Posts Tagged ‘videos’

May 1321

Youth Police Academies Offer Meaningful Summer Fun

With summer nearly upon us, many law enforcement agencies are getting ready to open their doors to the law enforcement leaders of tomorrow through Youth and Teen Police Academies.

Youth Police Academies are not boot camps or disciplinary programs; rather they are opportunities for motivated teenagers who are willing to forgo their X-Boxes for physical fitness drills and career-building experiences.

Youth Police Academies range in length from a week to several months and cover the entire spectrum of law enforcement work. Themes and topics vary by agency, but many courses feature hands-on activities like trying on SWAT gear, meeting dogs from K-9 units, dusting for fingerprints, and much more. Participants may get the chance to go on a ride-along with an officer or take a field trip to their local jail or police training academy.

For many, Youth Police Academies provide the spark that leads to a career in law enforcement. Along with learning the ins and outs of this exciting field, participants also take in important lessons about leadership and responsibility, which prepare them not just for the job but for becoming tomorrow’s law enforcement leaders.

Contact your local law enforcement agency to find out about Teen and Youth Police Academy opportunities in your area.

Nov 1202

Austin Police tell LGBTQ Youth, “It Gets Better”

Back in February, we wrote a post entitled “It’s Okay to be Gay in Law Enforcement,” which highlighted a few forward-leaning departments and outspoken individual officers.

To follow up on that post, just last month the Austin Police Department and the Austin Lesbian & Gay Peace Officers Association produced this video as part of the It Gets Better Project.  The video features LGBT officers and civilians from the Austin Police Department and sends a message to LGBTQ youth that it does get better. The It Gets Better Project (www.itgetsbetter.org) and The Trevor Project (www.thetrevorproject.org) to reach out to LGBTQ youth who may be struggling due to bullying, harassment, and non-acceptance, and who may be thinking of committing suicide.

The message can be extended to members of the LGBTQ community who are considering careers in law enforcement — it does get better and there’s a community of people who’ve paved the way to support you. The Lesbian & Gay Peace Officer’s Association – Austin (LGPOA – Austin) is a Texas non-profit organization which supports LGBT sworn, civilian, and retired members of the Austin Police Department by providing a voice for equality and breaking negative stereotypes through education.  There are similar support groups across the country – and their numbers are growing.  Read more about the value and importance of diversity in law enforcement on our website, DiscoverPolicing.org.

Gay Peace Officers Association – Southern California

Gay Officers Action League – Chicago

Gay Officers Action League – Iowa

Gay Officers Action League – Michigan

Gay Officers Action League – New York

Gay Officers Action League – New England

Law Enforcement Gays and Lesbians of Alabama

Law Enforcement Gays and Lesbians of Florida

Sep 1226

‘End of Watch’ Movie Keeps it Real

Hollywood rarely gets it right when it comes to portraying police officers. That’s what makes the new movie, End of Watch,  so refreshing and sets it apart from others in the cop flick genre.

The film manages to convey a lot about the day-to-day elements of police work: how officers deal with each other, how they work their way through the bureaucracy of the job, how unusual and surprising the violence actually is when it breaks up the routine of the job.

Writer/director David Ayer might not be the one you’d expect to make this movie, since he’s worked on some of the best LAPD dirty cop movies ever, including Training Day,  which won Denzel Washington an Academy Award.  End of Watch feels like a conscious attempt to show the other side of the LAPD, a thank you note to all the men and women who certainly helped Ayer with the research behind his other movies.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Officer Brian Taylor and Michael Peña’s Office Mike Zavala bring an amazing low-key chemistry to their onscreen partnership. The scenes that capture the mundane parts of the job and their off-duty social are the best part of the movie, situations that give the characters a kind of dignity and humanity you don’t often get in a Hollywood cop movie.

Don’t worry – you’ll find the requisite car chases and shoot-outs, too.  The action plot centers around Mexican drug cartels operating as a paramilitary force in SoCal. You’ll forget the details of that five minutes after you leave the theater but the character details might stick with you for a long, long time.

Don’t just take it from us. Check out what LAPD officers had to say after an advance screening:

This post was adapted from a review which originally appeared on Under the Radar, Military.com’s entertainment blog.  The original post, authored by James Barber, can be found here.