New Braunfels Police Test.... Well, this morning I got up at 5am to iron my clothes and head out to New Braunfels. I got there by 720am and relaxed in the car just thinking of everything that was going to be happening....The Written Test came in two portions, a narrative report and basic peace officer functions/skills test. I passed the tests, unknowing though what I scored. Afterwards, we had to go through the physical agility test. I passed that as well...Now, I have to fill out what seems to be a 50 page background check form...sigh....Oh well, hopefully this will lead to a good opportunity. There were a total of 61 people left over from the 200+ that began the process today. 53 of these people are applying for only 6 available Cadet positions. There was a total of 8(including me) applying for the 3 available Certified Police Officer positions. My background papers are due by 5pm Wednesday. Wife and I are looking into properties in the area of N.B. She's also looking into jobs out there(Prevention Specialist), but I don't know what Non-Profit Agencies are there or jobs in her field...She'll be surfing the ads soon.... Well, I'll give you your computer screens back. I just wanted to drop a line! Chad Mandry 2004 VTX1300 2004 Srt-4 1985 Rx-7 GSL
I took the TCLEOSE on June 2nd, I passed....The test wasn't that bad.....My score, well, I'm not proud of that. During my exam, I was irritable and tired(thanks to the lack of sleep due to nerves). I'm nervous about NB Review Board because of "horror stories" I've heard. They're a great department and under the lead of a good Chief. I'm currently doing more research on the department to become more familiar with their population and activities(Besides Schlitterbahn, lol and the Guadelupe River). As for security, lol, I already work for the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa(that's where I met DStacey in his 400i). Been there for just over two years. As of right now, I've only applied with Leon Valley PD(grown up here) and New Braunfels.
Best of luck to you, man. I know the nerves that come with the feeling of "what I wanna do for the rest of my life".....or, at least the next few years. You'll do fine, I'm sure. Do keep us posted, though.
Board reviews can be tricky. Some departments are a breeze and they don't even ask questions. Some will grill you with scenerio questions. Some will just ask simple questions about your personality and lifestyle. Watch out for trick questions. Sometimes they play "bad cop, good cop". One will fire very simple questions and acts friendly, while another person asks hards questions (that you probably won't know the answer to) and gets rude about your reply as if its wrong. DON'T change your answer. Think about it for a second, and answer. And stick to your answer. Don't change it. The "bad cop" will make faces, huff and puff and act like your answer was stupid. His goal is to see if you will change your answer. DON'T. The interview process is not to see if you know the answer. It's to see how quick you can think. You're a green horn, you're not expected to know everything and they understand that. You're probably not interested, but I know Houston Police Dept is hiring. I know a lot of people that got hired there, worked for two years or so, then moved to other departments around the state, DPS, DEA, U.S. Marshals, etc. Don't get your heart set on working close to home, there's not that many jobs out there and compitition is tough. Especially if you have no experience. The odds are you're going to have to move away to a place you don't want to live in order to get a job. Work it for a few years. Then you can take your experience and move to a place you want to live and apply there. That way you can beat out all the green horns in the application process who have no experience. Why are you applying for certified police officer position if you have no experience and are not a reserve? You would be started as a cadet I would think. Yes, you went through a police academy (probably at a school) and taken TCLEOSE, but you're still not an officer till you get a job. Did I miss something? It may be different for small cities, but everyone I know that went through an academy at a school, and taken TCLEOSE, was thrown in that city's academy and they had to do it all over again. They just did not have to take TCLEOSE again.
New Braunfels PD doesn't have their own official Police Academy. They contract through CAPCOG in Austin. They won't let me apply for the Cadet position since I am already a Certified Officer. There is also a 3 month FTO program that will have to be completed and can be extended up to a total of 6 months is what I was told. As for moving, I have no problems with that. If New Braunfels turns out to be a career job for me, great...But, I have no problems if it's not. Rarely have I seen folks get lucky enough to have their first job be their career. I hope NB is, somewhat small department with decent starting pay....Land value out there is of decent price and rising. There are plenty of "side jobs" to be worked(such as river patrol) and the community seems to have a high regard/approval of their department. In the thought of long term, I'd like to get into a teaching/instructor role. My Police Academy I graduated from hired me on as an adjunct instructor for making training videos. I want to have an impact on either new officers through training or "at risk" age group youth. I know that seems like a generic answer/comment, but I still have the baseball style trading card(original) that my 5th grade D.A.R.E. instructor(Officer Thompson SAPD retired) gave me. I want to be the person someone remembers from a positive impact. I tracked down that same officer and he attended my graduation from the academy. He was shocked when I showed him the card, packaged in the original card sleeve I put it in when I first received it. Something in the State Troopers or Texas Rangers would be great. There are plenty of training/working hours between now and then, but I hope to be there one day. Some of the departments I've talked to were surprised that I had 968 training hours already. I don't know why. I'm certified in ASP, OC, Pursuit Driving/Professional Police Driving, SFST, Radar, BBP, WMD, Response to Active Shooter, and First Responder/First Aid. Apparently, these aren't offered at all academies..... We'll see how this turns out. I was warned about the Good Cop/Bad Cop scenarios and about ticketing family members questions. I just don't feel like there is enough to be written or that I can write on my background form. There are going to be A LOT of attachments. Not that I have a criminal history, but just having to explain EVERY little detail in your life. Then, there's the polygraph, lol....Once again, nothing to hide, just the fact that there is this guy who can ask you anything about your life and know the truth.....My friend was grilled for two hours during his polygraph(initial questioning and machine time). Wow.....
Yeah, watch out for ticketing family members questions and pulling over drunk drivers that turn out to be your friends, family members, the Chief's wife, etc. That comes up a LOT. A funny story. A friend of mine who lived in San Antonio was going through the application with Houston Police Department. His family owns a ranch in Dilley, Texas which is about an hour and half south of San Antonio. His ranch is WAY out in the middle of nowhere on 40,000 acres. There's NOTHING around it. We were down there one weekend partying like rock stars and had a couple of wild women with us. I am awaken in the morning by one of the girls who's still half naked and telling me "There's some guy at the door looking for your friend". I'm hung over looking like hell and go to the door. I see this guy standing there outside the door looking at all the beer cans all over the yard. I did not know who he was, so I went and got my friend to go talk to the guy. Turns out, it was a guy from HPD doing the backgorund check. He had showed up at my friends dad's house in San Antonio to talk to his dad. His dad told the guy my friend was at the ranch in Dilley, and the guy went down there to talk to him. He was greeted at the door by a half naked girl who had been partying all night, and there's beer cans all over the yard. He must of liked what he saw, cause he got hired. We laughed about that for years. It was like that scene out of Risky Business where the guy from Princeton comes to interview Joel, and he's in the middle of throwing a big party. "Princeton can use a guy like Joel"
that was a good story, lol....As for the 308, I've been saving<wink>.....mmmmmmm Yellow or Black.....
