WEEK 2: The Texas Penal Code … and a sense of duty and honor

“The police academy is not as militaristic as a boot camp, but we adopt a lot of those procedures because of the conformity and the sense of fellowship that it builds in the recruit class,” TEEX instructor Cullen Grissom said. “It gives the recruits a great deal of pride. They have chosen to serve others and they need to be proud of their profession.”

Every morning at 7:50 a.m. – weather permitting – the recruits line up in formation in front of a set of flag poles that were purchased and installed by a former CTPA recruit class. Four cadets raise the United States and Texas flags high above the ground and the other cadets salute the flags as a sign of duty and honor to their country.

After the flags are secured into place for the day, the cadets recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas Flag.

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

“Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."

“It is symbolic of what we are going to do,” College Station PD recruit Kellye Cozart said. “We serve the same purpose as the military. We protect our colors on our home turf and they do it overseas.”

The posting of colors is followed by a uniform inspection – done by Mr. Santo, who is a spitting image of any drill instructor you have seen in a movie.

“The uniform inspection is to teach them how to show up for work when they complete the police academy,” Santo said. “Their uniform must be clean and wrinkle-free. Their boots need to be polished, their leather gear must look good and they have to be clean shaven.”

There are physical penalties for not complying as two cadets learned. One cadet’s facial hair was a little stubbly and another’s cell phone rang during the inspection. Both had to leave the formation and get into push-up position.

After completing inspection, the cadets hustle back to the classroom to begin their final day of instruction on the Texas Penal Code. They have been immersed in it all week.

When asked what they have been doing this week, Cozart said: “Lots of penal code. All day, every day,”

“It is a lot of material but I would not say it is overwhelming,” added Clayton Brown, also a College Station PD recruit. “We will see when we get to the first test. We might think it’s overwhelming then.”

Interesting tidbits:

The Texas Penal Code consists of about 37 chapters and comprises approximately 20 percent of the law book (see photo on left) used by the students. The cadets use the book to learn what is legal and illegal and then will later apply this knowledge to practical situations.