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Photo caption: Recruits jump into the tank while holding a brick during morning physical training. Conservation officers patrol on or near the water every day and are often first responders to year-round water emergencies. Water safety is an essential part of their job.
Our week began Sunday at 1800, when the 17 recruits of Conservation Officer Training Academy No. 13 lined up outside the Michigan State Police Training Academy, ready to tackle another week of training. It is here that we learn the essential skills it takes to be successful as a CO.
Instruction started immediately Sunday evening, in the classroom with an introduction to basic firearms. We started wearing our duty belts and were issued our “blue guns” (replicas of the sidearms we will be issued later in the academy). These blue guns will give us the ability to practice safe firearm handling before we start carrying our real firearms.
Like every other morning, Monday started at 0600 with physical training. Our PT workout consisted of a pushup, situp and pullup circuit routine and wrapped up with sets of flutter kicks.
After PT, we spent our day in the classroom with David Greydanus, retired MSP inspector. Throughout the day we covered constitutional law, civil law, court functions and crimes against persons. Mr. Greydanus has a wealth of law knowledge. He will be instructing us throughout the academy, and it is imperative that we take quality notes not only for our exams later but for reference during our careers. Monday concluded with a class on patrol area checks, taught by one of our academy staff instructors, Sgt. Jon Warner.
Our Tuesday PT session began with a run around the MSP Academy drive track and facility, then ended with an abdominal circuit of situps, flutter kicks and leg raises.
Det. Mandi Beasinger from the Lansing Police Department taught a lesson focused on domestic violence and sexual assault – critical topics we learned about throughout the week. As we progressed, we engaged in discussions of real-world scenarios to prepare us for handling these sensitive and complex cases.
Wednesday PT was in the gym and was a well-rounded workout consisting of decline pushups, situps, bear crawls, crab walks, flutter kicks and wind sprints. In the classroom, we met with Amber Kenny-Hinojosa, a retired detective from the Ingham County Sheriff's Office. Ms. Kenny-Hinojosa taught us how to identify potential victims of human trafficking and how to interview and intervene in those situations. As licensed law enforcement officers, it’s important to have these skills so we are prepared for any situation.
Wednesday evening, we continued our instruction on domestic violence response procedures with Det. Beasinger. We finished Wednesday with our first three exams of the academy. If you fail, you’re allowed one retake before you’re dismissed from the academy. The class was nervous going into our first exams but walked away with confidence that we passed and will be moving on in the academy.
Photo caption: Recruits in a circle tread water while passing two bricks.
Our final day of the week began with PT in the tank (swimming pool). Our workout consisted of lap swim, rotating through different strokes, deep water pullups, retrieving bricks from the bottom of the tank and passing them around a circle while treading water. In the classroom, we picked up where we left off from the previous day with Det. Beasinger and continued discussing the proper handling of domestic violence cases. After lunch, we met with COs who work as detectives and learned about interview and interrogation techniques. We learned the importance of establishing rapport and the use of active listening when interviewing a person. The week concluded with Sgt. Kyle Bucholtz, our training academy commander, talking with us about the different types of patrols that COs conduct.
Every week is another opportunity for us to come together as a team and overcome obstacles. This week was no different, and although we have a long way to go, we continued to push forward with resilience and determination.
At the end of each week, we are one week closer to our ultimate goal: becoming Michigan DNR conservation officers.
Photo caption: An instructor swims next to a recruit, who is swimming sidestroke while holding a brick. This prepares recruits to perform a water rescue, in the event they have to hold a person safely above water.
