Forty mph in reverse, followed by a Tazering
Posted on | September 8, 2006 | 7 Comments
I had no idea that speedometers registered your speed while you were going backwards.
I realized that they did whilst going forty mph in reverse in the passenger seat of a police car. That realization was followed by abruptly being jerked around in a maneuver that is only mildly less dramatic than what happens to shuttle astronauts during liftoff. Or so it seemed at the time.
Last night was my first night at the Citizen’s Police Academy. The program is essentially a combination of public relations and community outreach. Part of its intent is to educate the general populace and part of it is to convey some appreciation for the duties of the police so that when we see a high-speed chase gone wrong or an officer-involved shooting, we know a little better what types of circumstances the officer might have endured in the moments preceding what the TV cameras captured.
As a writer, though, it’s pure gold. The type of research fodder that pays off in spades. Last night, after an orientation to the 11-week program, we were taken out to the course where police cadets are trained to drive and put in a car with one of the instructors. These guys could moonlight as stuntmen if they wanted to. Pylons lay out a course that simulates some of the obstacles an officer might encounter while traveling at high speeds. Smooth and not-so smooth turns. Stationary objects (e.g. cars) in the lane that must be avoided. Traffic signals. These guys drive as much with their brakes as with their accelerators and we were whipped about more rudely and abruptly than in any carnival or theme park ride. One of the highlights was the evasion tactic used when the police officer is escorting a big-wig and gets cut off. He accelerated backwards (see above) and once clear of the alley he whipped us around in what’s known as a “J-turn” so we were facing in the opposite direction.
Cadets get about 40 hours of driving training during their six month program. They have to complete the courses within a pre-established time limit, knocking over a minimum number of cones, and one of their tests is completed in pitch black conditions. The big course takes at most 2 minutes 15 seconds. I think it would take me at least 5 minutes and I’d probably knock over half the pylons. There were places this guy put his car through where the cones were maybe 2″ further apart than the total width of the vehicle, and he was approaching from an angle.
Tires on these cars last at most two or three days. They’ve been known to burn up a complete set in a day.
I felt queasy at the end.
Then we went into the self-defense training center, where we were educated on the use of Tasers. These are amazing gadgets, much more multi-faceted than I realized. They are dual-functioning—they can be used to directly contact the offender with the pulsing burst of low amperage/high voltage electricity (five-second bursts) that deter by inflicting pain. Or, they can be fired from many feet away, in which case a pair of metal darts strike the offender (the farther apart the two darts the better). These short probes (which are actually small fishhooks) penetrate the skin and the electrical charge delivered via cables that remain attached to the Taser gun causes muscle paralysis. The ideal is to get one in the shoulder and one in a leg, to cause paralysis in both hemispheres. The probes don’t actually have to penetrate the skin—if they get caught up in clothing they can be an inch or two away from the skin and still be efficacious. So long as the leads are attached, the officer can continue to deliver 5-second bursts if the offender isn’t complaint, but mostly they fall down and hope to never feel such discomfort again. The training officers have Tasered each other so they know what it feels like. One guy said his muscles were sore the next day as if he’d run a marathon. The other said that you lie there fully conscious of what’s happening, wanting to speak or move, but incapable of it.
The really interesting stuff was details like: when a Taser is shot, the incident is recorded on an internal chip and will be downloaded by a sergeant afterward. The department is testing out a new model that actually has a video/audio camera embedded in it so the entire incident is recorded. Other interesting factoids: when the Taser is fired, it ejects little pieces of confetti with the weapon’s serial number on it so scenes can be reconstructed later on. Who fired from what location. It’s all very cool. I got to shoot one at a target and zap the silhouette profile but was mildly disappointed not to get to experience the business end first-hand. All for art, you understand.
In future sessions we’ll see crime scene investigations, visit the SWAT team headquarters, learn about sex offenders, terrorism task forces, bomb squads tactics, detecting deception and we’ll also go on a police ridealong for a full shift. Finally we’ll be graduated from the academy by the Houston Chief of Police in mid-November. I have no doubt that some of this will end up as fodder for future stories/novels. And if not, it’s fun and it’s free!
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About
Bev Vincent is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated companion to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award.
His short fiction has appeared in places like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, From the Borderlands and The Blue Religion. He is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine and a member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community. He also writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews.
September 8th, 2006 @ 1:43 pm
Wow! That’s awesome!
I’m jealous… they don’t offer that where I live.
(Though I’m fairly sure they do offer free beatings for long-haired pinko hippie types like me…)
September 8th, 2006 @ 2:01 pm
Yeah, you might be able to talk a cop into firing the Taser at you! They told us what sort of things are considered resistance and aggressive behavior. I was tempted to try it out, but figured it wouldn’t be good form on night 1 of an 11 week program…
September 8th, 2006 @ 2:12 pm
this all sounds amazing!
September 8th, 2006 @ 2:22 pm
It’s quite a diverse group taking the course. There’s one other writer, a personal injury lawyer, a couple of criminal justice students, some people involved in local community associations, some retired folks looking for things to do, a guy really interested in homeland security, and a fellow who volunteers for fire departments and Red Cross, to name just a few. About 25 in total. HPD runs this course at least once a year and sometimes twice. We’re class #38.
September 8th, 2006 @ 3:58 pm
perhaps on the last night then…
September 8th, 2006 @ 9:27 pm
i wish they offered something like that where i live.
September 9th, 2006 @ 10:06 pm
This is all most excellent. I wish we had something like that here.