Monty0112

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, regardless of their nationality or beliefs. This tragedy affects all the people of Belgium, as we are a small nation. Though we may be divided in structure, we are united as a people. It's heartwarming to see all the volunteers, offering aid. Taxi's are offering their services for free, blood donors are reporting in, people are offering their homes for stranded people, internet providers offering WIFI hotspots for free for communication, etc. I myself cancelled my leave voluntarily, just like many other fellow officers. It may be a dark day in our history, it's also a day I feel very proud to be Belgian.

Feel free to ask any questions you have. I'll answer via personal message. This way, we don't clutter the topic with our conversation.

If you're motivated and comitted 100%, it's tough but definitely doable. You'll get to know other like-minded people and create new friendships. However, it's also a year of hard work, lots of studying, writing essays and reports, plenty of practical/theoretical tests and working on your physical condition. The strenuous self defense courses will get you bruised up and make your muscles sore. You'll learn basic policing skills like radio procedures, communication skills, traffic courses, self defense, shooting, law, police procedures, etc. All in all, it's a year of testing how much you want this job and if you are ready for it. You'll have a less active social life during that year but for me, it was all worth it.

My academy training (Belgium) lasted for one year. During training, you also have to complete two internships with your local police department where you live. During these internships, you perform normal police duties with a field training officer. When graduated, you still have to complete a 6 months probation period with the department you are hired with. After that, you're a full sworn police officer. Graduating police academy doesn't grant you any type of bachelor or masters degree over here though. I do have a masters degree which makes it possible to apply for an officer rank without going through lower ranks first. I prefer climbing the ladder though. For me, one year of training is sufficient. I do learn every day though out on the streets.

Exactly. People call us and expect us to use our magic wand and solve all their problems. Responding to fights is the worst. Fifteen people fighting at a party, throwing punches and kicking, and bystanders look at me and my partner and expect us to break up the fight and arrest everyone. Waiting for backup, we get called cowards. And when we do use force to break it up, we hear them shouting "police brutality". In this day and age, policing is criticized by young and old. And on top of that, everything we do is put under a magnifying glass. For example, in my department, the simple use of pepper spray requires filling in a ten pages long paper form afterwards. This form has to be filled in twice by me AND my partner alike. It has come to the point where some colleagues are afraid to use their spray/baton, just because of all the hassle afterwards. I still love my job and wouldn't do anything else, don't get me wrong. But there are times I wonder why we, public servants who all took an oath, are so distrusted.

Very interesting debate going on here. I am unaware of the kind of physical training US police academies give. I'd like to elaborate on my European academy training though. In my encounters on the street, I've used arm locks and knee techniques a number of times. Pain stimuli (punches and kicks, in other words) are allowed though I've never had to use those. I used most of these techniques when the suspect was already on the ground and refused to give his hands in order to be cuffed. The most difficult part (one that wasn't taught at my academy for that matter) for me, is engaging the first physical contact with an uncompliant suspect. Not that long ago, I encountered a mentally unstable person who fled his mental institution. He had his arms tightly next to his body and froze up completely. Mind you, the guy was mentally ill and uncompliant though in no way a criminal. Although he refused to be taken back, he was very friendly and kept complimenting us for being his only friends. Usually, I get quite an adrenaline rush when a suspect resists arrest. This makes me focus and makes me want to use physical force since it's me vs the "bad" guy. With the mental guy, it was just me vs the "sick" guy. With a decent amount of luck, me and my partner managed to still make him comply without violence. Afterwards, it made me wonder though what I would have done if he hadn't complied. I'm not saying my academy training was useless. On the contrary, it gives me a couple of techniques to choose from when in a wrestle. It did not teach me, however, how to properly engage the first physical contact when a suspect is directly in front of me and refuses cooperation. When I'm behind or next to the suspect, no problem. I'll use a choke hold or bring him to the ground with a arm/wrist lock. When he's directly in front of me with his arms tightly fixed, that's a whole different story. My department has a two-man police patrol policy so most of the time, bringing down a suspect is no problem. Once on the ground, he is all but lost. It still makes me wonder though how I would engage contact when alone. Any experiences from you US one-man police patrol officers are much appreciated!