Navajo Police: Class 57

Imagine watching a docuseries about police and then getting big mad because it's about police. Lol.

The funny thing is it's only kind of about police. It's primarily about an incredible, beautiful and resilient culture that survives despite the best efforts of the United States to grind it out of existence. Heroes--even flawed, traumatized ones--rise up to serve their community (and I'm talking about the activists, the EMTs, the elected officials, the keepers of the traditions every bit as much as the police) and preserve its legacy. Hard to find fault with this effort, and it's made beautifully to boot..

I do not watch many documentaries, in fact I do not enjoy them much. This one however is well worth watching. This is about native american - Navajo - police academy. But academy seems to be only minor part of the series. What carried the most weight for me was the life on the Navajos in desert, life without hope and without future, where two best job opportunities are to become criminal, or to join a police. Cadets are trained military style, in fact when I watched it, I saw a striking resemblance of training depicted in "Full Metal Jacket".

For me personally, the most impressive part was in episode 3 when one of the new officers said that during 2 months of being on the job he had to draw a pistol 20 times, and asssault rifle 5 times. This is simply shocking. They are in the warzone. Huge majority of Polish police officers never have to draw weapon in anger during their entire career, but here... every radio call can be your last.

Definitely worth watching.

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.

I am quite surprised at how interesting this series is. While it is about a group of young men and women going through training to become police officers on the Navajo Reservation, it is also about the difficulties the officers face once the training is completed. Not enough officers, not nearly enough, the very high crime happening in the area and the loss of traditional Navajo culture which has been a sustaining factor of living on the Rez and being ok.

Later in episode two the training officers were looking at what they might be able to do to get more recruits and keep more in the program. One person said that so many of these young people had grown up with constant put downs and criticism that the marine boot camp style was maybe too harsh. I really agree with this. I get it these people need to have certain qualities to be able to handle life as police in sometimes really dangerous or tricky situations, but first they have to make through the training. I felt many were leaving because of the fairly constant put downs, which in my opinion are not even necessary. Firmness and encouragement!

Other ideas I had (in case anyone is reading this) are;

Some focus on the spiritual at the beginning of class each day. Not necessarily a religious focus but something acknowledging some kind of guidance. It could be a non demoninational type prayer, smudging, the Serenity Prayer, a positive pep talk, asking for guidance or basically anything that brings that sort of focus.

I also think for these students and basically all police officers, everywhere, some sort of outlet for talking about the difficult experiences that happens with these jobs. This could help people get through the academy and also keep people out in the field more emotionally balanced.

Another area I really questioned is what the officers have to deal with once in the job, being alone alot, overworked and overwhelmed. This is not sustainable. Changes need to happen with the way things are being done for working officers. They are often alone and running from one really stressful situation to the next for their entire work day, day after day. It doesn't seem like just having more officers is going to fix this entirely.

Last is the actual recruitment requirements. One is the issue of not having any police record at all. This is going to make it almost impossible to get the numbers they need. There could be some leeway, like minimal crimes or crimes when very young but nothing since. And, possibly something like, okay you messed up but after this amount of time you can apply again. There is such a thing as redemption. There are also people who make life changes, such as recovery from alcohol or drug abuse. I am pretty sure this idea would be questioned but consider this is a specific situation that may call for something different than the usual academy training and requirement.

Okay one last thing(really). I really admire the people who go through this training and make it all the way. They could be the best recruitment tools available.

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.