You have to know how to ride a motorcycle.

I guess since i am apparently the one on Fluther thats had this joyous time, i will give you the lowdown.

I rode a police motorcycle for seven years, with the Metro Police Dept. in Nashville. those were some of my best memories, while in uniform.

First, you have to be approved and pass rigid background checks, psychological evaluations, polygraph exams and not possess a criminal or traffic record. if you make it this far, the physical training at our police academy may do you in. once you have made it to graduation and are pinned and sworn in as a police officer, then you make your plans to be a motorcycle officer. you will have 6 months field training with a seasoned officer. if you make through this test period, then its time for you to be on your own. lets see, you want to become a motorcycle officer. here is the normal procedure. first, you have to work in patrol for about two years. then, since you already ride a bike, look for the publications posted for an opening in the motorcycle squads. if you qualify and are accepted, you will be going back to the academy for motorcyle training. once completed, you will again be assigned to a seasoned officer for a period of time. they really want to make sure you know how to ride and operate a motorcycle safely. once you have successfully completed this training and trial period, you will be assigned a motrorcyle to drive and take home. its yours until you transfer to some other department or retire. hope this helps you. john

Thank you @john65pennington

motorcycle training sounds great!

Is the phys ed in the academy really that bad? I ask because the physical standards I have to pass in Florida just to apply seem really easy. The swim test, swim 50 yards in two minutes just seems too easy, and “run half a mile” in 5 minutes . . .

I was a wrestler in highschool, and worked out at the gym through college, so the description of alot of the stuff (see previous and things like “65 pushups in two minutes,” on my last evaluation I hit in the 60’s in one minute) I’m no stud by any means, but just reading about the physical training on paper made it seem like it wasn’t going to be that hard . . .

Is it just on a whole other level once in?

There was something about pulling a trigger on a pistol 15 times with each hand. I did it thinking “there must be something to this” and that my fingers weren’t as good as I thought they were, but it wasn’t even a challenge.

I am not trying to be cocky at all, I’m genuinely curious.

Not everyone is qualified to be a police officer. it take a special person to meet all the requirements. out academy is really tough on the pt. its a five mile run, once a week and this separates the men from the boys. in our academy, about 40% of the recruits fail at the point. a police officer must have common sense and a good education. this is really hard to find a person fitting both these criterias. this is why so many flunk out of class. being a cop is draining both emotionally and physically. you have to stay in some kind of shape in order to chase the bad guys. i will tell you more, if you want.

I have no idea.. but here is cop joke… uggg.. a cop told me:

guy goes speeding over a highway bridge doing 95mph in a 55mp speed zone, gets pulled over by a cop.
Cop walks up to the car…
and the guy says ” Officer, You cant give me a ticket I’m late for work!”
Cop asks “Well what kinda work do you do?”

“I work at the hospital, Im a rectum stretcher…. first I put in one finger, and then another, ..and I stretch…then one hand… and then other.. and I stretch and stretch until its a full 6ft apart!”
Cop asks puzzled…” What do you do with a 6foot tall @sshole?”

“We give ‘em a radar gun and stick ‘em at the end of a bridge!”

Be ready to act accordingly when the C.H.I.P.S are down.

@ucme Now stop that.

@Trillian Tee Hee!!

@ucme You! You and your insidious attempts to start yet another thread of puns! This is a no pun zone. (Dammit, I was sleeping and I can’t think of a one!)

@Trillian Dock that gal a days pay for napping on the job.Insidious moi, i’m about as subtle as a bag of spanners.