Anatomy of an Atascadero Police recruit
A female applicant runs at a six-foot fence to pass the physical (photos by Jordan Elgrably).
Facing obstacles on a cold and foggy morning
—Atascadero Police Commander Joe Allen invited a reporter from the A-Town Daily News down on a recent morning to observe applicants vie for the latest Atascadero Police Department opening. Their challenge would be to tackle the physical examination, and nobody said it would be easy.
“It’ll be fun,” Allen said.
About two dozen would-be officers struggled in the ice-cold morning to hop a fence, scale a wall, drag a 165-pound dummy through the dirt, quickly run an obstacle course, and do it all with good humor.
Police Chief Jerel Haley was out to watch the procedures as Sgt. Caleb Davis welcomed the applicants to his folding table to sign in.
“Six no-shows,” he said. “It happens.”
Yesterday, Commander Allen said he had 21 applicants, all with no prior law enforcement experience. The basic requirements to apply? Be at least 21 years of age (there is no maximum age, according to federal employment guidelines); have a valid California driver’s license and a high school diploma or GED; and no felony convictions.
Allen insisted that passing the physical was the least of the recruits’ worries. He wanted them to be able to demonstrate good literacy—the ability to write and articulate clearly. After all, they have to fill out a 27-page background application, and a great deal of an officer’s job in these parts is paperwork, writing police reports.
The other quality high on the APD’s list is honesty, knowing how to tell the truth from fiction.
“It’s most important that a recruit demonstrate strong character,” Allen insisted. “That’s really what it comes down to.”
At the physical testing, out at Colony Park on Traffic Way, several female applicants were competing against guys with better upper-body strength. Only two were able to scale the wall and the fence. But Commander Allen and Chief Haley seemed hopeful that they might wind up recruiting a fourth woman to the APD.
Several of the applicants had a military background and one or two had completed bachelor degrees. One woman even had her master’s.
For those who pass the physical, there’s an extensive background check and then a psychological exam in a room with two or three seasoned officers plying you with difficult questions, where one is expected to make sound decisions in stressful situations.
Whoever is the chief’s final pick will spend 20 weeks training at the academy and another 15 weeks under the watchful eye of an APD field officer, before hitting the streets of Atascadero.
Recruits line up to drag a 165-lb dummy some 20 feet.
Once you get over the fence and run the obstacle course, then you scale the wall.
