Last week in Blacksburg

The last week has been a bit stressful with the move. Everything had to be sorted, sold, packed, shipped etc within 10 days. Plus sorting a bunch of forms for the next job. Thankfully I sold all of my furniture. Which did mean for the last week I was sleeping and sitting on the floor.

My "sofa"

 And then there was all the cleaning. I spent Wednesday and Thursday (when not working) just cleaning. It was made more bearable with some music and a great bottle of wine!

Bribery to clean

 On my last day at work, the weather was gorgeous and I got some nice last pictures of campus.

Burruss Hall

War Memorial 

VT (and road works)

The campus is definitely the prettiest I have been on. (Minus all the current road works.)
For the past week I have been helping the VT police department with orientation, doing demos of the RAD stuff. I am really going to my police department and my friends there.

Watching the presentation

 The last night was exhausting but I managed to get everything done. And finished off in the morning.

My last BB breakfast

I got a lift to the airport from Nicole and we had a lovely lunch before checking in. (My luggage was exactly at the maximum weight.)

The first part of the trip from Roanoke to Washington Dulles was mostly uneventful though we did have some serious turbulence thanks to thunderstorms. And I managed to be leaving Dulles from a food dead zone it seems. The flight out was delayed. First, they hadn't stowed the luggage. Then the electrics kept crashing through the cabin and then the cockpit. They had some great movies but I ended having to restart and fast forward the avengers film about 5 times as it kept resetting. Then they couldn't detach the outside stairs from the plane. Thats a new one!

I was hoping to catch up with Caroline at Heathrow as we both landed at the same time. But you needed a boarding pass to get to where she was leaving from! :-( 

I am now home, after a lovely English breakfast in the sun (it has, of course, since clouded over), a shower and a nap. The main reason I am updating this is to stay awake! I have to stay awake so I avoid jet lag. Which considering I got no sleep on the plane is not easy! 

But it's good to be home even if it is only for a short time. :)

Shooting with SWAT

On Friday, after a meeting with people from the athletics department regarding the issues with the football team and then doing the photography for the Physics Awards Day Ceremony (it was a busy day), I got a lift from a police friend out to the VT shooting range to participate in the range day with the members of the police department and ERT (aka SWAT) as part of the police academy. So much fun!

Thankfully the weather held off though it was really muddy and I was very glad I had brought some rough clothes to put over my smart "I am a photographer" clothes. 

I got there just as they were finishing the pistols and a shooter competition. :-( But I got to do the pistols later. 

Preparing the next lot of guns

Inspection

After the pistols there was a round robin with a shot gun, a AR something (an assault rifle but I can't remember the full name), and an MP5 (which was fully automatic - very cool and scary!).

Showing the shot gun

On the range

Aim and fire!

I stood back a bit and watch first. But Nicole was kind enough to take some photos of me while I shot to super big guns.
I was a little nervous about these. They had some kick, so on Nicole's advice, I started on the easiest one, the AR something.

Shooting

He could tell I was a little nervous.

I think they all realized I was a bit nervous as after one shot I was "ok I'm good". Thankfully they made me shoot some more. After all when am I likely to get this sort of chance again?
I also didn't realize until looking at these photos exactly how curly my hair is these days! (Who sees the back of their head? And no one had mentioned the curl extent.) So here I look like Little Orphan Annie grew up and got very/violently annoyed at the world. Think "Annie" meets "Die Hard".

Practicing holding the MP5.

I was even more nervous about the MP5 after hearing people talk about it. This one likes to kill birds. The barrel really pulls up and tries to escape. Not something that seems like a very good idea. But it was fully automatic (i.e hold down the trigger and it just keeps on going until the magazine is empty.) I regret not taking a little more time with it but seriously I was so scared of losing control and taking out birds, trees and possibly members of the ERT team and students. I imagine I would have a very hard getting another visa after something like that!

