Blog 14 - Interview 3 Preparation

Making open-ended questions can be a struggle but in the end it is all about the quality not the quantity. 

For this interview, you will prepare a 10 open-ended questions that focus on your newly approved EQ (in fact your first question can be your EQ). Remember,  all interviews must be done in person unless they are specifically approved by your house teacher. Additionally, one person  may be interviewed a maximum of two times.

1. Who do you plan to interview? What is this person's area of expertise?

• The person who I plan to interview is Officer Cooper from the Pomona Police Department. Officer Cooper has worked many years in the Law Enforcement Field and a few years in the United States Marine Corps.  He has dealt with many calls for service and is also one of the few part of the SWAT Team. Officer Cooper was also a tactical flight officer who flew in a helicopter. He worked in two different departments which washould the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in several different cities and now the Pomona Police Department. 

2. Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview. What is the date and time of the interview?

• The date of the interview is January  30, 2016. The time would be whenever we have time available. Meaning, I will be riding with the officer so whenever we have free time. If there is no free time then I will stay after or during our lunch break. If neither work then I will have to reschedule just to meet with him. 

3. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources and that would help to answer the EQ?

• My essential question is "how can a Police officer make safe and ethical calls in high pressure situations?". How would you answer that question? And do you know of any research resources that would benefit me in my Senior Project which is Law Enforcement. By research resources it can be any books, articles, journals, etc that relate to Law Enforcement which is my senior project topic. 

4.Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc). 

• Would you recommend anyone for me to talk to as in being an expert at what they do and they show something that makes them stand out?
•  Do you know of any activities that would help me answer my essential question in the best way possible and make sure that my audience understands?

5. Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's  perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 

• What is your current perspective on my essential question which is "How can a Police Officer make safe and ethical calls in high pressure situations? "
• How do you interpret the questions of "How can a Police Officer make safe and ethical calls in high pressure situations? ". 

Blog 13 - 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

Being motivated and passionate will always make the job easier. 

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?

• I am doing my mentorship at the Pomona Police Department. I am also trying to get another ,enter but in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's  Department Walnut/Diamond Bar. So, with a little more time of being an Explorer at their Explorer Post 29 I should find one. 

2. Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

• My current contact is Officer Rodriguez and Officer Cooper who are both from the Pomona Police Department.  Officer Rodriguez is considered an expert due to the many years that he has worked in the department, his background history consist of being part of the Pomona Police Explorers Post 160 since he was 15 years old, he is part of the SWAT team, and he is a Field Training Officer (FTO). A Field Training Officer is an Officer who completes the required courses and tests that will be used to determine if the Officer has the ability to teach others about the field. By others I mean new Police Officers who recently graduated the Police Academy and are still learning the ways of handling calls for service in the city they have chosen to work for. Officer Cooper is also considered  to be an expert because he has outstanding skills. His background history starts off as serving in the United States Marine Corps, then putting himself through the Sheriff's Academy to later work for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in several different cities, then transferring to the Police Department of Pomona. Officer Cooper has military and Law Enforcement  background and he owns his own business of fixing and cleaning different types of weapons such as handguns, rifles, shotguns, etc. Officer Cooper is also part of the SWAT team and he was  a tactical flight officer which is an Officer who is a pilot. Both Officers previously mentioned are experts at what they do and have the qualities as well as skills to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. 

3. How many hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog). 

• During the school year and up to this point I have completed a total of 53 hours with both of my mentors. 

4. Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours. 

• What I did for my mentorship hours so go on ridealongs with my mentors on different days. I would ride for a whole shift which consisted of 10 or 11 hours it  would always vary. During my ridealong my mentorship and I assisted on several calls for service and if a report needed to be taken I would assist on writing the report. I would also serve as an enterpreter, I gathered information and I was allowed to speak on the radio when we would be called from dispatch. Both mentors and I work well together. They always answer any questions I have and sometimes ask me how I would handle a call for service if I were the assisting Officer. They are very helpful and if it seemed like I do not understand something they would explain it without me asking them to do so. I have gone over the amount of hours required but I will continue on meeting with my mentors and going on ridealongs. 

*You need 50 hours plus the original 10 in the summer by May. The original 10 from the summer do not count toward the 50. By the end of the year, you will haven't hours counting that original 10. 

Blog 12 - Holiday Project Update

Sense of humor is something needed everyday to get by. 

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

• What I did over break with my senior project is that I went on more ride alongs and I now have another mentor who is willing to help  me when my other mentor is unavailable. My new mentor has background experience in flying helicopters for the Police Department, in the SWAT team, and being a patrolittle officer. 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

• I learned several things from riding with a different officer and one thing that he emphasized was "to never lose your sense of humor" because it is something that will always help you in difficult times. Every officer has their own way of handling calls for service and dealing with threats. There will never be specific steps on how to handle certain things because something can always happen and that is why we all have to "expect the unexpected ". 

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

• I plan to talk to the officer who I rode with during the winter break and if not possible I plan to talk to an Officer who is a Pomona Police Explorer Advisor and a former Explorer Cattain for the Pomona police Explorers. If neither of them are available then I plan to interview a Deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's  Walnut/ Diamond Bar. The reason why I plan to interview Officer Cooper is due to his unique way of handling calls for service and talking to residents of Pomona. Officer Cooper possess unique qualities that make him stand out from others. Officer Nguyen is another possible candidate to interview due to his motivation of becoming a Police Officer and the challenges he achieved in order do what he wanted in life. Interviewing a Deputy will give me a different perspective because Police officersaid and Deputy Sheriff's are different in different ascpects.