Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

(1)  Positive Statement:

My 2 hour went great! Everyone seemed to enjoy my activities, I made time, and I am finally set to graduate. I am most proud of the journey I went on to complete this project, from attending the STARS academy, to graduating as a police explorer, to going to competition. It was hard at times, but in the end I made it and now I have a clearer picture of whether or not I want to do law enforcement as a career.

(2) Questions to Consider

a. AE

b. AE (I put in a lot of work)

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

My post and my mentor were just a great help in getting me this far. They provided the bulk of the information I learned throughout my whole senior project. I see them as family now.

(4) What didn't work?

I would have double checked my science experiment to make sure I had all my sources included. It was a small mistake, but it probably cost me big on my paper.

(5) Finding Value

The senior project has been life changing for me. My product from it, which was learning the life lessons I did such as being respectful, well spoken, and going back into the community to help is something unique I don't think I could have learned any better than the way I did. I got a great taste of law enforcement and I now know that its a career I would consider after the military. And lastly, through my mentorship at the post, I gained a family I know I can rely on and has my back. That is a very special feeling and now I feel more prepared for my future than ever before.

2 Hour Tommorrow!

My 2 hour is finally around the door! I have all my gear ready, my powerpoint is finally done, and the room is all set up. Its mind blowing to think that all my work will come together tommorrow in what I teach to the class. Students in mine will get to experience a mini academy, role play as officers in scenarios, and get to handcuff one another. Everyone is going to get a very exclusvie and unique look at law enforcement that you would otherwise usually have to join a police post as I did. I hope everything goes well. Wish me luck!

Return from Leave of Absence

The day before I went on the detail for the high school graduations, I had a meeting at my post. This was the first meeting I had attended in a while since I had taken a leave of absence to focus on my school work. We worked out, practiced some scenarios, and I got word we might be going to another competition soon. I was really happy to be back with all my friends at the post. They are like a family to me and we watch each others backs. Go Post 654!!

Graduation Detail

This past Thursday, me and fellow explorers from my post worked a detail at some of the surrounding high schools graduation. We patrolled and made sure there were no suspicious characters around and that the students could enjoy the event with their parents.During the detail, it had me thinking about my own graduation and how senior year has been such a journey for me because of senior project. Luckily, there was no trouble at the graduation and everyone got home safely.

Competition Reflection

Close to finally doing my 2 hour presentation, I decided I wanted to thank my post, my mentor, and everyone else who helped me make it this far. The post is what got me started with my senior project and taught me so much information about the law enforcement field. Without them, I would never have became an explorer. My mentor, Officer Jaycon Sanchez, really kept my project afloat by giving me great information on the interviews I had with him. The little things he would share with me and my fellow explorers also helped in finding answers for my EQ. With my 2 hour around the door, I am ready to finally finish this journey. Thank you Baldwin Park PD!

Blog 25: Mentorship

Literal:
Hours Log

Contact Info:
Officer Jaycon Sanchez
(626)827-3746

Interpretive:
What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I gained from my entire senior project are the life lessons I learned from the academy like how being respectful and good natured will take you far with most people, how going into the community and helping out, especially at a young age, inspires others and gives your life meaning, how going the extra mile no matter hard it seems is always worth it in the end, and how being calm and acting instead of reacting prevents you from making regretful decisions. These lessons are the product of my mentorship, my academy time, and my overall senior experience.

Applied:
How has what you have done helped you to answer your EQ? Please explain.

From my time at the academy to the weekly meetings at my post to the details I worked with my fellow explorers, I have been plunged into the world of law enforcement. Pratically everything there is to know about it I have been taught by officers with decades of experience. I have even been given the opportunity to apply that knowledge in both mock situations and in real life events. With my EQ being "How can an officer best handle a life threatening situation?", what better way to find answers for it then to take the closest role to an officer available to a civilian and be placed in the very situations they are. Everything from my foundation to my answers is attributed to my mentorship.
 

