HUMBOLDT — This is part seven of a 14-part series following Nina Froggatte’s journey through police training at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, Hutchinson.
As part of a small group Monday, Froggatte was dispatched by radio to a mock-murder scene as a first responder. In a matter of a few minutes, Froggatte was to check the victim’s vital signs, secure the crime scene and keep curious neighbors at bay. Once things were under control, Froggatte was to contact a coroner and type a search warrant of which, according to Froggatte, had to be grammatically flawless. Tuesday and Wednesday the investigation continued while she interviewed witnesses and potential suspects and waited for lab results.
“I think that I did pretty well with all that, but typing up a search warrant can be more difficult than I thought,” she said.
Froggatte said she feels comfortable with the neutral nature of interviews, but the accusatory nature of interrogations has proven to be more challenging.
“I have a hard time when I’m frustrated not showing that I’m frustrated,” she said.
A mid-week visit from her boyfriend, Cory Eisenbart, and his dad, John, helped to break up her routine. She was able to give them a tour of the facility and join them for dinner.
“That was nice,” Froggatte said. “It made the week go by a lot faster, too.”
Thursday and Friday were spent with physical training and defense tactics; activities that left Froggatte with sore muscles. The students ran a mile and a half and then hustled to turn out as many push-ups and sit-ups as they could within a specified timeframe. From there, the students went to defense tactics. The students are learning to use a perpetrator’s weight to their advantage and to utilize pressure points such as between the collarbone and the base of the throat. Pressure points are often used in instances when a person is handcuffed but refuses to stay seated or tries to bite an officer, Froggatte said.
“You can just push down on that spot and it won’t hurt them but it will get them to sit back down,” she said.
But all work and no play makes even police training dull. While Froggatte was practicing on a student volunteer, another student pulled the chair out from under him.
“He basically did a backward somersault because he was pretending to be handcuffed so he didn’t even catch himself,” she said. “It was pretty funny.”
A little humor goes a long way when sweaty students spend all day in close quarters, Froggatte said.
This week will be spent on the gun range. Froggatte said she is apprehensive about that. “Basically for eight hours you are standing on concrete with your arms in the air shooting at a target,” she said.
This week marks the halfway point of the 14-week law enforcement program.
