The constant adrenaline, and the cool equipment. That alone attracts many to the line
of work that both draws people in, and shies people away from you all at
the same time.
But long before officer Stevens patrolled the streets of Abilene, he knew there was something about that badge that represented everything he wanted to be.
"We respond to calls, and even enforce the law on certain people and sometimes it can change lives or help in a situation", says officer Stevens, of APD.
And now, APD is on the lookout for a fresh set of faces to add to the force.
"You almost have to take a business approach to it. There's a lot of scenarios that they put you through that help you in training", officer Stevens tells us.
Scenarios, like the shooting simulator.
"We have to sight the weapon in to make sure it hits accurately when we run through the scenarios. The simulator is really one of the best tools you can have on your department", explains training officer Sage.
But before officers can holster up, they have to do some training--about 25 weeks worth, in fact.
"Once they get through physical agility, they move on to the background investigation phase, where they are assigned a background investigator to dig through their history. It's a very competitive program, we generally higher about one out of every ten", explains Lt. Rowley, of the APD Academy.
From protecting civilians, to handling traffic, it's clear not everyone's cut out to to be a cop. But a cop needs to be cut out to handle it all.
The starting salary for a newly trained officer is around $50,000 a year, and for those interested, Tuesday will be the final chance to apply for the 51st Police Academy.
But long before officer Stevens patrolled the streets of Abilene, he knew there was something about that badge that represented everything he wanted to be.
"We respond to calls, and even enforce the law on certain people and sometimes it can change lives or help in a situation", says officer Stevens, of APD.
And now, APD is on the lookout for a fresh set of faces to add to the force.
"You almost have to take a business approach to it. There's a lot of scenarios that they put you through that help you in training", officer Stevens tells us.
Scenarios, like the shooting simulator.
"We have to sight the weapon in to make sure it hits accurately when we run through the scenarios. The simulator is really one of the best tools you can have on your department", explains training officer Sage.
But before officers can holster up, they have to do some training--about 25 weeks worth, in fact.
"Once they get through physical agility, they move on to the background investigation phase, where they are assigned a background investigator to dig through their history. It's a very competitive program, we generally higher about one out of every ten", explains Lt. Rowley, of the APD Academy.
From protecting civilians, to handling traffic, it's clear not everyone's cut out to to be a cop. But a cop needs to be cut out to handle it all.
The starting salary for a newly trained officer is around $50,000 a year, and for those interested, Tuesday will be the final chance to apply for the 51st Police Academy.