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

(1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

• "How can an officer best handle a life threatening situation?" is my essential question. After a whole school year devoted to learning about law enforcement and answering my EQ, I came to the decision that the best way for an officer to handle a life threatening situation is to utilize the training they receive from academies. The reason for this conclusion is because at the academies, especially in todays world with the scrutiny law enforcement is facing, recruits are put under the toughest and most realistic conditions to make sure they can operate as police officers. With new technologies such as simulators coming out, recruits can be taught things that normally would have to be learned on the streets, things like proper communication skills that vary on who you are talking to or how to have good weapon retention so the officer isn't pulling his weapon on someone who is just pulling out their wallet. Giving them the best possible training before officers get into the field is preparing them for the worse possible scenarios, and practically all my interviews, mentors, and some sources have said that preparing for a situation is key to handling them. Thus give them the best preparation in training and they can face virtually any situation. 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• The primary reason I came to this answer is my experiences at the academy I attended. While at the Sheriff's Training and Regional Services Academy, we underwent an academy that mimicked the actual Sheriff's academy in everything but the length of time. We even practiced at the same  facility as the sheriffs and our training curriculum followed theirs. I heard a lot of real life experiences and got to witness videos of a few of them, and the men and women who lived them came and spoke to us. The officers shared stories of their first life threatening situations and how they often realized that using what they learned in the academy was the only reason they were there to talk to us that day. Once I graduated from the academy and attended my first details, I got a taste of some situations where my training kicked in. Though they were often quarrels between two parties rather than life threatening situations, I doubt I would have been able to deescalate them before they grew out of hand the way I did without my training. 

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

• I faced only two problems during my senior project, the first being that there wasn't much specific research that was of much worth after the 20 - 30 articles. I had to make up for it by getting the inside scoop from my mentor and mentorship. The 2nd was with my mentorship at the academy. Being that it was a 18 week academy that required me to wake up at 4 A.M. on Saturday so that I could get there by 6 A.M. and finish at 6 P.M. starting to take a toll on me. There was a point where managing it along with school was putting me in danger of not graduating that academy. If I hadn't, I would have been out of a mentorship and practically my entire senior project would have gone down the drain. I managed to get my footing ,though, and push through to graduate and I really came out stronger along with being able to complete my hours. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• My mentorship at my police academy because of the hands on training and experience it gave me that was so close to the real thing law enforcement officials undergo and Survival Stress by Steve Drzewiecki because its the best comprehensive journal I have on life threatening situations. That journal is what has allowed me to define my EQ and find the best answers for it.

(5) What is your product and why?

• My product is the greater understanding of service to the community and to others I learned from my time at the academy and my explorer post. I learned that being polite and good natured will take you far in life. Being calm and acting rather than reacting gives you advantages and prevents you from making bad regretful decisions. Going back into the community and doing your part, especially at a young age will inspire and touch others while giving your life meaning. I didn't start this project really thinking to learn these things, rather it seemed like just another project. Yet through my experiences I have come away with so much; knowledge and life lessons that will allow me to be truly successful in life. 

Blog 23: 2014 Interview

1) Who did you interview and what house are they in?

• Ana Landeros/ North House-Edwards

2) What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

• Fashion Advertising because its something she finds interesting and has some proficiency in. 

3)  What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?

• Work with a seamtress and gain knowledge on the field.

4) What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?

• A lot of activites and info on how to do her own 2 hour.

5) What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?

• No questions, but I told her just to keep up with her research binder and not to stress over any component. 

Final 3 Column Chart

Final 3 Column Chart

Blog 21: Independent Component 2

Literal:

A)I, Jared Gonzales, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
B)Baldwin Park Police Explorers
C) Hours Log
D) Since the last independent component, I have graduated into becoming a full fledged police explorer, have gone to competition where I tested everything I have learned in my classes against other police explorers, and I have been attending meetings at my Police Explorer post and furthering my education on law enforcement through the program. I have also used my mentorship to help me explore different answers and activities that I can use for my final 2 hour presentation. Competition was a great area for me to do mock tests of how an officer can best handle life threatening situations since a lot of scenarios involved that very thing. On top of this, I have done details for my post.

