Santa Clara agility test results.

[Ace of Hearts]

That wasn’t so bad. I didn’t do as well as I thought I would, but I got through it all OK.
I’ve been preparing for a fitness test, and not an agility test. They are two different things. The only section I clearly excelled at was the run. Everything else was sort of middle of the road.


I don’t know my score, I only know I wasn’t taken aside and asked to leave early.

I met one of our fellow BARFer’s. He proctored the obstacle course. That was neat to put a name with a Face.

All officials were disarmingly friendly. There was a broad range of personalities and backgrounds among candidates. I wasn’t the oldest by any stretch of the means, and I met one for certain squid.

All I can say is well paying jobs that don’t require a college degree attract a broad range of people.

I’m of the personal opinion the atmosphere is relaxed so officials can observe your personality without restrictive influence. They want to see how candidates react to proctors and fellow candidates without a strong guidance of expectations of candidates.

The group I was in performed really well. We only had one person wash out because of the 6 foot wall. He was actually talking up a storm how well he knew it, but when it came to walking the walk he just didn’t perform.

I myself fell down with the 165 pound dummy pull. I didn’t stop, and I didn’t drop it and kept it off the ground so that run didn’t fail me, but I took the opportunity to do it a second time and improved my score 33% just by not falling down. I didn't want to be the one who fell down during their best run. That was our first event so it woke me up needless to say.

All the ladies did really well.

They saved the run for the last event, and with only one of our folks in my group washing out I expected to see a lot of people at the last event. Such was not the case. It looked like we lost a third of the participants from the other groups by the running event. So I take it we had an unusual group of strong performers.

That’s about it. I took the written exams as well, and there’s really not much to say about that. Since the job doesn’t “require” a bachelor’s degree the test reflects that. So if you’re a college graduate it really isn’t anything of any consequence other than a formality. But if you can’t read a road map, and know your North, South, East and West then you are screwed.

[silversvs]

Its pass/fail. Not a big deal unless of course ya fail. The physical agility and written are the easiest portion of the application process. You have a long and pianfully slow process ahead of you.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

[BIGJIM510]

Congradulations on passing, having gone through parts of the process my advice on the interview is to go to the practice session if available. After have 2 or 3 friends sit with you and ask law enforcement related questions. This is where I failed to prepare myself enough. Just my opinion

[Ace of Hearts]

For instance what kind of law enforcement questions. That's going to be my biggest weakness. I only have an education in business law.

[windex]

Your partner takes a candy bar from a store without paying, what would you do?

[ckim34]

For instance what kind of law enforcement questions. That's going to be my biggest weakness. I only have an education in business law.

During the interview they dont really ask questions pertaining to law. The questions are about your life, what you have done to prepare for a career in law enforcement, and why you think you would succeed as a police officer.

Santa Clara is a very tough agency to be hired by, while they do not "require" a bachelors degree they highly prefer one or if you dont have a BA they prefer lateral hires. Good luck on the rest of the testing and remember to be patient!

[Ace of Hearts]

If he stole a candy bar, I would tell him to put it back, and treat thim like a child. If he wants to make an issue of it I would escilate it. If it's not the first time or I've been warned about his actions, then I would escilate it from the start. Or if he's in a supervisory position and hagers me about my scolding him, then he better line up his ducks for a conversation with upper management.

Here's the thing. I have a career out many others don't. I don't have to put up with the peer pressure of other officers to be accepted or protect them to be seen as one of the guys. I'm here because I went toe to toe with a Police Lt. that wanted me to back off researching what I thought was fraud, and turned out I was right, which directly impacted the discoverly of nearly $1,000,000 in theft. A candy bar??? I will run them into the ground.

I have quite a few life expereinces where I kind of have a better idea how to answer those questions. Looking back now I've obviously blown interviews because I was thinking too hard or trying to give them a perfect answer. I could go too far, and say I would personally arrest him right there. Oh really, they would ask.

In fact I just blew a more ideal answer. I could have started off by joking with him and imply his mind spaced. Actually, I personally walked out of safeway once with all my stuff having forgot to go to the cashier first. I almost got to my car, and noticed nothing was in bags. OH SHIT!!!!!!!! So I ran back in and paid for it. What's funny, is that I went and bought a lottery ticket then too, and I won $1200.

Karma.

Degrees and such are not a problem. I'm excited about maxing out that 7.5% education incentive most agencies have.

Patients, I've got plenty of it. I"m getting my eyes fixed at the end of the month, and I need the long process to meet the recovery time to pass the medical.

