Star Party: this is the story of what happens when you get 27 newly certified law enforcement officers together, throw them on a party bus, and tour the downtown streets of Chicago....

Originally I thought the party bus idea was corny, and made no sense but I have to admit I was wrong. The party bus was incredible. Leather couches, plasma TV screens, surround sound, bathroom, fully stocked bar, and even a stripper pole! As we traveled from club to club and bar to bar we partied like rock stars. In between locations I DJ'd from a collection of my personal CDs, as to no surprise I got no complaints. Below are some pictures of the party bus.

After reaching our destinations, we made it known that we were on a "no man left behind" policy. I remember having to literally drag people on the bus, because they didn't want to leave a particular spot. We were the life of the party in every establishment we entered. It seems like when we left one establishment, complete strangers would just follow behind. There were even a lot of "groupies" that attempted to enter the bus. Some of them made the cut while others were left wondering why they were told to wait outside until more room was available.

Bouncers and club owners showed a lot of courtesy on free admission, and free drinks at every bar/club we attended. This wasn't much of a surprise for me, because I've had the luxury of using this system the last half-dozen times I've gone out. There's nothing like surpassing a long line of people, getting free admission, and having the bartender buy the first round all because of your profession.

In the end we all had a nice, safe time. Everyone in attendance deserved to let loose that night. We've never all gotten together and had the experience of enjoying each other off duty. Usually when we see each other it's in a more high stress enviornment. We've all worked so hard to reach that one common goal, and that's to graduate. It really felt good to see everyone enjoying themselves.

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Below are two videos taken during shotgun training. This video is not taken at the academy.

Final Thought: I passed the state test. It feels good to have that monkey off my back.