Interpretive: 

Having now graduated police explorer academy, I am now a full fledged police explorer. I got to take part in a nationwide competition at Chandler, Arizona that police posts from all over the country come to compete in. I participated in multiple scenarios where there were live actors, the scenarios were replicas of past events that have actually happened, and the whole thing was made to be as realistic as possible. I was in charge of a hostage negotiations scenario where I had to talk down a high school student with a gun who had multiple hostages and had shot a few already. Competition was one of the most significant moments of my senior project as it gave me a means to test out ways an officer can best handle a life threatening situation. As a result I was able to come up with the answers I have now.


 

One of the scenarios at Chandler, Arizona

Some of the competitions were those of strength and teamwork.

While others looked at critical thinking and communication.

The type of events were very varied, but teamwork was necessary in all.

A team about to breach a building in a 10 man hostage rescue scenario.

Explorer Sgt from my Post.

Shooting competitions were a large part of the Chandler competition.

Having to pull a swat vehicle was a challenging event.

A lot of the events had professional actors as criminals. 

Making them seem almost like the real thing.

In the end, Baldwin Park came away with a lot of trophies.

Applied:

As I stated above, this component really helped me narrow done my answers for my EQ since I got to test their actual application in the field. I quickly discovered that my explorer training practically saved me in the scenarios meant to be life threatening (answer # 1), that being able to effectively communicate with not only my partners but with suspects and fellow agencies was almost essential (answer # 2), and that understanding how everything from my radio to my handcuffs worked meant that I wasn't struggling with them while under fire (airsoft bb's and paintballs) and thus I was able to concentrate on staying in one piece during competition (answer # 3). 

Blog 20: Three Column Chart

Jared's Three Column Chart

Blog 19: Senior Project and ESLRs

1.  What ESLR have you excelled in most in your senior project? 

• Effective I-Poly Citizen

2.  Please explain why you think you have excelled in this ESLR.

• Not only have I met the requirements for the number of service learning hours needed, but have more than triple what was asked for. My entire senior project mentorship, being a police explorer, revolves around community service. From working the Rose Bowl to working at Christmas charity events for the less fortunate of my city, I have done much to give back. Through my time at the academy for my mentorship, I have learned the importance of deadlines, being punctual, and always being respectful. 

3.  Provide evidence from your senior project to support your claim (evidence is a photo of something you are doing, photo of something you made, etc).

Blog 18: 2 Hour Meeting Answer 3

1) How can an officer best handle a life-threatening situation?

2) The proper and efficient use of police equipment will keep an officer out of harm's way.

3)

• Knowing how your equipment works, from radios to your service weapon, will protect you from danger since that is one of their purposes. 
• Anything an officer carries on him is meant to help him and victims, so the greater amount of knowledge they have on each will allow them to use their equipment more effectively.
• Today's criminals are becoming more dangerous as they aquire more powerful tools of destruction, so any advantage over them must always be used, and in this case that is the proper and efficient use of police equipment.

4) Mentor: Officer Jaycon Sanchez

5) I plan to get more experience with all the police equipment at my disposal at my mentorship. This ranges from becoming more proficient with radios and radio codes to knowing how to perform first aid and CPR. My test to see how effective improved knowledge with such things will be an evaluation on how much they help me out on my ride alongs with the officers. 

Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions

1) How can an officer best handle a life-threatening situation?
2) Would you say that good communication skills is a key part of law enforcement?
3) How important would you say that effective communications is?
4) Can you tell me of a time when communcation helped you out in a situation?
5) Can you tell me how to improve on the type of communcation skills you use as an officer?
6) In your opinion what is essential to handling a life-threatening situation, your training from the academy or effective communications? Why?
7) Besides good communications and utilization of academy training, what would you say is essential to an officer handling a life threatening situation and why?
8) How often do you encounter a situation where better communication could have completely changed the outcome?
9) What is effective communications to you as a police officer?
10) Do you believe that being skilled in the equipment that is given to you as an officer is essential to handling a life threatening situation? Why?
11) Where would you say that that skill in proper use of your equipment comes from?
12) How does one improve in becoming more efficient in use of police equipment?
13) Can you tell me of a time where proper use of police equipment saved someones life or kept a situation from becoming worse?
14) Between inadequete training in equipment, poor communication skills, and ineffective use of training, what places the officer most in danger?
15) What would you say is the most difficult type of person for an officer to communicate with?
16) Besides the officer, who else would you say benefits from an officer who can communicate well?
17) In your opinion, what would you say gets officers in the most trouble as far as a situation and why?
18) Would you say its accidental or something that some officers are more prone to?
19) For the officers that are prone to these type of situations due to their habit or nature, how would you assist them in fixing that?
20) What is the first thing and the most key thing you do that helps you analyze a life threatening situation before and as it transpires?

Blog 16: 2-Hour Meeting Answer # 2

1) How can an officer best handle a life-threatening situation?

2) Effective communication with fellow officers will best help an officer handle a life-threatening situation.

3)

• Communication is key to teamwork with your partners in the field.
• Effective communication neccessary to working with other police departments, especially in large scale operations.
• Proper relay of orders to suspects can cause them to surrender peacefully.

4) My time at the STARS academy and at my post have given me insight into making this one of my answers.

5) I plan to continue my study of answer 2 by doing in the field work with my post and analyzing how to make communication the most effective.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1) Being that communication, especially teamwork, with your partners is essential to handling a life-threatening situation, I plan on exploring how to make that more effective. Sometimes you will have to work with members of other departments whom you have never interacted with before, so learning how to overcome this barrier is key to saving lives. I plan on doing this by improving the communication I have with the partners at my post as we practice scenarios. The other part will be done by working with the new applicants we have at our post by exploring how to convey orders to the unfamiliar in a way that works best.

2) My post meets for 5 hours every other Wednesday, but sometimes we will move to every Wednesday depending on everyones schedule. We also work weekend details for varying hours. At that rate I will be done fairly soon.

3) As stated before, effective communications is essential to handling a life-threatening situation, and by exploring it I will definitely find an answer to my EQ.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

Literal
a) I, Jared Gonzales, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
b) Officer Jaycon Sanchez
(626)827-3746
c) Mentorship Log
d) Completed my 18 week training at the Sheriff's Training and Regional Services Explorer Academy, attended my weekly meetings at Baldwin Park PD Explorer Post # 654, worked 2 events (a Christmas event and the Rose Bowl), and went to my first competition at Chandler, Arizona.

Interpretive
For my 18 week program, I would have to wake up at 4:00 A.M. to make it to class at 6:00 A.M. and it would last all the way until 5:00 P.M. The program was not easy in any way easy to complete and required me to sacrifice 18 weekends, yet in the end it was worth it. On top of this, I had to attend my weekly meetings on Wednesdays which lasted 4-5 hours. At these meetings I would physically train for half the time with my post and then we would spend the rest of the time practicing for competition at Chandler, Arizona. All my work came together in one weekend (January 19-21) when I graduated from the academy and then immediately traveled to Chandler to compete.

 Day 1 at the Academy

 Day 1 at the Academy

 Me getting my head shaved.

 Teambuilding activity.

 Classroom time.

Colors Run.

Personal Defense Training.

Firearms Training.

CPR Training

Getting thrashed by the Drill Instructors.

My graduating class.

Applied
Since my Independent Component was training exactly mimicking that actually given to deputies, it was the best possible foundational work for my topic of law enforcement. It not only taught me facts and information, but also prepared me physically and ultimately gave me the officer's perspective. Everything from the drill formations, to the physical training and runs, the classroom work, the firearms training and CPR, and the hands on police scenario's has given me an indepth look at law enforcement usually reserved just for those who attend the actual academy and graduate.