If course I might be talking out of my ass. I don't have the test results yet. Who knows, I could have marked the wrong answer on the sheet and said yes to drug manufacture and distribution.

That was actually the hardest part of the test. The personal history test had a whole bunch of questions that were voided our removed. So you had to pay attention where to skip and continue. There was one there, 2 here, 3 there, 5 here. They were all over the place.

[Nick]

For being as educated as you claim to be, your spelling is terrible.

Patience is a virtue. Patients wait in a doctor's office.
Experience. "I" before "E" except after "C" except when used as in "neighbor" or "weigh."
Escalate.

I'm not trying to rip on you. But... Santa Clara Police uses the ACSO Academy and their LD18 Program ain't no joke. Over half of the recruits that fail out of the ACSO Academy, do so because of Report Writing.

Good luck to you.

[ckim34]

LOL spelling was never my strong point even while in the academy or now for that matter hahaha

[nakedape]

cKim, are you a native speaker of English? If not, and you have a second language needed in your service area, I would overlook some typos if i was screening you. But you should self-test on the internet for spelling, right now. Seriously, Nick is like most people and made a comment (and nice correction BTW) of your spelling because it counts. Paper screenings are what's going to get you. Cops need to articulate as well as a judge to convince same judges and juries...NApe

[BIGJIM510]

Sorry I wasn't more clear I read the responses and then re-read mine and realized I should have gone into more detail. The questions for situational were similar to the candy bar one, but there are variations on that. I was also asked what I had done to prepare to be a police officer and what made me a good candidate or why I thought they should pick me.
Jimi

[Ace of Hearts]

Sorry I wasn't more clear I read the responses and then re-read mine and realized I should have gone into more detail. The questions for situational were similar to the candy bar one, but there are variations on that. I was also asked what I had done to prepare to be a police officer and what made me a good candidate or why I thought they should pick me.
Jimi

I’m salivating at answering that one: What have I done to prepare?

Which brings up another question: Where can I get my hands on the curriculum of most the law and procedural stuff taught at the academy?

For instance if I was asked that same question in an FBI interview, I can say I’ve been training with a personal trainer to ensure I pass the physical fitness test, and that I’ve recently read the constitution again, and got my hands on (and gone through) copies of articles 18 and 22 of federal law.

Other than going to state and county websites I really don’t know where to dig up pertinent laws I would be responsible for enforcing most of the time. However, I also suppose at this point the effort is more important than the accuracy of the material I find.

I will also know the agency inside and out with information I am able to gather publicly.

[BIGJIM510]

What I got out of my interviewers it wasn't so much knowing the law, more knowing what the job entailed and what I would be responsible for and how was I preparing for that.
Jimi

[Outta Control]

Have a question. Since the 500 yard has to be at or before 2 minutes and say you are over 5 seconds do they kick you out? Even if you have not done the agility test?

[Nick]

Where can I get my hands on the curriculum of most the law and procedural stuff taught at the academy?

www.post.ca.gov

Start there.

[ian408]

Good luck Ace.

[Ace of Hearts]

www.post.ca.gov

Start there.

That's very cost efffective. I bought about half of them. If I get through them all I'll get the others.

Thanks

[Ace of Hearts]

I got an e-mail today confirming I passed the written too. I only took it Saturday. Santa Clara County works fast. Really.

[1K32]

Congrats Ace.

[PorradaVFR]

What KIND of candy bar? ;)

[ckim34]

cKim, are you a native speaker of English? If not, and you have a second language needed in your service area, I would overlook some typos if i was screening you. But you should self-test on the internet for spelling, right now. Seriously, Nick is like most people and made a comment (and nice correction BTW) of your spelling because it counts. Paper screenings are what's going to get you. Cops need to articulate as well as a judge to convince same judges and juries...NApe

As a matter of fact I am not a native speaker of English, plus this is a forum not a police report. I obviously am not going to be as careful on a motorcycle forum as I would in one of my police reports. Also I have no problem with Nick making a correction about my spelling mistake BTW. Thanks for your concern about be not being able to convince a judge or jury but I've managed quit well so far. :thumbup

[ckim34]

For being as educated as you claim to be, your spelling is terrible.

Patience is a virtue. Patients wait in a doctor's office.
Experience. "I" before "E" except after "C" except when used as in "neighbor" or "weigh."
Escalate.

I'm not trying to rip on you. But... Santa Clara Police uses the ACSO Academy and their LD18 Program ain't no joke. Over half of the recruits that fail out of the ACSO Academy, do so because of Report Writing.

