Friday

This morning for Essentials for Law Enforcement Leaders class we met in our groups and worked on our group presentations. Our group is doing a PowerPoint on employee wellness and employee assistant programs.

PT was fun today. We had classroom work on nutrition and then in the gym we did some defensive tactic work. DT was led by our Romanian student.

Alex going for a ride.

This afternoon we talked about sexual harassment in my law class and had more presentations in my Behavioral Science class.

Tonight Bill (L.A) Martin (Nevada) and Steve and I went to Alexandria for dinner. It’s always treat to get off base for some good food and then a nightcap at an Irish pub.

Along the Potomac River

Tomorrow morning we’re headed to DC for a White House tour.

Thursday

Full day of classes today. Got a little extra sleep due to my Essentials class not starting until 0750.

In my Essentials class we had a group discussion on the Consent Decree New Orleans PD was placed under in 2005 and still is to present day. Consent Decree is federal oversight when a police department is defunct beyond control. The discussion was what would we do if we were the Chief of Police for that city and how would we upright the department.

PT class was pretty rough today. 20 minutes in length rotating stations. When you completed a station you had to do sandbag pushes across the gym before starting the next station.

Today I also gave my PowerPoint presentation in my Violent Crimes class. My presentation was from a 2011 homicide that we investigated where the victim was found burned in a vehicle along the Saginaw River. Three persons are currently in prison for that homicide.

Not much else going on today. Tomorrow will be a full day of classes. Saturday a group of us got in for a tour of the White House. Hoping to get lucky and meet the president. You never know.

Wednesday

Code Red today although I looked outside and it does not look that bad. Anyway it was nice to sleep in a little.

Today due to the base closure the weekly fitness challenge is on you own or by section. I think I will be swimming today for my challenge.

I hit the pool before lunch and got 2 miles in. Only 8 more to go for my 34.

After lunch I did laundry and took advantage of the day off and completed my last paper.

I ended up heading back to the pool before dinner and put another mile in. Not much going on after dinner. I spent the night relaxing in the dorm room.

Tuesday

We had PT first thing this morning. I was not wanting to get up this morning as Martin, Steve and I went up to Dulles and picked Bill up. He got in late from LA. We got back to the dorms around 145am.

PT definitely woke me up this morning. 4 stations 8 minutes each. Cardio, weights, core and bag tosses.

Everyone is talking this morning about the storm that is supposed to be here tonight and tomorrow. I’ve heard up to 5 inches of snow tonight then turning to ice tomorrow.

We got word before lunch to prepare for no instructors to be here tomorrow due to the pending storm. We will be doing our weekly physical challenge on our own by section. Also International Night (Dinner prepared by our international classmates) has been postponed to next week.

This afternoon consisted of a case study in my Violent Crimes class and more individual presentations in my Behavioral Science class.

Tonight after dinner I finished my Personal Leadership Reflection paper. I must say it’s been quite some time (over 21 years) where I needed to write a paper that required in-text citations and a reference page.

I believe I now only have one more paper to write and all my assignments will be completed for the academy.

While finishing my paper we learned that the Marines have called a Code Red for tomorrow. Besides the weekly physical challenge we will be doing on our own I probably should use the day to get some extra miles in the pool and knock out my last paper.

Monday

It’s President’ day today. Soon I will be headed back to Detroit to catch my flight back to DC. Tomorrow we will start Week 7 of the NA.

It was nice to be home even though it was only for a few days. Had lunch with Barb in Livonia before my flight.

We had a good time at Grand Central for the Koenig fundraiser. There was a good turnout and the food was great.

I made it to Virginia pretty quick. Flight time was 1 hour. When I got back to the academy I got in the pool and swam a mile. I now have 10 more to go.

Dinner was disappointing compared to the non-cafeteria food I had while at home. Don’t get me wrong the food is good here it just gets old.

Tonight I am working on a paper for my Essentials for Law Enforcement Leaders class. It is a personal leadership reflection paper.