Blog 13: Rought Draft of 30 Min Presentation

30 Minute Lesson Plan

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

How can an officer best handle a life-threatening situation?

What skills, traits, or experience help keep an officer calm during an emergency?

What are some of the most deadly emergencies that an officer can face while in the line of duty?

What type of training, if any, does the police academy offer to prepare trainees for future service?

What are the dangers of not being able to keep calm during an emergency?

How often would you say you hear of or witness an officer who isn't prepared to respond to emergencies?

Do you know of any special techniques used to keep calm during emergencies, and if so what are they?

Do you believe that the ability to keep calm during an emergency can be taught? Why or why not?

What is the best way to prepare to handle an emergency?

What kind of mentality do you need to effectively and calmly handle an emergency?

What has worked the best for you in your experience?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 hours Check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?

• I am still enrolled but about to graduate from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Training and Regional Services Center Explorer Academy. My mentorship is going to be continued at my Police Explorer post at the Baldwin Park Police Department. 

2. Who is your contact?

• I am about to graduate and become an explorer at the Baldwin Park PD Explorer Post and my primary mentor is Officer Jaycon Sanchez. 

3. How many total hours have you done?

• Not counting summer hours, up until 1/10/2013 I have 255 hours from my explorer academy, weekly post meetings, and any events I worked. My total overall is 299 and a half hours if I include summer.

4. Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

• The 255 hours I have accumulated are the result of my 18 week explorer academy, my weekly post meetings, and the 2 police details I have worked so far.  The 18 week explorer academy comprised of physical training and in class training in preparation for my duties as a police explorer. My weekly post meetings were a furthering of this while also serving as training for the competition I am going to on the 19th of this month. The 2 details included the Christmas event for Baldwin Park's youth and the traffic detail I worked at the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game. 

Rose Parade/Rose Bowl - January 1st 2013

On Wednesday, January 1st, I got to work my 2nd official detail as an Explorer at the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl. My post was assigned to traffic duty, where we basically were each given a street to manage and keep traffic moving and allowing pedestrians to cross as they moved from the parade and to the game.

Rose Bowl before the game.

This is basically what I was doing for 5 hours. I quickly learned

that it is not a lot of fun, especially when dealing with

unruly fans and angry drivers.

Final "Real" day at the Academy - December 29th

Saturday, December 29th, was the last day we, as recruits, would have any formal training or lectures. We had our Final Exams, our Final Physical Training 500 exams, and our final lecture on Patrol Procedures.

Despite having 3 more Saturday meetings to go, the reason why this one is considered the last is because the next three meetings are devoted to Family Day (sort of an open house for our families to see what we've had to go through) and then Graduation rehearsal, and finally Graduation day.

 I am so happy to have made it this far and am looking forward to finally becoming an Explorer.

Final Defense Tactics Training - December 22nd

Saturday, December 22nd, was the final day where we were taught maneuvers on how to catch, fight, and take down a hostile suspect. We were tested on all of the information we had been given at the end of the day by having to use it in a real hands on scenario. 

The scenario entailed the following:

1. I and a partner had to arrive on the "scene" in a police cruiser, give out the proper radio and location information, and then proceed to run to the building where the suspects were.
2. While warming up for the scenario, we had to punch and kick punching bags and do push ups while continuing to relay information on where we were located at.
3. We did a few minutes of jump rope and push ups to keep our blood going while we waited our turn for the final stage of the scenario.
4. The last and best part had us fighting a fully padded up Drill Instructor with the intention of taking him down and arresting him. If it seemed like we were winning, more Drill Instructors would be thrown into the fight. Mind you, most of them are former Marines or army, and all of them are currently on duty as a deputy or officer and have much more experience on us. 

All in all I learned a lot from today, and it definitely will be a day I remember.