Good luck to you.

The LD 18 Report Writing is only difficult if you don't have at least a decent grasp of the English language. I passed with flying colors and as you can see I cant even use the correct form of the word patience or patient LOL

[Outta Control]

:laughing

[nakedape]

Kim! Don't get defensive. I thought you were sharing and asking for advice. I know this lady who paper screens teachers, and she throws out apps. at the first typo. I guess the only valid advice I have is from being the subject of police reports and the author of many a student referral....

Shade the truth your way, and by being more articulate and concise (with the proper grammar and spelling), you are of a more kick-ass cop (or hard-ass teacher). The only two times in 39 years I had to face the judge, the lawyer managed to completely discredit the police reports. SHADE the truth, don't butcher it. The only time I've been arrested the CHP wrote such an exaggerated report while still pissed it wasn't tenable in court; i.e., he stated I was riding a "racebike" but I had the evidence to show it was a "standard", at least by the insurance company rating.

Best of luck at the academy and I really don't mean to be a spelling Nazi, I just want an easy read...NApe

[ckim34]

LOL I guess I get a little defensive at times, but its just the nature of my work I think.

[Outta Control]

Geez drifting off topic. :laughing

[nicholonious]

If he stole a candy bar, I would tell him to put it back, and treat thim like a child. If he wants to make an issue of it I would escilate it. If it's not the first time or I've been warned about his actions, then I would escilate it from the start. Or if he's in a supervisory position and hagers me about my scolding him, then he better line up his ducks for a conversation with upper management.

Here's the thing. I have a career out many others don't. I don't have to put up with the peer pressure of other officers to be accepted or protect them to be seen as one of the guys. I'm here because I went toe to toe with a Police Lt. that wanted me to back off researching what I thought was fraud, and turned out I was right, which directly impacted the discoverly of nearly $1,000,000 in theft. A candy bar??? I will run them into the ground.

I have quite a few life expereinces where I kind of have a better idea how to answer those questions. Looking back now I've obviously blown interviews because I was thinking too hard or trying to give them a perfect answer. I could go too far, and say I would personally arrest him right there. Oh really, they would ask.

In fact I just blew a more ideal answer. I could have started off by joking with him and imply his mind spaced. Actually, I personally walked out of safeway once with all my stuff having forgot to go to the cashier first. I almost got to my car, and noticed nothing was in bags. OH SHIT!!!!!!!! So I ran back in and paid for it. What's funny, is that I went and bought a lottery ticket then too, and I won $1200.

Karma.

Degrees and such are not a problem. I'm excited about maxing out that 7.5% education incentive most agencies have.

Patients, I've got plenty of it. I"m getting my eyes fixed at the end of the month, and I need the long process to meet the recovery time to pass the medical.

If course I might be talking out of my ass. I don't have the test results yet. Who knows, I could have marked the wrong answer on the sheet and said yes to drug manufacture and distribution.

That was actually the hardest part of the test. The personal history test had a whole bunch of questions that were voided our removed. So you had to pay attention where to skip and continue. There was one there, 2 here, 3 there, 5 here. They were all over the place.

On 2-22-08 at approximately 2006 hours, Ace of Hearts treated his partner (Officer McTheft) like a child for taking a candy bar without paying at the Barf Convenient Store, located at www.bayarearidersforum.com. Ace of Hearts told me that he would escalate his encounter with Officer McTheft if his partner decided to make an "issue" regarding the candy bar.


...Kinda bored just showing what report writing looks like...

Dude, that's a decent answer but remember what options you have in those types of scenarios and the possible outcomes. Do you bring it up to a supervisor first? Do you confront your partner first? Maybe they made a mistake and forgot to pay. Is it better to beat around the bush, bullshit with them, and then bring it up? Or is it better to break it to them hard and start giving them an ultimatum about being unethical? Is this type of thing happening throughout the department? Did the cash register guy/girl give the candy bar to your partner as a "gift"? Can you trust your supervisor? Does your supervisor do it too?

I'm just posing questions to make you think more about this type of scenario. I'm going through FTO right now and boy does my FTO make me think hard about decisions that can take away someone's freedom. Hopefully it'll give you some idea of why these questions are asked. The oral board is set up to see how you think. There isn't always a "right" answer. Some common sense and rationalization can take you a long way!

G'luck!

[5MARY4]

It sounds like you have a good FTO.:thumbup.

[antarius]

I was going to type an "example" of what I write these days... then I realized it's my day off and I'm not writing a damn report on BARF! :roflmao