Advice from a Veteran Cop to ROOKIES!

for all you aspiring police officers today I'm gonna give you some advice I wish somebody would have told me before I became a cop [Music] hey guys what's going on today is my fourth day in a row to be off it has been so nice I'm not sure if I mentioned this in another video or not but they actually changed our schedule to work 10-hour shifts so now I'm only working four days a week and I ended up taking a vacation day on Thursday so it's been nice to have these four days not to worry about Jack I go back tomorrow but I don't want to there's been a lot going on the last four days I've been making candy I've been making cakes I went to a party yesterday and I have been unable to video any of it because I could not find my damn GoPro so what do I find this morning when I dig out this camera my damn GoPro I went online the other day and ordered a Super Nintendo with two video games of course Mario Kart and Zelda and I have been playing those things non-stop if I could figure I had a livestream it and make it into like a drinking game I would totally do it so moving on to the video of all the emails I get every single day most of them consist of how to become a police officer 9 out of 10 messages consist of hey I've done this in the past can i still be a cop or will this keep me from being a cop or what piece of advice would you give to a new cop so I kind of like to make today's video about some of the questions that I get on a daily basis and I'm gonna address what I think are some of the most important points of becoming a cop and one of the common ones that get are people with disabilities I found a lot of people with different disabilities asking me about different roles in law enforcement and I can't address every single condition in one video but I'm gonna try to hit some of the highlights the first one I get asked a lot is can I still become a cop if I am colorblind I myself am colorblind usually the only times that I have problems with colorblindness is at night especially whenever I'm making a traffic stop and it's funny because you'll hear me on the radio say either dark or light in color car most of the time I can't tell exactly what color it is I can usually get pretty close but that's really the only time that my colorblindness has been detrimental I might sound like a jackass when I say this but the biggest thing to remember when you guys are getting into law enforcement just because a certain disability is acceptable under federal law does not necessarily mean that it's going to be safe use some common sense guys I mean try to figure out if whatever condition you might have is going to put other people in jeopardy and you might have to play some scenarios out in your head this is just again one of those areas you have to use some common sense and you kind of have to take into account and be the bigger person I mean yes I've always wanted to be in law enforcement but I have this condition am i putting other officers at risk because of it for instance someone that's hearing-impaired might have a hard time hearing somebody sneak up on them on a call so if you get attacked because you didn't hear this person now the officers are having to handle the situation and now they're having to help you out and it could create more of a risk for the officers on your shift and honestly I mean out of all the conditions out there I think anything having to do with your senses is gonna be the most detrimental just because you need your eyesight and you need your hearing to be safe on the road the next few tips aren't in any particular order just kind of scrambled around the first one is don't be overly excited like don't be that guy that shows up on the first day it's like sir yes sir the first red flag for any recruit with me is someone that is way too excited to get a gun and badge there's a difference and being excited to become a cop and like being overly excited to become a cop and when I see someone that's way too excited to get a gun and badge usually in law enforcement we call that a clue next piece of advice don't be a know-it-all just because your grandfather's uncle who was married to a cat lady that was related to a cop was a cop doesn't mean you know jack-shit about being in law enforcement I can't tell you how many times I've told some story or something and somebody's like oh I know I know all about that my brother was a cop unless you were sitting in the passenger seat at 3 o'clock in the morning while he was doing reports no you don't know what your brother was doing next tip do not disrespect your FTO let's say that you and a buddy go through the Academy at the exact same time you guys graduate you come back to the police department and a few months pass and you are now on the road training your buddies making all kinds of traffic stops and getting into foot chases and getting all this excitement meanwhile your FTO is probably about 60 years old has a checklist of all these different locations he wants you to take him to to show him that you know where you're going probably places that you'll never go again and don't go above the speed limit because he's going to notate that on your daily observation report just don't get frustrated with your FTO you'll have plenty of time for excitement and fun throughout your career trust me enjoy the quiet time while you can because court gets very old you're gonna sit there for three to six hours on a hard wooden bench just to have some judge dismiss your entire case and the messed up part is he didn't even give you a chance to speak then you're gonna go home and get about an hour of sleep if you're lucky and then have to do it all over again so what I'm trying to say is enjoy the downtime while you can I know it's exciting I know it's it's different being in a uniform and a Mart car but try to enjoy some of the downtime because believe me once the excitement kicks in that means more paperwork kicks in and more court time Oh sir you want me to show you where middle-of-nowhere road is no problem sir I'll be glad to show you where no court from East Street