Post by jmays on Dec 5, 2002 0:25:22 GMT -5
Well, I come from a "Police Family" you could say, and here in Chattanooga, the name Mays actually means something. I am 20 years old, my dad was a police officer with Chattanooga for 25 years, my brother is a Police Officer, and has been for about 4 years, and my brother-in-law has been a police officer for 6 years, and is now a detective. Ever since I was a little kid playing with my dad's handcuffs, I have wanted to be a police officer. Nothing is more exhilirating than being on the streets with the blue lights on top, and a gun on the side. People say to me, "You only want to be a cop for the vanity, and the authority, and because your whole family is cops." I tell them that isn't the case. My brother, who I mentioned above, was shot back in January while on the job. Fortunately, he is okay, and his vest saved his life, but after that, everyone said to me "Oh, see! Look what happens! This will surely change your mind." Well it didn't, and it doesn't. It only strengthened my initiative to become a police officer. The thought that, "Hey, I might be able to get a guy like Jeremy Tucker Davis (the person who shot my brother) off the street is one of the most rewarding things in this world." So I have gotten hell from family (my mom especially), friends, and aquaintences... But to be a law enforcement officer is to have the power and most importantly, the duty to help. And that is what its all about.
All that said, I took my Police Officers Written Exam today, and on my end, things are looking good. I think I did VERY well on the test. I didn't ace it like I wanted to, I don’t think, because of one portion of the test.
There was a picture that took up two whole pages in the test book. They instructed us to take two minutes to look over the picture and memorize as much as we could. Well, I have a book that was supposed to help me study, and it did help on other parts of the test, but when the book covered this type of questioning, it emphasized on paying attention to small detail. And so that is what I did. And I got a lot of questions right because I did that, but I think I missed some really obvious questions because I didn't look at the "big stuff" in the picture. Like, I would notice what the clock said on top of the building, and the fact that people were carrying certain types of bags, and things of that nature, and I got a lot of questions right because of that. However, I totally missed the fact that there was a friggin Train Station in the picture! Like, I totally didn't notice a building marked "Train Station." So I hope I guessed right on some of those questions...
But other than that, the test had a lot of grammar, and reading & comprehension stuff. That was pretty simple. However, I don't know for a fact as to how well I did on that part of the test. And the rest of the test was just easy. They would have a policy set forth by the police department written out (i.e. the policy on police chases, or pursuits) and you would read the policy, and then answer a series of questions regarding the policy. And it allowed you to refer back to the policy as much as possible. Also, every question asked was actually taken from the policy. It didn't require you to assume anything. So that was very straightforward and very easy. I know for a fact that I got all of those correct because I took the answers directly from the policy that was written out.
And finally, there was a part of the test that wasn't scored. And it was a sort of biographical section. They asked questions like "If you were in this situation, would you do, this, this, or this, blah blah blah" and that was just determining what type of character you have.
The test was about 160 questions, and you had to have a 70% to pass. So I am very confident that I did well. Hopefully, the test results will prove me right. It will take at the most, 30 days to get the test results. Depending on if I passed or failed, I will be scheduled for a Physical Agility test, which will be extremely simple for me. That will be scheduled in January. And when I pass that, I will go through a series of interviews and psychological tests, which I will pass with flying colors, and I will start the Academy in March. So this should all go by pretty quickly, depending on how my test results are. I am extremely excited. I think my parents are finally warming up to the idea. My dad has never said he didn't want me to do it; he just wanted me to finish college first. And my mom is totally against it, but she knows its what I want, and she can't stop me from doing it.
So hopefully, in September of next year, I will be a Sworn Chattanooga Police Officer.
What are other people's experiences with the test taking, and the whole process? This is a great site, and I plan to link it from my website. Thanks guys. And if you've read this far, congratulations!
All that said, I took my Police Officers Written Exam today, and on my end, things are looking good. I think I did VERY well on the test. I didn't ace it like I wanted to, I don’t think, because of one portion of the test.
There was a picture that took up two whole pages in the test book. They instructed us to take two minutes to look over the picture and memorize as much as we could. Well, I have a book that was supposed to help me study, and it did help on other parts of the test, but when the book covered this type of questioning, it emphasized on paying attention to small detail. And so that is what I did. And I got a lot of questions right because I did that, but I think I missed some really obvious questions because I didn't look at the "big stuff" in the picture. Like, I would notice what the clock said on top of the building, and the fact that people were carrying certain types of bags, and things of that nature, and I got a lot of questions right because of that. However, I totally missed the fact that there was a friggin Train Station in the picture! Like, I totally didn't notice a building marked "Train Station." So I hope I guessed right on some of those questions...
But other than that, the test had a lot of grammar, and reading & comprehension stuff. That was pretty simple. However, I don't know for a fact as to how well I did on that part of the test. And the rest of the test was just easy. They would have a policy set forth by the police department written out (i.e. the policy on police chases, or pursuits) and you would read the policy, and then answer a series of questions regarding the policy. And it allowed you to refer back to the policy as much as possible. Also, every question asked was actually taken from the policy. It didn't require you to assume anything. So that was very straightforward and very easy. I know for a fact that I got all of those correct because I took the answers directly from the policy that was written out.
And finally, there was a part of the test that wasn't scored. And it was a sort of biographical section. They asked questions like "If you were in this situation, would you do, this, this, or this, blah blah blah" and that was just determining what type of character you have.
The test was about 160 questions, and you had to have a 70% to pass. So I am very confident that I did well. Hopefully, the test results will prove me right. It will take at the most, 30 days to get the test results. Depending on if I passed or failed, I will be scheduled for a Physical Agility test, which will be extremely simple for me. That will be scheduled in January. And when I pass that, I will go through a series of interviews and psychological tests, which I will pass with flying colors, and I will start the Academy in March. So this should all go by pretty quickly, depending on how my test results are. I am extremely excited. I think my parents are finally warming up to the idea. My dad has never said he didn't want me to do it; he just wanted me to finish college first. And my mom is totally against it, but she knows its what I want, and she can't stop me from doing it.
So hopefully, in September of next year, I will be a Sworn Chattanooga Police Officer.
What are other people's experiences with the test taking, and the whole process? This is a great site, and I plan to link it from my website. Thanks guys. And if you've read this far, congratulations!