Shooting the MP5

The last of the big guns was the shot gun. OH MY GOD!!!! That kicked a punch. I have some nice bruises on my shoulder and my cheek (as you have to put your cheek on the gun to look down the sight - might be using a bit of concealer for the next few days to avoid awkward questions!)
It was crazy powerful and has some serious recoil. But it was very satisfying to see the paper target obliterate!

Aim ... 

Fire!!! (Followed by "Ouch")

As I missed the pistols, they were sweet enough to let me go afterwards with one other person who was also late. I asked Nicole to basically assume I knew nothing (which is a pretty good assumption). I think I am a pretty good shot. My second shot was just above the 'x'. I had a little issue with wincing and closing my eyes when I was about to shoot but sorted that out. And as you can see below, it was pretty good and nearly all hit the target and most within the center (and 5 in the centre circle). :)
Not exactly a sharp shooter but it was only my second try!

My target

Dead!

So the world really needs to realize I am dangerous and stop messy with me! :) 

An evening with SWAT

Well they are called ERT (emergency response team) here but same thing.
Last night I spent a few hours at a talk by the VT ERT team and at range safety. It was run by Detective Daniel Hardy, who was great at the presentation and funny. He showed us some of the equipment such as the bullet proof vests, battering rams, and lots of guns.

The shielding in the ERT vest

How to break down your door.

We could also try the gear on. I did actually wear it as there wasn't time for everyone but I did pick it up. Seriously heavy,  ~50 lb and thats not included all the other gear

Getting kitted out

Armed and ready

They brought along a bunch of guns. There were a few shot guns, a sniper rifle and some machine guns! I couldn't tell you the names though. He also talked about the types of ammo (such as the non-lethal bean bags) and other bits of kit they have such as flash-bangs and tear gas.

the guns

After the talk, we could all go up and look at the guns and equipment. Well, everything except the sniper rifle, which was super highly calibrated so he didn't want anyone touching it.

More guns and a flash-bang

top:shot gun, middle: another gun, Bottom: grenade launcher

And more guns

They also brought some of the protection gear in, the usual shield you see in films and a more flexible one called a Bat shield. Seriously. That's it's name.

the old riot/bullet shield

Testing out the newer BAT shield

BAT shield

I have only been around guns once before (despite having lived in the US for a while now), at the range where Caroline and I did a class and went shooting. And then it was cry much "always treat the gun like it is loaded". Not so much here which made me more than a little nervous. I know they weren't loaded but still.... They were pointing them anywhere and I really didn't want to do staring down the barrel of a gun, loaded or not.

I was a little nervous around all this

ERT vest

The best quote of the night: when explaining the sniper rifle, "We use this when we want to reach out and touch someone. And touch them in a very specific place." I guess that's one way of describing a sniper rifle!

"Ruby", the sniper rifle

The rest of the evening was on range safety. And there was not as much as I personally would have liked but I have a somewhat British dislike of guns. and really don't want to get shot. Ever.
But tomorrow should be fun. I have to turn up late due to a work commitment but tomorrow we get to shot the guns.

Driving police cars!

This week on Monday for the police academy, we were doing vehicle operations, i.e. deriving police cars as fast as we could around an obstacle course. :)
We went out to the local airport to do the course which was a sharp 'S' followed by a 'light bulb' (like a painted on roundabout for the British readers) and then back through the 'S'.
First we went through the a cop driving slowly, and then at high speed with them driving. I was sitting in the back. There is not a lot of room there; I now have some impressive bruises on my knees. :(
Then it was our turn. First time was low speed to get used to the course.

Checking things out

 Then all bets were off. It was as fast as you wanted and with lights going.

Caning it.

 The final time was the same but with the sirens. That was a serious adrenaline rush!

All out.

I waited until most people had been so no one was really watching just in case I took out a whole heap of cones. However this meant it had the added problem of it then being dark. Still it was great fun and I would happily have gone through a few more times. I might not have gone as fast as some of the others (though I think only by a second or two) but I didn't hit a single cone! SO I might not get there as fast but everyone will be in one piece. 