Tonight I’m headed to Dulles airport to pick up Bill from LA. His plane is getting in around 1230am.

Friday

Looking very much forward to flying home today for the holiday weekend. We have two classes this morning.

In my Violent Crimes class we will see more individual power point presentations. This morning we saw a presentation and the two murderers that escaped from prison in upstate New York a few years back. Very interesting case.

Also this morning we had a presentation on Cyber Security by Dr. Eric Cole. This guy knows his stuff. In a nutshell your phones/computers and tablets are not secure. Log onto a public WiFi like at an airport or restaurant and if someone is looking they can see everything in your phone.

I swear I could see people in the room deleting things as the presenter spoke, LOL!

Also learned is the European countries are really sticking companies with millions of dollars in fines when they don’t protect people’s personal information and the US is really doing nothing to protect our identities in holding companies responsible.

Got out of class and am packing to fly home.

Thursday

Full day of classes today. Tomorrow is a half day and Monday is a holiday. Most of us are flying home tomorrow for the long weekend. It has been a month now since I have been home.

In my Essentials Class we had a group discussion on “sub cultures” within an organization and how they can both hurt and help.

My second class this morning was PT. Our instructor worked the heck out of our legs today. I am having a hard time walking this afternoon. The workout consisted of using resistance bands to do lunges, high step running and what now is known as the dreaded “Leg Cranker.”

This afternoon we were all in the auditorium for a presentation in the Sikh Temple shooting the occurred in 2012 in Wisconsin. The presenter was Lt. Brian Murphy who was shot multiple times when he responded.

Wednesday

Fitness Challenge Day-The Wicked Witch Hunt

Challenge day did not disappoint this morning. For me it seemed the toughest one yet. We started in groups of 3 and pushed sandbags along the floor for 5 minutes in the gym. Then we went directly from the gym and outside for a two mile run.

The first half of the run was to the Crime Lab parking garage and up 5 flights of stairs. Once on top we did lunges all the way across the top deck of the garage. Then on our mile run back we had stations of mountain climbers, pushups and pull-ups along the way. Needless to say my legs are shredded today.

This afternoon the entire session is in the auditorium for a presentation by the FBI on Investigative online tools.

Today is also Steve’s birthday (roommate). A group of us are going out tonight to celebrate.

Tuesday

Up early this morning for PT at 0730. I don’t believe we have had PT class in the afternoon. It’s pouring rain here and I see at home we are getting hammered with snow again. Frankenmuth schools closed last night for today.

Courtney took it easy on our lower bodies this morning due to our fitness challenge tomorrow. However she did the upper body hard.

Steve was really into getting warmed up this morning for PT coffee and all.

Both my classes this afternoon had individual power point presentations on criminal cases they were involved in. Saw some great cases and great police work.

After classes got out a group of us went to Kims for a haircut and took a break from the cafe and got some Thai food in town.

Monday

Today we start the second half of the NA. We had a late start this morning due to some snow that we got last night. I start my first class at 10am. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bit after the busy weekend. Out friends at NYPD did not disappoint. What a great weekend.

In Essentials for Leaders class we had a group discussion and lecture in conflict management. We also broke into groups and were given a scenario that we had to work out and come to an agreement on.

This afternoon we started our individual case presentations in Behavioral Science class. We heard three cases today. A serial killer case out of Los Angelas, police shooting from Kansas and a inter-state commerce fraud out of Nebraska.

We wrap up the day as a full session involving our second and last international student panel.

The first panel today consisted of NA students from Greece, Austria, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Africa and Canada.

The second panel consisted of Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Philippines, Jamaica and Bangladesh.

Again many differences in how our countries are policed. It seems that other countries have more education requirements and longer training than the US.

After class today the IACP (International Association of Chief’s of Police) gave a presentation on the organization and provided dinner.

The rest of the night I will be working on homework for PT (yes we actually have homework for this class) and also putting together a power point for my Violent Crimes class.