The NJ Cops Magazine Series…Police Academy Cape May County
Episode III: It’s Academic
Working Class
Are recruits learning their lessons?
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
They’re doing drugs today at the Cape May Police Academy.
Some Advil might be in order given the pains that come with
the early-morning physical training sessions. Or some valium
would seem to be a possibility considering the stress being imposed continues to elevate.
But drugs are merely the topic of today’s classroom session
presenting CDS to the 55 recruits who remain as Week Five of
Police Academy May County begins. (Another one was lost due
to a physical injury a few weeks back.) There is a test taking
place now, perhaps one that will not only determine who will
progress through the next few weeks successfully but also one
that might determine what kind of officers the recruits will become even more than physical or tactical training.
Classroom instruction addressing community policing,
gang-awareness, note-taking, racial–profiling, domestic violence, criminal law – a lot of criminal law – and drugs, among
other areas, have been augmenting the drill instruction the first
five weeks. And a successful effort on one of the academic exams can earn recruits one of their first privileges: a few minutes
of cell-phone time at night to check in with family.
There is a discipline demanded in the classroom, as well,
and from time to time, Cape May County Public Safety Training
Cen