Starting week 8

Week 8 starts tomorrow and week 8-9 is basically the end of the college classroom work, with the first 2 days of week 10 finals for those who have them.  Many classes have group presentations that should be interesting.  The Officer Involved Shooting class will have group presentations (usually 4 to a group) on a shooting someone from the group's agency was involved in.  Interesting how things are investigated differently, however the end result is usually the same.  The Forensics class presentations should be even more interesting.  That class has been the best of the bunch that I have.  I've also heard that from several classmates.  We had a lecture on blood spatter on Friday that was both graphic and educational.  This should be a required class for all.  I'd like to see how to get this into a 24 hr training class and have everyone in our department get the training.  It would be a great benefit, especially to police officers who work the street.  I'll be working on this.

The weekend was rather relaxing.  I found a spot in Fredericksburg, VA to watch the Creighton game on Saturday.  I out-numbered Wichita State fans in the place 1-0.  Kudos to the 'Jays.  An early to bed Saturday night and a late sleep in Sunday morning was well needed.  A little laundry and I'm in gear for the 5+ mile run we do on Wednesday.  The only hitch is the projected snowmaggedon that again is forecast for the area.  The I-95 corridor is the alleged dividing line between heavy snow and "less heavy" according to the weather procrastinators.  I would imagine if the Academy is open on Wednesday we'll be running.  I think they should make that run "self-study" and have us do it on a treadmill.

I had dinner on Friday in the chow hall with a guy from Lebanon.  Very interesting to hear about that country and the issues they face.  Interesting to hear how American foreign policy is received there.  He had some good points and questions.  I wish him well upon his return.  Amazing the things he has to worry about and here I am still worried if Taylor Martinez can develop as a QB any more after 4 years (probably not).  Spring practice has begun in Lincoln.

The craziness of America continues to hit around here.  An Alexandria motor officer was shot in the head by a cab driver this past week.  Amazingly, he has a good chance of survival and recovery.  The two officers killed in Santa Cruz were known to a classmate from Capitola (CA).  One of the officers was 3 weeks from retirement.  Two additional police officers were shot, one killed, near another classmates area near Vero Beach.  I'm sure there has been more when you have 270 different agencies together.