Laura Motes – Helping the Wounded Warrior Project

Laura Motes is a former member of the American military who spent the last two decades working at the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. As someone who tries to help animals and her fellow humans with equal compassion, she regularly donates to the ASPEC and Wounded Warrior Project.

The Wounded Warrior Initiative

The Wounded Warrior Project offers programs and services free of charge, helping veterans maintain or rebuild their physical, mental and financial well-being that’s required for them to live a healthy, happy, and productive life after their professional army career.

The Mission of the Organization

The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to help these veterans in need, and to raise awareness among the public, hoping that the latter can provide them with aid. The organization relies on donations, and with the help of these donations it can help injured service members through a variety of means, including unique programs that were built with that purpose in mind.

Alumni and Family Members

The organization has 92,351 WWP Alumni at the moment, along with 20,238 family members. These large numbers show that not only there are a lot of veteran who need help in the United States, but that the organization is extremely effective. Those who come back from the battlefield injured or develop post-traumatic stress disorder need the help of others in order to start life anew.

Laura Motes hopes that more and more people will realize just how important this initiation is, and that together they can help most veterans turn things around.

Sources:

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/mission/who-we-serve

Laura Motes – Finding Success In Fitness After the Age of 40

Laura Motes is an avid fitness enthusiast, and as someone who is over 40, she is especially interested in training disciplines and dietary methods that are age-appropriate. Staying in shape is something that can happen on its own at certain ages. Kids, who are outgoing and active, are usually in shape. By the time responsibilities roll in, though, this process becomes increasingly harder, and by 40 when most people have their own kids and a career that keeps them busy, it seems borderline impossible.

Physical Changes

Never mind finding the time for it – being fit at the age of 40 is harder because of physical factors as well. By that time, the skin stats to lose its elasticity, and building muscle becomes a daunting task. At the same time, the potential benefits are undeniable.

Strength, Flexibility and Endurance

Studies have shown that exercising after the age of 40 can bring back long-lost physical abilities, mainly flexibility, strength, and endurance. At the same time, if you’ve never been much of an athlete, reaching new physical heights is also a possibility.

Preserve Your Muscles

Another unfortunate side effect of aging is losing valuable muscle mass. With exercising – and especially resistant training – you can postpone, or put off that naturally occurring negative phenomenon. The body loses what it doesn’t need, and what it doesn’t need, you usually don’t use.

Laura Motes enjoys exercising to a great degree, and as someone who has been interested in fitness for the better part of the last 30 years, she does everything in her power to stay in shape and provide a great example for her family.

Sources:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/over-40-fitness-by-body-type1.html

Laura Motes – Qualities of a Good Police Officer

As a former police officer who had an exemplary career with the force, Laura Motes knows the main qualities every aspiring police officer should possess. When an officer of the law has these skills in their professional repertoire, not only does their job become a lot easier, but they will be much more respected by the public, which, in return, helps their work more willingly.

A Good Officer Is a Problem Solver

Top-notch officers are able to solve problems in a variety of ways. They can achieve results alone, doing problem-oriented work, and they can take advantage of the help that the community can provide within the confines of community-oriented problem solving. Whichever they choose based on the situation, they are able to take advantage of their resources and achieve the desired outcome.

A Good Officer Can Follow Orders

A quality officer can work and get results on their own, but they also need to be able to follow orders. Policemen and policewomen regularly have to do things that they don’t necessarily want to, but they have to believe in their supervisors’ judgment and abilities.

A Good Officer Can Learn New Things

The best officers are life-long students who aren’t afraid of questioning their knowledge on a daily basis. It’s important to be open about the process, communicate with the civilians, and listen to what they have to say.

Laura Motes is a former police officer who had a long and fruitful career with law enforcement, working in Athens, Georgia.

Sources:

http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/police-skills-law-enforcement/2015/07/03/id/652904/

Laura Motes – How to Become a Police Officer

As a former police officer who had a successful 21-year-long career with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, Laura Motes knows what it takes to become a member of the force.

Basic Requirements

In the United States, the basic requirements include meeting an age limit, having a driving license, and being a legal resident of the country. When these three prerequisites are all present, one can officially start the process. It’s important to note that some police departments have additional requirements, like a higher – the applicant has to be at least 21 – age limit.

Education

In order to become eligible for the training, one has to have a high school diploma, or alternatively, they can also pass the GED (General Education Development) exam. While having a college degree is not necessarily a must, having one definitely provides a competitive advantage over other candidates. While attending a college, one can also take courses that are either directly or indirectly related to law enforcement, which can be another crucial advantage.

