Navajo Police: Class 57

In short: I watch a lot of documentaries. I enjoy many of them but think few of them are 10/10 great. This is one of those few. You really need to watch all three episodes.

The long version: When I consider a documentary to be art (as opposed purely entertainment), my enjoyment of it has very little to do with the topic and everything to do with the way in which it is presented. Especially when tackling an emotionally and politically-charged topic, a documentary should not set out to support one "side" or another. A good documentary aims to explore a complex topic by helping us understand the commonality of human nature driving seemingly-contradictory facets of an issue. A great documentary is one that goes beyond this individual human level by layering the narrative within a larger historical and societal context that further deepens our understanding. Great art not only makes us think, but also makes us feel. Navajo Police Class 57 is both a great documentary and great art.

To the user who wrote a previous 1/10 review: I completely relate to your emotional reaction and feelings of disgust in watching many of the training scenes. I would guess (and hope) that most viewers shared those visceral reactions. I don't want to give any spoilers but I strongly encourage you to go back and finish watching all three episodes. I fear the following analogy might come across as glib and I hope you will take me at my word when I tell you that is not the spirit in which I intend it. To me, it seems that you wrote a review of the Navajo Police training process depicted in episode 1, rather than a review of the documentary itself. Giving a review of the series that is based on viewing only one of three episodes is akin to ordering an item online and giving the product a bad review because there was a problem with shipping and you never actually received the product you purported to review. Even if you need to look away and plug your ears during some of the disturbing training scenes (as I'll admit I sometimes do when watching something that elicits too strong an emotional reaction), I hope you will go back and watch all three episodes. I think you will come away with a more nuanced overall reaction to this documentary.

This may be the best anti recruiting film ever made. The abusive, militaristic approach of the lead trainer is disgusting to behold. (And they wonder why so many recruits drop out.). Perhaps the instructor just doesn't know any better having been warped and disfigured by his own training. Or perhaps he's just a frustrated Marine Corp drill instructor wannabe. He not only should not be allowed near recruits, he should not be allowed to wear a badge.

What you get when you prepare police officers to go into service as though they are entering a war zone, is a war zone mentality. Every good cop I've ever known, knows that empathy, compassion and communication skills are at the heart of day to day policing.

I expect some viewers will get off on the toxic masculinity of this program. As for me, I didn't make it past the first episode.

This documentary reveals many shadows ad revelations well beyond the experience of a group of American Indians going tio police school. The devestating rise in crime and violence on drugs. The absolute decline and possible collapse of traditional culture, language, ceremony and familuy support. The Navajo are a people I spent time visiting in the 1980s. I do not even recognize the culture I see in this documenary. The most shocking and painful revelation was that most of the Navajo shown in this video are Christians. The Navajo had one of the most excellent indigenous religious traditions, that all seems gone now replaced with prayers to Jesus. I am an Ojibwe American Indian, like the Navajo, we Ojibwe have our own religious and spiritual traditions that we preserve and cherish. That the Christians have overtaken the traditional relion of Navajo was very hard to watch, to comprehend. This is like watching the victims try to protect themselves, as each cop and candidate is an inheritor of the oppression and denialism of US Federal policy, it is a documentary, well made, about a broken culture using its broken people to inch themselves forward. It is mostly, for me, a very sad and disheartening story.

The foundation was culture and pride. As I watched these men and women endure their journey into what I know to be a desperate situation. I grew up on the reservation and the police response has always been a problem. Crime, violence, drugs, addiction are on the rise and very few police to enforce the law. It's a story that we never got to see and it was eye opening. Not just because very few people want to serve but because of the men and women's stories behind the badge. To see the screening process and the initiation wasn't easy to see but I'm glad the recruits are prepared to meet any obstacle in their service. Also to understand Their personal struggles and their reason to serve the Navajo Nation was the icing on the cake. It was a great watch.

I'm glad to see the Navajo People represented in the mainstream. I grew up next to the Navajo Reservation and am familiar with the people, the culture, and the issues that affect the Diné people on the Reservation. Diné values include K'é (family), hózhó (harmony/balance), and ceremonies that celebrate mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. This doc takes until episode 2 before it points out some of the serious gaps in leadership at the Navajo Police Training Academy, which appear at odds with the traditional Navajo values of balance and harmony.

At one point, a training officer is lecturing the recruits on the impact of domestic abuse and generational trauma, citing the mental, emotional, economic, and physical impacts. This is juxtaposed next to scenes of the trainers themselves shaming, humiliating, discouraging, and belittling their own recruits. It's important to train first responders to get used to stress, but the Academy's heavily discouraging approach from day one focuses on how so many will fail, emphasizes how weak and "mental" they are for showing discomfort, and seems to be pushing out the recruits they so desperately need.

The Navajo Nation is a close-knit community who rely on the values of K'é and Hózhó to keep them grounded to their culture. They're aware of how the loss of their culture has led to many of the problems faced by people still trying to survive on the Reservation. However, the way the academy operates, it seems like there is a notable lack of support to succeed. I'm not even sure what the Academy's values are, except that it's difficult and important to be in control of yourself. At no point did I notice any of the trainers offer helpful advice on how to self-regulate during stressful exercises, how to breathe correctly to control your fear, how to feel feelings without allowing it to control you; instead it was constant put-downs and admonishment for these young people trying their level-best to live up the the impossible expectations set before them.

There's an attempt to tie community values into the training, but the Academy is clearly needing more of its own balance if it's to see its graduating officer numbers rise to the level of need on the Navajo Reservation.