Friday January 21st, 2005 I started off bright and early commiting family violence on my snooze button from around 0515 to 0615, then I finally decided to crawl out of bed and get ready to go to the substation. I shaved, took a shower, got dressed, packed my lunch, packed my bag, double checked everything (typical school stuff: pen, paper, notebook, gun, highlighters, book). Then hopped in my truck and headed to class with just enough time to get there fifteen minutes early. The drive was foggy and busy with morning traffic. I got to the substation, hopped out of my truck and realized that I forgot my rig (the batman melt cops wear ... I need it to keep my gun on my hip). I hollared at the other guys and told them I'd be right back, hopped back in the truck and caught every red light that could burn it's way throught the fog. It took me twenty minutes to get back to my house and back to the substation, and I had already resolved that I would be doing pushups or some other form of penance for being late. Everyone was outside loading vehicles when I got back and I just slid back into the groove. Sometimes cops are too multitasked to realize what's going on. Whew. Come to think of it, I hooe Sgt. Trevino doesn't read this.... Then we all went to class for a quick brief of what was going on for the day, filed out to the parking lot and packed ourselves into the D.A.R.E. van (bet you always wondered what cops needed those for, huh?) We drove to Scholz airfield and followed the lieutenant in his patrol car around the field to a small setup at the North end with a wooden hand painted sign that read "Authorized Personel Only - Galveston Police Department SWAT Training Facility". You can only get there by crossing the air field. I'm not sure who the sign was for. There was an old WWII bunker at one end made into a target range, then there was a gazebo with picnic tables and a set of bleavhers. There was a repelling tower and a storage shed. Not much of what I'd call a "facility" at all. I really wish I had my camera. It worked for what we were using it for. The "facility" was surounded by the same thick fog that attempted to twart my return to the substation and the area had a Twilight zone kind of feeling. And it was cold and humid. The kind of cold that slowly seeps into you rather that gets you right away. We set up targets and ponded away at our shoulders until 1330 (1:30 pm). We shot basic from the shoulder, tactical reload (with shells in the shotgun), combat reload (when your shotgun's empty and you need to reload right into the receiver), transitions (slinging or dropping the shotgun when it's out of ammo or malfunctions and drawing your sidearm), and we did it all in standing, kneeling, and prone. Then we practiced firing and changing positions from behind a barricade or cover. It was all a lot of fun. At around 1400 (2:00pm) we cleaned our shotguns and returned to the substations to take the written exam on shotguns. Nothing exiting. Then we went home. I want to take the time now to go over some thoughts I've had about the Principles of Modern Policing. Cardio does wonders for the meditative process. Two in particular: 5) Police serve and preserve public favor not by catering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law. I was reciting the first five while on the Ellipse machine at the gym and I came up with another example and clarification of the meaning of this Principle. absolute >adjective 1 not qualified or diminished in any way; total. impartial >adjective treating all rivals or disputants equally. Demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law means that I, as an officer and a citizen, must obey the laws as well and let the public see me as obeying the law. Public favor diminishes when people see a cop speeding, running red lights, or any other traffic offense. When I was a corrections officer there were times after one of the guards was reprimanded for a violation, that the inmates became more difficult to handle, because they would always lump all the guards into the same category, and I would have to straighten their attitudes out fast to regain the status quo. I think similar things happen in the public arena. I also wanted to go back to: 8) Police should always direct their actions strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary. This is what I wrote before: