We ended our court session yesterday. This was one of the best exercises that we have done at the Academy. One had to apply everything learned in the academy and use it to present evidence from interrogations, questioning, and evidence gathering in a courtroom situation. We got an understanding of what it feels like to be testifying in a courtroom. It was nerve racking at first, but as was investigating the crime scene fun and exciting so was presenting the information in court.
There were two representatives from the District Attorney’s office with us today. One acted as the District Attorney while the other played the Defense Attorney. Each read your report regarding the crime investigation and started poking holes in your investigation to create what would amount to doubt in the minds of the jurors if this was a real case. It wasn’t personal, it was business.
Once the two representatives started doing their thing, it was easy to see where the weaknesses of each individual report existed. Under their cross exams, it was easy to see the weaknesses with the investigation as well. Like almost everything we have done in the Academy, this was a great learning experience that I will never forget. The mistakes I made I hope never to repeat. These are the concepts and experiences that one must learn to create the professional law enforcement officer that we all want to be.