is the next thing to remember is guys don't get discouraged when you make low scores on your evaluations when you first start what sense would it make for a rookie officer on a 1 to 5 scale to be making fives his first week in training if you're making fives the first week there's something wrong with your FTO there's so many people that get bent out of shape because they make twos their first couple of weeks even if nothing was going on that week how can your FTO possibly show your progression through the FTO period if he starts you out with fives I'm sorry I'm not gonna give fives to someone that just got my car a week ago furthermore what if you have made fives week 1 through 8 and on week 9 some [ __ ] pops off you suck at whatever happened and then you score r2 that shows downward progression you want to show that upward progression throughout your FTO period my next piece of advice be ready to work more than 40 hours a week I would take into account an extra 20 hours per week and that's time getting your uniform ready studying your FTO might give you a test every week it just depends on whatever's going on but be prepared to work much more than 40 hours a week and it's not always going to be like that like once you get into the rhythm of things and you learn how to set up your uniform and kind of a time allotment that you need for that you'll start getting a rhythm going and things will be much more flew for you my next piece of advice be ready to learn how to take control of situations you don't need to sweat it at first but be working on taking that command presence whenever you're on a scene just keep in the back your mind that most people that call 9-1-1 call the police because they feel they have lost a certain amount of control over a situation so they're looking up to you to come in take that control and resolve whatever issue they're having so when you get some shy officer that really doesn't know what he's doing and he's not confident that shows up that's not a very comforting feeling for the person that called for you and if you're not really like that the first couple weeks that's fine nobody expects you to be perfect when you first hit the road but it's something that you need to start training yourself over time I need to learn you know when I need to get loud when I don't need to get loud you don't need to be a dick all the time that's not what I'm saying but don't be that officer that's trying to get information for an investigation and you've got some jackass and yelling in your face telling you what you're gonna do telling you what you're not gonna do and here you are just sitting there twiddling your thumbs no put their ass in handcuffs put them in a car finish your investigation and either take them to jail for obstruction or release them another part of that is is just time it's gonna take time the more you know what you're capable of doing and what you're not capable of doing you'll become more confident and you'll have no problem taking over certain situations that's usually the number one thing I see with new officers is they are unable to take charge whenever they have opposition they don't know how to handle people who yelling at them it doesn't sound like a big deal but when you're in the heat of the moment and somebody might be bleeding somebody might be dying and you have to take control that situation you can't do it because Joe Schmoe [ __ ] over here is yelling at you and you don't know what to do last but not least do not lie let me explain that one it can be a very easy trap to fall into as a rookie officer to tell a little white lie like when you and your FTO are on your way to the jail you've got some prisoner in the back and your FTO looks over at you and says you didn't do a full search of them right you're thinking oh [ __ ] no I just put them in the car that's a very easy situation to be like yeah yeah I searched them don't lie and say yes to get a good score tell the truth always tell the truth chances are your FTO already knows the answer to that question and he's trying to see if you're going to be truthful about it or not how much would that suck to get to the jail and you guys take him out of the car and a damn gun falls out of his lab my recommendation after that would be instant termination because if you're willing to lie about little things like that it's only gonna build from there and before you know you're gonna start lying about big stuff so whether it helps you or it hurts you do not lie and remember that I used to have a captain with the former department that I work for and he called me into his office one day and he asked me a question he said the only reason I called you into my office is because I knew that you were gonna be honest the very first time and that's a reputation you want that made me feel really good and I like having that reputation so learn to own your mistakes nobody wants to admit that they're wrong but the more that you admit to your mistakes and you work on them people are gonna respect you for that and trust me as a new officer going into an apartment full of veterans you will very quickly very quickly earn the reputation of either being a liar or someone that's gonna be telling the truth all the time and you'll be respected ten times more well that is it for today guys I appreciate you tuning in I'm sorry it's taking so long to get a video out I honestly I have had no motivation to get a video out these last three days I woke up today full of piss and vinegar got my coffee flowing through my veins and I wanted to get a video out so I'm not sure if I have a chance the next four days so anyway guys I hope you enjoyed the video thank you so much for tuning in if you have any questions leave them in the comment section below I hope everybody enjoys their Sunday and I will see you very very soon [Music]

Channel: officer401

Views: 448,521

Keywords: police, cops, law, enforcement, officer, 401, officer401, rookie, advice, new hire, recruit, police recruit, police academy, slow down

Id: Vv8PqnTu-Rw

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 29 2017