To All Academy Grads

[Bodie]

Good lLuck but as you brag to all your buddies that you are now a cop please wake up to the reality that NO YOU ARE NOT. You've got the badge and gun and the certificate but on paper only are you a cop.

After you have been through the real ACADEMY OF HARD KNOCKS on the streets for a while will you then be a COP. It takes a while to get settled into what being a hpolice officer really is and how things are really handle on the streets.

Some can't make it even after getting through the academy with flying colors and thinking they are a cop. You will on the streets see things your mind, heart and soul just may not be able to handle. But if you do and stay then you will be a REAL COP.

[dvsmnstr]

After reading alot of your posts it seems you have some real anger issues..
It seems ever msg board has there guys who go a little overboard and it seems you are definitely him here.

sorry I mean no offense, I'm sure you have alot of knowledge but this is just how I feel.

Some guys here seem to take things they see a few times and blame everyone else for it.

I know a few are going to agree and some will disagree with my comments.

[Magnum314]

It's kind of like saying that just because you went through a ceremony, you aren't really married... or just because you went through basic training, you aren't really a soldier.... or just because you graduated from university you aren't really an alumni...

Now if what he's saying is you don't know it all or you still have a lot to learn, then I agree. However, that's true for rookie and veteren alike. There's always someone who knows a little more than you who could say, "By my standards, you aren't really a cop yet."

If you have a badge and a gun and arrest authority given by your local jurisdiction to take someones liberties, you are a cop. We all laugh, cry, bleed, heal, live and die the same whether it's your first day on the job or your last after 30+ years on the street.

[HSUCowboy98]

I agree dvsmnstr.

I usually dont jump in on things like this, but this just grinds my gears a little.

It is very counterproductive to talk about Brotherhood one day, then trun around and post something dividing like this.

Would you tell a rookie that just saved your backside that he isnt a cop?
That would be like telling a Marine on his first day in Iraq that he is not a Marine.
Or telling a newborn baby that he isnt a child until he has lived...

Maybe they havent been through the things you have, and maybe they're not the Supercop you are, but they are members of the same Brotherhood, and they may be the one thing that stands between you and death one day. On that day do you want them to be a Cop?

All we have is our brothers in the LE community, becasue the general population sure is not going to be your friend when the chips are down. There are pleny of other forces out there that seek to degrade LEO's, no one needs to be torn down from within.

[Matto]

I honestly think Bodie has went off the deep end.

[Styx]

No, I think Bodie is just giving yall something to talk about....it was getting mighty slow in here, you know.

[RedDog4]

Well I didnt think I would ever say this, but I agree with Bodie. (to a certain extent)

As I am one who is currently in the academy, for another 2 months... I agree, that even thought I will have my gun, my cuff, my badge, and everything that comes with that, I will be a "cop" but I be on the same level as the vet's until I get my feet wet and actually do some real police work. Becuase in all honesty, other than the laws and procedures what the hell does the academy teach you about bein a cop? Not a damn thing...

Its almost the same in the fire service. Think about it, when a kid gets out of the academy and is assigned to the fire house, he is a "probee" until the guys feel that he has seen enough and done enough to be called a "firefighter" am I right?

I think that depending on where you work, once you clear your probation period, you could then call yourself a cop. When people ask me, I wont say that Im a cop until atleast then... I mean, I'll be a cop, whos on probation, so its like Im a cop, but not quite yet a "cop" ya know...

As for the other examples, ie; soldier, baby ect, I dont think they fit in this profession... No, a newborn baby hasnt "lived" yet, a kid just out of basic isnt a soldier. (I wasnt) The 1st day in Iraq, thats a different story. A college grad, is still a grad, due to life experiances... Just my thoughts...

[dvsmnstr]

even thought I will have my gun, my cuff, my badge, and everything that comes with that, I will be a "cop" but I be on the same level as the vet's until I get my feet wet and actually do some real police work.

But isn't this true for any job?

[Bodie]

Sure ............. But in police work the academy teaches you how things should be done by the book. You have to realize that almost every phase of training is the result of how officers used to do things WRONG or is the result of changes brought about by lawsuits against police one of the most famous being THE MIRANDA WARNING.

You learn nothing until you really are on the streets,. You leave the academy all sure of yourself and confident and then all of a sudden you are in the middle of a typical **** storm that no one prepared you for.

You learn at war on the streets everyday.

I have no anger issues I am on medication for that problem.
Just re read the intial post two or three things and think it over.

[RedDog4]

But isn't this true for any job?

Honestly, no I dont think its true... Pro Athletes have been playin since they could walk...

[Medea]

Good lLuck but as you brag to all your buddies that you are now a cop please wake up to the reality that NO YOU ARE NOT. You've got the badge and gun and the certificate but on paper only are you a cop.

After you have been through the real ACADEMY OF HARD KNOCKS on the streets for a while will you then be a COP. It takes a while to get settled into what being a hpolice officer really is and how things are really handle on the streets.

Some can't make it even after getting through the academy with flying colors and thinking they are a cop. You will on the streets see things your mind, heart and soul just may not be able to handle. But if you do and stay then you will be a REAL COP.

That was well put,from a veteran Lawmen!Listen to him he speaks from the Truth,which can save your life someday.

[dvsmnstr]

Honestly, no I dont think its true... Pro Athletes have been playin since they could walk...

Pro athletes huh?

So you don't think there is any difference from playing high school baseball/football and then going straight to the pro's?

It's a world of a difference.

[RedDog4]

Pro athletes huh?

So you don't think there is any difference from playing high school baseball/football and then going straight to the pro's?

It's a world of a difference.

Not for people like Kobe, Labron, Ken Griffey JR, AROD, Pete Samprass, Mario Lemieux...

And the statement was; not if they can do the job, it was how much experiance was needed before they can consider themselfs at the same level as others...

Pro Athletes has always been athletes... Cops are not cops until "out of the academy" Does that make more sence? Maybe I am just wording my thoughts wrong....

[MP Teamleader]

Dang it, all that time in Somalia , Haiti and the first Gulf War, MP School and patrolling the military bases I was assigned to and since I just finished the police academy I am still not a cop. When Oh When will I live up to the higher standards of those who just happened to be born before me.

[Soon2Be]

I found the title post to be condescending.

What Bodie says goes without saying. Anyone with a brain knows when they are rooks, that they are not as experienced as vets ~ hello - can you say pointing out the obvious?

That said, once their sworn, they are Police! They are just inexperienced police until they get some experience (school of hard knocks as Bodie put it).

And just to clear things up, Professional athletes ALL of them, actually had to nurture their talents. Yeah some of them are pretty special, Wayne Gretsky, LeBron James, etc., but they all still WORKED at it before they considered themselves pros! That was just a poor example.