You are here:

Careers: Police/I'm a quiet and calm individual

Advertisement

Expert: - 2/19/2011


Question
Hello Mr. Wagoner, I want to be a police officer. I am a quiet and calm individual. My question is: Does the academy teach an individual how to be tough and act tough? Are there any age restrictions when applying to an academy? I am a 34 yr old female. I am looking forward to your response Mr. Wagoner.
Thank you, Dottie

Answer
Good morning Dottie,

While you may think that police officers need to be tough and act tough there is a time and a place for everything. I would much rather have a quiet calm police officer on scene with me than someone who instigates and enrages people to the point of actually causing us to become involved in physical altercations or worse. I have been on many calls with police officers and deputies who for some reason think that it is necessary to yell and scream at people in order to get them to listen to them. While this may be the case in some instances it is not generally the rule. I have found over the last 30 years that speaking quietly and calmly to people who are in stressful excited situations has a tendency to bring them back down into a calm state and are easier to communicate level and is actually one of the techniques we teach.

If you feel that you are too timid to be a police officer we do not teach in the police Academy aggression but we do teach self-confidence and techniques that will assist you in making physical confrontations easier and hopefully helping you to be able to survive and come out on top in those situations.

I noticed that you stated in your question that you are a 34-year-old female. To be quite honest with you being a female or male these days makes absolutely no difference in the law enforcement Academy. We expect exactly the same out of all of our recruits regardless of gender or age and have found that by doing so the 20-year-olds learn some maturity from the 30 and 40-year-olds, and the 30 and 40-year-olds pick up some energy from the 20-year-olds. It's a good thing to have a mix in the Academy and on your Police Department.

Being calm and quiet is good to a point as a police officer until such a time as you need to be in command and be heard and that is something that you can pick up and learn during and after the Academy while in FTO.

So my recommendation to you would be don't worry about being calm and quiet and give it a try you will be surprised by what you can do if you just put your mind to it. Motivation, and mindset are probably two of the biggest factors in making it in this career. Having the motivation to do the job and do the job well and the mindset to make sure that you are always going to be the one to win and, on top of any confrontation.

Hope that answers your question be well and stay safe and good luck.

Careers: Police

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Chris Wagoner

Expertise

I have been a police officer for 30+ years! I am the Police Academy Commander at the Santa Fe College, Institute of Public Safety in Gainesville Florida It is a full service Law Enforcement and Corrections training facility. I can answer most questions concerning law enforcement procedures, law enforcement training and general questions about law enforcment. I can also answer questions about becoming a law enfocement officer. I have a booklet and web page I have written that answers many questions about how to become a police officer called "So you want to be a cop (police Officer) in Florida?", which is free, Google it.. All you have to do is ask. I teach the following subjects: RADAR/LASER, Law Enforcement Driving, Law Enforcement Firearms and Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety, WMD's for Patrol Officers, Application of Law, Communications skills, Dealing with the Mentally and physically handicapped, and many more subjects. I have worked as a subject matter expert for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and helped to write the police curriculum for the State of Florida. I like answering questions about how to become a police officer, and questions about why did an officer do this or that type questions. I also like answering any questions you may have about police work in general. I do not mind helping with homework questions or trying to answer your questions about legal subjects that I have knowledge of. You will never know the answer until you ask! If you do ask a question, PLEASE take the time to at least rate the answer. I do not get paid to answer these questions and do it on my own time. If you ask, please rate it when I answer. Thanks!!! If its a question about becoming a police officer, it may be answered here: http://sites.google.com/site/flaleohelp/ My "hobby" website - http://www.youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 Military Videos on YouTube and Facebook!!

Experience

I am a 30+ year veteran police officer, I am currently the Police Academy Commander of an Academy in North FLorida. I have been training police officers since 1993 and have trained them in all aspects of law enforcement, including firearms, Driving and legal subjects including patrol techniques and others and training all over the world. I have trained over 5000 officers worldwide in the last 16 years of training.

Publications
I am a published author in Accident Investigation from the University of North Florida, Institute of Police Technology and Management. Also have written and published on the Internet, "So You Want to be a Cop (Police Officer) in Florida?" you can Google it..

Education/Credentials
I have 2 degrees, in Criminal Justice.

Awards and Honors
Phi Theta Kappa, plus 50+ Departmental Awards over the years. FBI Directors award for assisting in a Nationwide investigation into Child pornography.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.