Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

 

 

This is one of the many patrol units that Police Officers use when going on patrol.

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.
• Officer A. Rodriguez
• (909) 620- 2155
• Pomona Police Department
2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?
• Officer Rodriguez is one of the many police officer who work for the City of Pomona. What makes him stand out from others and what qualifies him as an expert in the field would be the many countless hours and dedication he puts into his career. Besides being a Police Officer he is part of the few group of Police Officers who volunteer their time to lead as example and teach teenagers from ages 14-21 the reality behind a Law Enforcement career.  The group of teenagers is known as the Pomona Police Explorers Post 160. Officer Rodriguez started off as a Pomona Police Explorer in his early teens, he then graduated from the Academy and began his career as a Pomona Police Officer with a degree on Psychology. He's been working in the department since 2008 and throughout his career he's experienced many things that other Police Officers from other agencies don't experience throughout their career. Officer Rodriguez has received training about patrol, narcotics, gangs, SWAT and has received several trainees who are graduates from the Academy. He's dealt with numerous foot and vehicle pursuits, high priority calls, life threatening situations and many more.  
3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.
• What are some ways to handle robbery, burglary, and petty theft incidents?
• What is the training to specialize in certain areas such as gangs or narcotics consist of?
• What is consider a threat and not a threat when handling priority one incidents? 
4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
• While being on patrol with my mentor I learned several things about my career. The thing that stood out the most was always having officer safety. Meaning, an officer must know at all times their current location when assisting a call, keeping a certain distance from civilians and searching an individual for any possible weapons or drugs. Officer safety can be said to be the number one thing that keeps an officer safe from possible danger. My mentor along with backing officers displayed that factor at all times because as many know there will always be people who dislike officers and will do anything to harm them. 
5. What is your senior project topic going to be? How did mentorship help you make your decision? Please explain.
• My Senior project topic will be Law Enforcement and what influenced my decision was being part of the Explorers program since my freshman year of high school. I found a burning desire to learn more and explore what really means to be a police officer and the mental as well as the physical training one must undergo in order to be prepared for the real life problems especially in a city where no one ever knows what to expect. Mentorship for me consisted of many ride alongs with my mentor, Officer Rodriguez, which gave me the necessary tools to comprehend what a police officer does when being on patrol. Besides being an Explorer for Pomona, mentorship helped me in making my final decision about focusing in Law Enforcement to be my Senior Project. I found that it is unpredictable what a Police Officer may face when being on duty which means they always have to "expect the unexpected" and that is the main factor that influenced my decision. I have a passion for Law Enforcement and becoming a Police Officer who works for Pomona is a dream that will come true when the day comes.

The picture above is a clear example of Officer Safety put to the test.