck has its ups I guess.

LOTS of material to study that is for darn sure. They decided starting with our class to fail out people who fail more than 3 test. That is really crappy to hear considering a lot of the people I have spoken to in classes above me have all at least failed 2 test out of about 20.

Since this is a CHL site they informed us no guns onsite including in our vehicles. We have sort of gone over rules and regulations of the department. I am not required to carry off duty. However, it is strongly recommended, but has to be concealed. We can carry in hospitals and schools according to what they were teaching. I could have sworn I read somewhere that was false?

The funny thing about this to me was I was the only one asking questions on all this. I have never understood how anyone interested in this field could care less about CHL or guns, but to each his own? Majority of the officers I know don't even own guns outside of the one issued to them. The instructor recommended anyone with a CHL not carry even on our personal time. He said do what you feel you have to do, but he advised against it. To me that is some really conflicting information. He strongly recommended we did carry off duty, but not as a CHL holder while in the academy? Personally I felt like I wasn't asking anything painting me as a nutty gun owner. After being sworn in my 10mm will be off limits for me to carry. I may not be able to carry anything besides a 9mm or 357 sig actually. He said the 357 sig barrel fits in the 226 frame? The barrel has to be purchased by us and we have to qualify with it. Same for Glocks after a year I would have to put in for one and qualify and most likely purchase my own Glock. I thought officers get crazy discounts on guns. I have yet to see that be the case when calling around. Anyways..

I asked

Does CHL rules and standards apply to us off duty?
asked about carrying a personal gun off duty.
Must it be concealed (I would anyways just my preference)
Are we required to carry off duty.
Are we legally liable to get involved if seeing a crime committed.


I asked the last one and explained I live outside of the Dallas county. So was curious if I was witnessing anything am I required to do something or just call 911?

I followed that up with explaining my wife was in nursing school and has to take a lot class time learning about legal matters in regards to rendering aid outside of work etc. What could screw them and what laws protect them.

You would think all this would be being taught right? Well everything so far has been brief summaries of stuff and its our job to learn it on our own and test on it from what I can tell. One guy asked, almost right after I did, if he had to carry his gun off duty. His tone lead me to believe he had no interest in carrying off duty. To each his own I guess.

So all that being said. The only three things really bugging me so far. We have to wear suit and tie everyday till uniforms are purchased 3 weeks or more from now. We have to do everything as a class. I only own one suite with a few different shirts and two ties. So that is frustrating on top of having to buy my own uniforms I will have to buy more ties, shirts and suits? That is freaking expensive. Secondly, they ask us if we have questions over and over while we sit silently until someone ask something. At that point we get the same answer. "Don't worry about that right now you have a way to go before that". By about the third time of someone standing up there asking us do we have questions. I want to say "If one of you would actually answer someones question more people would be inclined to ask them. We have to stand and announce our selves when asking as well. We did have one guy come in and tell everyone to relax and just be ourselves. He actually answered questions so that was cool. Lastly the dag gum drive. 45 miles one way takes me 1.5 hours in the morning give or take with 2-2.5 hours in the evening.

To add insult to injury I was hoping my car would make it, but it is starting to not shift at all or just stay in a lower gear than slam up or down into gears. So I will be acquiring a car payment soon. Taking a huge pay cut, acquiring more expenses they failed to tell us about, and monthly bills will be dramatically increasing has me thinking this is the dumbest choice I have made in a long long time. It is making it very hard to focus in class knowing all that. When I can get focused I really do enjoy it though.

So anyways may be selling my Gen 4 Glock 29 and Ruger American 30-06 soon. Cars I am looking at are 15K or under. Need a 4 banger and low miles for financing purposes. Which is crappy because I would much rather finance a truck that is the polar opposite of the car I need. So keep an eye out. Nothing dodge if possible. I see a ridiculous amount of Hyundai elantra GLS. Researching and looking into cars now so feel free to PM me or comment with anything pertaining to my car search because my denial to myself that my car will last me 14 more months slapped me in the face hard this morning.