Quick update

Great news! I just found out I passed the police exam. I am now finally done shlav aleph. Its great knowing that I got through 90% of the test, in Hebrew, on my own. I now can fake my way through the army, no one will ever know I really don’t speak Hebrew half as well as I should. Its one thing to order a shwarma and quite another to write an essay or figure out a complicated exam written in complicated Hebrew. I am excited to get my uniform and get started at the police as a uniformed policeman.

For the moment I have bigger problems, such as getting everything on my list for the army. My enlistment day is two weeks from today, its getting closer all the time. I was in touch with some friends who I may be on the same base with, it seems that the Marvah guys are going in the same day, but I am not sure if we will end up in the same place.

Exam over, waiting on results

Well, it’s finally over. The police exam for shlav aleph (the first stage course) consisted of thirty-four multiple choice questions over eight pages. I understood about 80-90% of the Hebrew, some of the questions and answers were in paragraph form, requiring understanding everything in order to answer correctly. I think (hope) I passed, I will find out in the next couple of days. It took me just over an hour to get through it; I was the first to start and the last to leave. They screamed at us a bit first about being extremely careful in everything we do in a professional capacity. Now that we have uniforms it means there is more risk of being prosecuted for stupid things we do. It was really interesting. Unlike the culture I come from, in Israel people just keep talking throughout the test, with small breaks when the test administrator screams for everyone to shut up, which lasts about five seconds. It was really funny when people walked by and whispered answers to each other. I did everything on my own, and hopefully my grade will reflect that. The exam was extremely varied; there were questions about all aspects of the course. I especially liked the questions about the procedures for opening fire. It was something like this:

Before opening fire you:

1. Shoot first and ask questions later
2. Shout a warning, fire in the air, and then fire to injure but not kill
3. Fire in the air and shoot to kill

Questions like this seemed rather obvious (the second option). Other things about traffic and enforcement were a little more complicated. Over the two months of the course I enjoyed every class; it was always interesting and provides the basics. I think at this stage the biggest help is learning to wade through the endless paperwork and forms. Every class they talk about a different subject, giving the basics of court procedures, traffic, law enforcement, professional ethics, paperwork, first responders, weapons, communications, and a lot more.

The shlav bet (second stage) course is starting in December; I will be in the army, but I hope to take it when I am done. The next course is exclusively about traffic and tickets, it should be interesting, but not what I am looking for right now. After the course I just took, everyone has the option of joining a specialized unit. After considering my options, I asked to join the patrol unit; it’s very general and gets called out to all types of situations. Not that school security, traffic enforcement and the many other options are not interesting, but I like to as Ole says, mix it up and see what happens.

Police exam next week

At long last, it’s finally over. My final police class was tonight, now for a week of reviewing and studying before the exam next Sunday. Assuming I pass, and I sure hope I do, I will get my uniform a week before I go to the army. Even though its switching in one uniform for another, I am looking forward to both. While I am in the army I will still have to put in the minimum number of hours with the police. For regular volunteers in the mishmar ezrachi (civilian guard) its four hours a month, for volunteers who have completed the shlav aleph (first stage) course, it’s now fourteen hours per month. They said it would be OK if I don’t complete my hours while I am in the army and cant get away or spend my leave sleeping, but to make an effort to come. Although it sounds crazy, I am beginning to understand the rationale behind it. Keeping in touch with the police officers in each unit, and keeping in touch with the different officers make it much more enjoyable to come back once you’re free, instead of having to start over again from scratch as the new guy. I should be going for another rifle range practice this Friday to get certified on the micro galil and police handgun, but I think I am going to skip it and do it another time. I am going to be busy this weekend studying; I really want to pass with flying colours. I guess it’s also much more than just the test, it’s critical to know and understand the concepts, and to be ready to put them in practice in the field when the time comes. I learned some crazy laws at tonight’s class, but until I make sure I heard what I thought I heard, I'll keep it out of print. Tonight’s class covered some new topics and reviewed the subjects discussed in course. The courses are generally excellent, the guest speakers are knowledgeable, and have practical experience in their areas. I think the officers of mishmar ezrachi put together an excellent course, and really taught it well.

To be continued…