Police Academy

Any aspiring police officers must attend police academy in order to earn their certification. A lot of police departments have their very own academy. The overall length of the training is usually 3 to 4 months, and it includes learning about constitutional law, civil rights, subject apprehension, firearm use and self-defense, among others.

Laura Motes took her training extremely seriously while attending the police academy; and those results led to a very long and successful law enforcement career with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

Sources:

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Police-Officer

Laura Motes – Healthy Living and Mental Energy

Laura Motes worked as a police officer for twenty-one years, and she knows firsthand how important it is for police officers to always stay focused and alert.

Physical energy is not only the fundamental fuel for our physical activities and emotional well-being, but also fuels our mental skills. To perform at our best, be it concentrating on a task at work or focusing on listening when talking to a loved one, we absolutely need to be able to sustain mental concentration. At the same time, we need to see the world around us the way it is. We need to be realists, and at the same time have an optimistic view of things. Our mental energy provides us with all of these abilities.

The best tools that strengthen mental energy and mental capacity are visualization, mental preparation and rehearsal, positive self-talk, and creativity.

Mental energy needs a balance between energy spending and recovery, just like physical and emotional capacities do. If you lack the mental muscles that you need for performance, for example if you have too short of an attention span, the way to cope with it is similar to what you would do when you want to grow your physical muscles. You need to build your capacity to focus by regularly exercising this mental muscle.

Physical, emotional, and mental energy are all interconnected and feed off one another. This is why paying attention to all them is so important, especially if your profession demands all three of them. For example, if you are a police officer like Laura Motes, then you need to be physically fit, emotionally stable, and mentally focused at all times.

 

Laura Motes – Healthy Living and Sleep

As someone who has worked as a police officer, Laura Motes knows about the importance of being focused and getting enough sleep.

Sleeping is the most important source of recovery and energy for humans after breathing and eating. The vast majority of people today are sleep deprived, yet very few of them are aware of how drastically inadequate sleep influences the levels of their performance and engagement, both in their professional and personal lives.
Even small amounts of sleep deficit have a powerful effect on our physical energy, strength, cardiovascular system, and mood. Over fifty studies have shown that memory, analytical reasoning capabilities, reaction time, and concentration all decrease steadily when sleep deficit goes up.

Laura Motes

Sleep needs vary by occupation, age, gender and genetics, but the overall consensus of scientists is that the average human being needs seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function well.

The specific time of sleep also affects health, energy levels and performance capabilities. Shift workers that work night shifts have twice the number of accidents while driving their cars compared to day workers. The number of accidents that occur during night shifts are also considerably higher compared to daytime accidents.

Sleeping is also the time when significant growth and repair of our bodies occurs. During sleep, cell division is very active. Repair enzymes and growth hormones are released into our bodies so that muscles can regenerate. We rest and grow during the periods of our deepest sleep.

This is why sleep is so important for people who, like Laura Motes, always need to be focused on their jobs.

Laura Motes – Advice For New Police Sergeants

Laura Motes is a former police officer who served with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department for 21 years. She became a Sergeant in 2004, which meant she needed to quickly adapt to the new duties she was expected to take on in the role. These pointers will prove helpful to anybody who has managed to attain the same rank and wishes to do the best possible job.

Develop Your Communication Skills

You will be splitting a lot of time between your superiors and your team of officers on the ground, so you are going to need to develop your communication skills accordingly. You will have to develop a range of approaches so that you can effectively handle discussions with people at all levels of the force, from your new trainees through to your superior officers.

Become a Coach

As a Sergeant you are going to find that more of your fellow officers start coming to you for advice, particularly those who are new to the force. Be confident in your abilities and recognize that you would not have achieved the position in the first place if you didn’t have something useful to offer. Use your own experiences to help others develop.

Admit Mistakes

Laura Motes always took ownership of any mistakes that happened while she was a Sergeant. It is important to continue your professional development once you attain the rank by learning from your mistakes so that you don’t make them again later on down the line. This will ensure your continued development and improve your chances of progressing further up the ladder.

 

Laura Motes – Tips For New Police Officers

Before she made the decision to transition into studying for a career in nursing, with the aim of starting her Master’s degree at Georgia Regents University in the fall of 2016, Laura Motes was a well-tenured police officer who served with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department for 21 years. Even so, she still remembers just how intimidating it can be to start your policing career, so try to keep all of the following in mind if you are a rookie who is looking to make a good impression.

Laura Motes

Be Confident, But Not Arrogant

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance and you must make a point of not crossing it during your policing career. You need to maintain an air of confidence so that you will have authority when working with members of the public and so that your fellow officers will respect you and your opinions. However, if you become arrogant you will cause friction within the team and may end up stunting your professional growth due to an inability to identify weaknesses that you need to work on.

