Very interested what the police academy for first timers is like. If you're off to it, are you nervous? Or psyched?!

I attended my academy in 1991.  Back in the day, the academy was 18 weeks, mostly Monday thru Friday days with the occasional nights and Saturdays.  We arrived at 0530 and went home at 1730 give or take on any given day.  It was a military style academy with a lot of yelling by tac officers / tac staff.  The first day, I think I did more push-ups in 8 hours than I had the combined 29 years of my life previous.  The second day was a repeat of day one and so on and so forth.  We found out that we never learned how to stand, sit, walk, run, dress, undress or speak correctly.  Most everyone found out that they couldn't tell their left from their right or the difference between a male (Sir) or female (Ma'am).  At some point, when the tac staff saw that we were policing ourselves as a class, they backed off.  Fast forward to the academy of today........ 36 to 38 weeks on average depending upon the academy and the department operating it.  For me, the first time was also the last time............ Thank God for that.  All of that said, I had a great time.

uncledennis1 says ...

What academy? I was not sent to an academy. Rode two weeks and was assigned a solo unit. The good ole days when we kicked booty and took names.

Yeah and you rode camels with Aaron and Moses was the Chief.

The first day at academy for me was intense....we were being analyzed to death over our uniforms and we had some intructors get in our faces, and asked us questions and when we'd answer, they'd respond with "and would you depend your life on your answer??".

The first inspection, we ran out with our squads to the parking lot to get inspected....I was so nervous and fidgeting...the first question I asked was what was my definition of leadership. For me, those inspections were very intense for me internally and I was sweating enough to the point where I felt like I jumped in a pool!

During Level III, my first week, I barely got any sleep simply because of my adrenaline.

But when I entered Level II, I did feel rather calmer. Inspections were still stressful but I learned the art of the 1,000 yard stare and fely my adrenaline wasn't so intense as it was in Level III....I felt a bit more prepared and wasn't so on edge. I also felt MUCH more positive about my academics and more on top of my game as far as 10-codes and being squared away went.

When I failed Level II because I could BARELY make it over the wall, it was like in slow motion...all I remember was giving every fiber of my being to try to get over it when I fell backward and remembered hitting a small rock and curled up in the fetus position with my hand on the back of my head....I went into mental "shock' and couldn't grasp that this was really over...I will tell you, it felt like a horrible breakup!

But nonetheless, despite these obstacles, I ALWAYS looked forward to going to class and learning from various instructors. It's funny because academy was one of the most stressful times but at the same time, one of the best times I ever had! No matter how little sleep I got, I woke up and felt I had a purpose to fulfill. I took a lot of pride in being able to wear a uniform and be a cadet.

The only big obstacle from failling level II is I felt that....as wierd as it sounds...I was completely lacking structure in my life and felt like I was going through some wierd "adjustment period" with going from "cadet mode' to 'normal mode". It was a rollercoaster of emotions quite a bit of times but since it's been nearly a month, I'm feeling more adjusted to my new routine :)

If there's any cadets/future recruits on here, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions or share stories....granted, there are legit officers here that have much more experience than me but as far as the academy process goes, even if I didn't complete it, I still have some wisdom I can pass down!

36TR says ...

SkoolCop says ...

uncledennis1 says ...

What academy? I was not sent to an academy. Rode two weeks and was assigned a solo unit. The good ole days when we kicked booty and took names.

Yeah and you rode camels with Aaron and Moses was the Chief.

Wow. That was just wrong (but funny as hell)

Couldn't help myself........... The door was left wiiiiiiiiide open.