Did you know that I’m an honorary Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy? I don’t quite believe it either - so before they take it away - here’s my sordid tale with Fox Reality’s The Academy, I even have photo’s.
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed the proliferation of law enforcement related shows canvassing television’s real estate. While we’ve grown accustomed to the ways of Fox staple Cops, the genre has recently underwent a boom with the addition of Armed & Famous, and the most interesting of the bunch, Fox Reality’s The Academy, since it throws out the beat & bust practices of most cop shows.
The Academy, which follows the experience of wanna-be L.A. Sheriff Deputies, goes where no show has been before, inside the training process of one of busiest departments in the United States. Strangely, this is monumental considering the type of attention Los Angeles cops receive on a national basis, (a lot of cities turn down request of reality shows filming in precincts). Even more strange, they requested that R.C. experience a day of recruit training - just to prove how real, reality television can get.
No Parking…
After arriving at the training center - a one story non-descript building tucked behind a series of mountains in L.A. county - I was sent to a short introduction regarding driving safety. It was pretty much like the driving school experience - along with the faux car simulations and film strips - except unlike driving school were there were plenty of donuts and coffees, which I somehow expected to find in “Copland.”
Before long I am behind the wheel of an actual cop car, sirens blaring, running 80mph on a stretch of windy road. The course - which all officers have to complete in record time - with minimal mistakes, makes the autobahn seem like a traffic jam. At any given time, at least 8 cars are racing the track, with the aim of increasing defensive driving, and improving the reaction time of the officers. Things become tricky however, since the officers are constantly changing the course, or they chase you down with another patrol car, just to keep you alert at such high speeds.
Things get even more heady once they start testing my reaction time, this is done while you drive approximately 30mph while riding towards three red lights, once you’re a moment away from the lights, one turns green and you must head towards that light and make a complete stop. The only problem with this is that I usually didn’t realize the light turned green until after I was under a red light… After a couple of tries, I somehow make it under the correct light and the cops snicker at my slow reaction time.
Then there was the ultimate driving test, learning how to do the reverse donut – the movie stunt where a car drives at insane speeds in reverse, promptly breaks and spins around in a donut style fashion. The lesson begins with me watching an old school cop perform the stunt with such ease; he could’ve talked on his cell phone during the lesson. Of course, it wasn’t as easy once I was behind the wheel. As it took at least five tries, before I was even able to land a ¾ donut.
Once I completed the donut session, it was off to an afternoon of hydroplaning, the sad thing is that I almost took out some of L.A.’s finest once my vehicle slid a little too far off course, and I was only inches away from smacking some good people with a patrol car… since I survived without maiming anyone, I decided it was time to take things up a notch and start weapons training.
Ready, Aim, Fire!
Once I managed to battle an epic road trip involving rush hour traffic from the county to a weapons training center in East L.A., I knew I was ready for anything. After a series of horror stories involving weapons mishaps over the years, it becomes quite evident that the officers love the danger and surprise elements of their jobs, for a moment I’m extremely jealous. That is, until officers start displaying “war” wounds (a Swiss cheese looking car door that was shot up during a drug raid) I realize quite quickly, life as a journalist isn’t so bad.
We began gun training with handguns inside of a trailer that’s designed to withstand close range shots with real automatic weapons. It starts with various video’s playing on a wide screen that involve different scenarios involving officers, i.e. going to home to check on a domestic dispute or traipsing through a school after reports of gun fire. You have to remember that you can’t shoot citizens or other cops and most importantly you’re not suppose to fire unless fired upon, which can be very difficult when everyone in the film looks like someone that needs a bullet.
Shortly thereafter, I am shooting live non-lethal weapons, which include a cannon-like machine that’s perfect for holding off a melee or Lindsay Lohan & her friends. What’s truly scary about this weapon, it’s used quite frequently, during the course of an officer’s career.
Finally, my day ends once I tour “The Village.” Infamous for being where recruits learn official “on the beat” training, it consists of faux homes and stores, that cadet’s run through and are expected extinguish whatever fire’s the training officers can think up. The realism of the “The Village,” is scary because it resembles just about any small town USA.
Game Over
Considering how my own condensed training went, I was especially interested in how real recruits reacted when they found themselves in situations similar to my own. While thankfully I wasn’t graded, the participants of The Academy, definitely will be, which can only mean compelling television. After years of bachelors, survivors, and apprentices, The Academy finally puts the “reality” back into reality TV.
Experience the intense process along with raw recruits as the join the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department. Airing now on Fox Reality, The Academy follows training into rarely seen areas of law enforcement on the road to becoming deputy sheriff’s.
Tags: Fox Reality, Rocka's Candy, The Academy
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