Listen and Learn

Your fellow officers will be an amazing resource for you when you first start your job, helping you to build on the foundation of knowledge that you developed during your initial training. Make sure that you listen to and comply with the orders of your direct superiors, while also treating colleagues who are at the same level as you with the respect that they deserve. In doing so, you will be able to benefit from their experience while also learning more about the procedures you need to follow in order to do your job effectively.

Stay Logical

As a police officer, you must be capable of keeping your cool in difficult situations. Do not let emotion dictate your actions, especially when working with members of the public. Doing so can cloud your judgment and could lead to you making mistakes or acting in an unprofessional manner.

Learn From Mistakes

Most rookies will make a mistake or two while they are still learning the ropes, so it is important that you take ownership of any blunders and learn from them. Trying to cover up mistakes is always a bad move and may land you in trouble with your superiors, while also leading to you failing to work on your weaknesses.

Take Advantage of Training

There will be a multitude of training opportunities presented to you during your career, as Laura Motes can attest to having completed more than 2,000 hours of training during her time as a police officer. You should try to take advantage of any opportunities to learn more so that you can improve as a professional in order to better serve the public.

Laura Motes – Fervent Supporter of the ASPCA

Laura Motes grew up with animals all around her in her parents’ home in rural Georgia. She knows how to properly care for and treat them and she wants everyone to have the same knowledge and caring nature that she does. Unfortunately, the United States is still a long way from being completely educated of the proper way to take care of domesticated animals. Pets still go neglected and get abandoned all the time. Motes, a former police officer and current nursing student, wanted to join the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

The ASPCA has two main causes that it as an organization works hard to fight for: the end of animal homelessness and the end of animal cruelty. Laura Motes works closely with her local animal shelters near her home in Watkinsville, Georgia, but across the country animal shelters are routinely stretched thin because their budgets just don’t do enough to place animals in good homes. With 2.7 million animals being euthanized in the United States every year, the ASPCA works to provide alternatives to euthanasia for shelters throughout the country. The ASPCA also works to help abused animals find new homes and to educated people about the causes and effects of animal cruelty in our society, as well as the signs to watch for. Laura Motes is a vocal advocate of all of these issues.

Laura Motes plans on beginning her Master’s degree in Nursing in the fall of 2016 at Georgia Regents University.

 

Laura Motes – Military and Paramilitary Experience

Laura Motes graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1992 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and in Management Information Systems. She graduated with honors as well from the United States Army Military Police Corp Officer Basic Course at Fort McClellan, Alabama in 1993. Her training with the military helped her graduate from the Northeast Georgia Police Academy in Athens, Georgia, recording over 2,000 hours of training. Motes then joined the Athens-Clarke County Police Department later in 1993 and started out as an officer in the Uniform Patrol Division.

Laura Motes

Laura Motes performed many police services in this position, from responding to calls for service, law enforcement, criminal activity investigation, traffic collision investigation, and public safety. She provided judicious and fair police presence in neighborhoods throughout her precinct to discourage criminal activity and to apprehend offenders. After a few years on the job, Motes was made responsible for training and evaluating new officers to the force. She was promoted to Senior Police Officer in 1998.

Laura Motes moved into the Alcohol Compliance Unit and the Taxi and Wrecker Permit Unit as a Senior Police Officer in 2001. She helped ensure that all businesses in her jurisdiction were in compliance with state and local liquor laws and made sure that all vehicles-for-hire (such as taxis and wreckers) in the area were in compliance and had their fully registered permits at all times. Part of her duties in this position also included conducting background checks and criminal history investigations for all applicants for vehicle-for-hire and alcohol permits. She investigated and documented all vehicle-for-hire complaints and reports of infringement of alcohol permit laws. Motes even spearheaded an effort revise taxi and wrecker ordinances in her jurisdiction as well.

Laura Motes earned a promotion to Sergeant in 2003 and the following year, was assigned to West Precinct to help manage it. She actively supervised and monitored shift activities and directed the shift’s patrol activities to reduce criminal activity in the precinct. Already an experienced officer, Motes provided mentorship, assistances, and guidance to all shift personnel on a regular basis to help achieve all departmental and shift goals. On a daily basis, Motes reviewed incident reports for accuracy, timeliness, and thoroughness, reviewed and ensured the comparative and relativity of activity reports, and compiled information for administrative reports.

Laura Motes handled many day-to-day mentorship and operations tasks for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department during her 21-year career there. She left the force in 2014 to pursue other areas of employment. She settled on nursing because it will give her a chance to work directly with patients to create solutions to their medical problems. She’ll be able to help her community even more as a nurse, something she cares deeply about.