Most people hit the cones on the roundabout but I have driven in Gornal, Dudley. That was not a tight turn!

Night driving

Then a couple of the police went, competing. Obviously much quicker than us! And Tony Haga, who loves his driving, did the course in reverse. In the dark.

After picking up the cones, we got the mobile command unit (a huge RV) back to the VT police department. Which has no seatbeats, which was interesting. (Until someone sitting on a rolling chair rolled per my toes when we went around a bend. Then I was not so impressed.)

Night scope in the mobile command centre.

Take Back the Night rally

Thursday night was the Take Back the Night rally in Blacksburg. This is a world wide organization which fights for the end to gender-based violence.
It started with music and speeches. I got up and spoke about RAD and my experiences. There were a lot more people there than I thought there would be so it was a little nerve wracking. The theatre filled and it contains 510 seats. All seats filled and people were standing around the edge. And the stairs getting to the stage were lethal!

Stage

Only some of the crowd - the hall completely filled and people were standing

VT President Sands

 There was music and speeches by VT groups.

Acapulco. 

The plan, after all the speeches, was to march around campus. However this is Blacksburg after all and the weather had other ideas. Most of us were ok with a little rain but it was pouring down. And then the lightning started. (Some of the banners had metal poles.) So they marched through Squires (the student centre) instead.

On the move

Take back the night

Ending the march

"Real life" CSI

I am currently doing the student police academy (they let me in even though I am not a student as I know the cops!). Last week was life as a police officer and terrorism. The terrorism one was really interesting as it was given by the head of the police department who used to be FBI. He was head of the Osama bin Laden task force. His first day was sept 11th 2001 (that is being dumped in at the deep end!) and he talked about the cases he had worked on. It was very cool to get an "insider" view.

This week was the CSI week. They set up a crime scene and in groups we have to photograph it, ask for evidence and basically solve the crime. Split over 2 nights, Monday was the gathering evidence. The group is split into 3 teams and there is a prize at the end of it for the best team. (I don't think we will be getting it as my team really didn't seem that into it. The others were talking about the crime scene and theories - mine just wanted the candy cane to drugged and then started talking about aliens and deadliest catch! A bit disappointing.)

We had one dead body, another stabbing victim in the hospital, a suspect (caught standing over the live victim wight he knife in his hand), and another girl missing! And a candy cane on the dead body. Very strange! (We already nicknamed him/her the Candy Cane Killer!)

Our victim and a mysterious candy cane.

Crime scene

Evidence 

Who left the bottle?

Someone forgot their shirt! 

Did they wipe down the prints? 

Looking puzzled.

The weapon!

Blood smears (that look a lot like chocolate)

After the crime scene we got to interview the suspect. (I don't think we were very good at it. We forgot to ask if he did it!)
Then we got a demonstration on blood spatter and finger printing. Most of this I knew from CSI etc but it was good to see in real life.

Our expert

low velocity blood drops.

Unfortunatly then my camera battery died. :-( But we did get to try to take finger prints. The powder really does get everywhere! And of course you have to scratch your nose as soon as it gets on your hands.
Mine didn't exactly turn out well. I thing I need more practice. Or I just don't have a thumb print. :-/

My thumb print???

Wednesday, we got our requested evidence back and tried to figure out who was the killer. No one got it right. Though that was mainly because the whole scenario turned out to be utterly unrealistic (way too CSI/Criminal minds to be real) and we were all trying to come up with realistic ideas.
The second night was a disappointment honestly.  It seemed like the whole thing hadn't really been thought out - evidence never accounted for etc. If thats what it's really like, it's not surprising so many of the criminals win! My group sucked. They didn't listen to each other and even though asked never put down a request for finger prints from the knife! I hope they never go into law enforcement!

Still the first night was interesting and it bets working at home (again!). Next week is drunk driving, K9, and zombie apocalypse. (I'm going to have to let you know what that is as I have no idea, other than the strange obvious.)