Video: For Cadets, The First Hour of Police Academy Is Chaotic

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – It’s the first hour of police academy for 15 cadets in Class B 54 and instructors call it “stress innoculation.”

“The reason we do the yelling and make them run and all that, we’re simulating stress, because what they’re experiencing now is nothing compared to a real incident on the street,” said Brian Brown, who is director of the North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center. He has trained future police officers for nearly 20 years. He and the other instructors want to be sure cadets follow all instructions. That’s why some cadets found their personal belongings scattered across the parking lot.

“We told them before they came here to make sure they lock their vehicle. It’s an attention to detail thing. Attention to detail on the street can get you killed if you are not paying attention,” Brown said.

Cadets are ordered to pick up their belongings, and help each other out. Teamwork is emphasized and the cadets will need to work as a team. They will live at the academy , Sunday through Friday, for 11 weeks. Cadets are told how to stand, how to address instructors and if cadets have trouble following instructions, they do pushups.

Or leg lifts, then they run, again and again, in formation.

It may seem chaotic and it is. Instructors have been teaching cadets for a long time and there is a reason for everything the cadets will experience during their time at the academy.

“This is 54 classes that have done this. And we have turned out some good cops. I told them you’re not going to understand why we do what we do, but that final night here, you will finally understand, ok, that’s when the light bulb clicks on, and that’s when they understand why they went through all this. It’s a rite of passage, a rite of passage pretty much one hundred percent of the instructors out here came through this academy,” Brown said.

Cadets learn there is even a proper way to hold a water bottle.

“Typically as police officers, we try our best not to hold anything in our strong hand. You always want your weapon hand free and that’s an early lesson, one of the first things we teach, mind your weapon hand, make sure you’re not holding something, drink, fork, knife, if somebody comes in, you can act if you need to,” Brown explained.

Instructor Brown says there’s another reason the first day of police academy is so tough.

“Shows you who is in for it, shows you what I call true blue, anybody in law enforcement over five years I call true blue, ultimately the first step to find out if you’re really in it, is to come through the academy and make it through the first day,” Brown said.

Instructors say the first day is the toughest, but they know the cadets will be challenged and those who stay the course will become part of a close knit family.

In part two of “True Blue” Allie introduces us to three cadets we will follow over the course of the entire academy.