The longest week.
It is the end of week 2, ten percent of the twenty week academy complete, and Lakewood Police Department (LPD) Sergeant Maestas enters the classroom. He begins to scan the room while saying he was choosing the class leader for the following week. He looks at me, and then looks to the other side. He looks back to me and says “Beaudry.” I have been selected as class leader. I respond with the only response I could muster; the only one expected – “yes sir.” I receive a briefing from last weeks’ outgoing class leader, and leave for my weekend knowing my days for the following week would be even longer.
Monday morning begins, and I decide to get to the academy earlier than I had been the previous two weeks. Being class leader, I feel I need to set an example. I arrive prior to 7:15 a.m., and was shocked to see more than half the class was already there. At 7:30 a.m., we begin our lineup; the daily formation for morning announcements and inspections. This procedure was taking longer than usual since we now have new groups and squads. We all notice we have a recruit missing from lineup; a recruit that was not there three days earlier. I decide to ask the academy staff prior to inspection, and was told it would be addressed. Soon thereafter, LPD Agent Ruybal exits the building and we snap to attention. He mentions our missing recruit and leads us to believe he was affected by the courageous, yet difficult, story we heard from an LPD Detective the previous week. I find out later that day, from a conversation I was probably not meant to hear, our fellow recruit decided not to continue with our academy class. We are now down two recruits from where we started, although one of those empty seats had been filled by a replacement; our class still strong at forty-one recruits from nine different agencies.
The classes for the week are ones I had been looking forward to; the beginning of firearms and arrest control training. It was time for less lecture, and more practical training. As class leader though, I was confronted with issues from the other recruits. Many were approaching me, and asking questions meant for the academy staff. In order for them to be answered, I was the “link” as I was part of the chain-of-command; a concept many recruits were not familiar with two weeks prior. By the end of Monday, I was sick of hearing my name called by others.
As I am driving in Tuesday morning, I realize I forgot my gun cleaning kit at home; not a good start to the day, especially when I am supposed to be setting an example. We lineup and I immediately admit my error to my fellow recruits. I then ask if anybody else forgot and two others raise their hands. This was going to hurt. Sgt. Maestas exits for inspection, and we snap to attention. He asks the usual question if there are any issues. I report that three of us did not have our required equipment. After our lecture, it was time for what some see as punishment; for me it is just a part of the choice I had made when I changed careers after twelve years, and at the age of thirty-eight. We were told to choose what we should do; the whole class having to participate for the mistakes of the few (instilling in us the necessity of teamwork and how a seemingly small error by one can have a huge impact on all). After the first suggestions not being sufficient, it is eventually decided; three sets of 10 pull-ups, 20 push-ups & 20 air squats. The first set completed before our first class; the rest on our breaks. We complete our set and enter the classroom. We fail to snap to attention when the instructor enters; our attention to detail for that morning was missing. We just earned ourselves another set; another break we would not have.
Wednesday does not improve, as I am continually approached with the various issues from squad leaders and recruits. I am thinking this was one of the reasons I chose to leave my prior career; I did not want to go back to being a supervisor at this point in my life, yet here I was dealing with staff issues again. At the end of the day, I realize I forgot the class leader key at home. I had to ask Sgt. Maestas for the key to secure the building. He was not thrilled with me and said it would be addressed in the morning. Two days in a row of forgetting things at home. This was not like me. My week as class leader is obviously having a negative effect.
Thursday creates a new challenge as class leader. Our uniforms were in and many recruits had issues with the sizes. I instruct the recruits to get the issues turned into the squad leaders. I turn the list in at the end of the day but it was not good enough; more detail was needed and some issues were non-issues. Short of a custom fitted shirt, uniform shirts are not meant as fashion statements. The lists were returned to the squad leaders; time to do it again.
Friday has finally arrived. A new class leader would be chosen at the end of the day. The end is in sight. As we begin to lineup, it is brought to my attention that a recruit does not have a suit jacket. I know this is not going to go over well. When I am asked if there are any issues, I report the issue. The recruit tells Sgt. Maestas he did not forget it but it was at the cleaners. One thing we had learned was to just accept responsibility without excuses. This was really going to be bad. After an easy day with no physical training on Thursday, it was time he made up for it. It was time for a pull-up contest between the two groups. Although I disagreed with allowing assisted pull-ups, the group I was assigned to won. A reward would be given later that day. Unfortunately, other events would cause us to lose any possibility of a reward…
We take our weekly test, and there were apparently many issues with some of the answers. We are told they were looking into it and there would probably be some questions eliminated. Our day continues with a lecture, and then physical training (PT). As we begin PT, we are told, we will be doing a double rotation since we missed a day of PT the previous week. After doing pull-ups in the morning, my squad was doing more pull-ups and now push-presses for our first rotation. We then go inside for fight training, upper bodies already burning from our previous workout, we struggle through four rounds. At the end of lunch, Sgt. Maestas announces many of the questions were removed and tests rescored. Without thinking, I go into the test on the computer to see the adjusted score. An hour later, I am told there was an internet “spike” at 1:10 and told to find out why. It is immediately apparent many others did the same as I did. This internet spike occurred in the beginning of class and when an instructor was talking. I ask the recruits to return to the classroom and asked who looked at the test when class began; we learn there were thirty-one out of forty-one that checked the test or were otherwise online at that time. This was not good. The day ends and it is time for announcements. The new class leader was about to be chosen, and the female recruit sitting next to me gets that honor. I immediately hand her the key, relieved of the responsibility.
But wait, our week isn’t over yet; it was time to pay. We are broken up into groups of five, each with a forty-five pound weight. We are told to run down to the light and back, approximately a quarter-mile, all the while handing off the weight to the other members of our group. Once that is completed, it continues; thirty-one push-ups and thirty-one air squats, one for each of us that went online. We are dismissed. I give a briefing to the incoming leader and head home; the week is finally over.
