Under fire

It's not how most college students would choose to spend their summer months -- waking up at 5 a.m. each morning, spending nearly 12 hours each day going through demanding physical and educational training. But, for the past 12 weeks, 20 IU students have been doing just that.\nThe students have been participating in the summer police academy for the IU Police Department. The 14-week academy is preparing student cadets to serve as part-time certified police officers for the IUPD. \n"The best part is it's been challenging enough that when we all finish it will feel like a major accomplishment," said IUPD cadet Jeff Rodgers. "It's shown that being a police officer isn't for everyone. You have to want it."\nEvery morning, Monday through Friday, the cadets begin at 6 a.m. sharp with physical training, which includes activities such as running, swimming and aerobics. The rest of the day is filled with classes and training programs, usually ending by 5 p.m.\n"It's all very disciplined. If you're told to be there at 6 a.m., you're there five minutes early," said IUPD cadet Staci Halupniczak. "You can't skate by. "\nOn this particular Friday, the cadets began the day by running the stairs at Memorial Stadium. Most of the cadets ran the less steep side of the stadium. But four cadets were chosen to run the steep side, some using their arms just to maintain balance as they made their way to the top of the stadium stairs. That was just a portion of their work-out that morning. \n"The PT (physical tactics) the first week of the academy, a lot of us thought we weren't going to make it," Rodgers said.\nSince those first weeks of the academy, the cadets have been pushed both physically and mentally. They have gone through classes on defensive tactics, firearms and operating emergency vehicles. On Friday, the cadets participated in a simunitions exercise. \n"This is a new training incorporated into the academy," said Officer Jennifer Buttice, who graduated from the academy in 2000 and is now a full-time officer for the IUPD. "After incidents like Columbine, we don't wait on the SWAT team anymore. We train on clearing the building for an active shooter." \nThe IUPD brought in Sgt. Myrick Williams from the Bloomington Police Department to train cadets to be active participants in handling situations where people are in danger. \nThe simunitions exercise, which was held in the Ashton-Foley residence hall, had groups of four cadets making their way down a hallway in a Y-formation, checking out rooms and searching for the "active shooter." The cadets learn the proper way to hold their fire arms, properly scan the hallways and rooms and watch each others' backs.\n"The big part of this is communication -- knowing what the other person is doing either verbally or non-verbally," said Williams.\nSimunitions exercises use training guns and ammunition that allow the cadet to get a feel for real fire-arm use in high-tension situations. The "bullets" will sting and leave welts if the participant is hit in an unprotected area. They also leave paint marks to show where either the cadet or role players were hit during the \nexercise.\nIUPD officers who graduated from last year's academy participated, each playing a role in the exercise. The cadets had to make it through the hallway, with distractions from loud music, strobe lights and innocent bystanders, and identify and take down the single active shooter.\n"It's not a fun job if you have to go into situations like this, but training will help you respond," said IUPD Officer Kevin Doyle, who graduated from the academy last summer. "It's the most realistic training you'll get."\nLt. Greg Butler, who has run the IUPD academy for the past 10 years, has seen how effective academy training, like PT and the simunitions exercise, is for cadets. He has watched past IUPD cadets become full-time officers for police departments and federal departments around the country.\n"It's a good feeling to watch these kids who have come through this program succeed," Butler said. "When they graduate from IU, they aren't just going to have a degree. They are going to be certified police officers"