HERSHEY, Pa. — The typical morning for a cadet in the Pennsylvania State Police Academy begins at 5 a.m. with a morning run.
"Which could be anywhere from three to three and a half miles, at which time they'll come back shower, have breakfast, complete another segment of duties," said Captain Jamal Pratt, Recruitment Service Director.
Cadets will be here for six to seven months. Duties outside of the classroom or tactical training include everything from kitchen duty vehicle maintenance, mopping floors, anything needed around the academy grounds, and keeping their dorm rooms in perfect shape.
"The lesson and point here is to teach them accountability and responsibility," said Captain Pratt.
"You learn not to cut corners, especially when we're doing investigations. Maybe we had a long day and just want to go home. It still teaches you not to cut corners and do the right thing and do it the right way," said Trooper First Class Clint Long - PSP Recruiter.
By 8 a.m., it's time to head to the classroom. This week, cadets are learning how to handle an incident involving someone with autism.
"Crisis intervention training. We do mental behavior and health training. We do triage; they will also learn traffic law," explained Captain Pratt.
Then it's time for lunch, which is very structured and not without that attention to detail found everywhere else in a cadet's day
Cadets announce themselves for lunch and spend no time socializing at the lunch table; it's for fuel. Cadets have about seven minutes to eat before moving on to the next part of the day.
For these cadets, that means another hour of duties around the academy that are assigned on a rotation basis. While some are working in the kitchen, others might be shining shoes or performing duties with the mounted unit.
"All of our horses are located here in Hershey, Pennsylvania. So if they get a call in Erie or in Pittsburgh, they take the horses from this location out to the location where the call is," said Trooper Carpenter.
Each one is named after a fallen trooper. A memorial to fallen troopers can be found inside the academy as part of this structure and attention to detail. Every trooper who passes must salute for their service and sacrifice.
Next on the cadet's schedule is tactical training. This lesson involves one-handed combat.
Then it's time for more duties, dinner, and bedtime before they do it all over again.
Cadets will complete 1400 hours of training before graduation.
If you want to learn more about becoming a state trooper, click here.