Navajo Police: Class 57

Navajo Police: Class 57 was so moving, compelling, and important. I want to watch classes 58, 59, 60, 61, 62+ and on and on... and hope that we will see the Navajo Police grow and grow and become stronger and stronger with their homegrown, local heroes.

This is what I believe all filmmakers strive for: an important story that is emotional, dramatic, informative, uplifting, surprising, and actually "world changing" in helping others understand new people, perspectives, and worlds (possibly right next door) in an embraceable way. Watching these episodes unfold, I was rooting for every one of these recruits to succeed and bring honor and much needed money to their families in this "nation within a nation." And yet, not all can make it, and the reasons were many, real, sad, and impactful.

I hope there will be more!

A seemingly honest and true portrayal of the lack of resources and federal funding for the Native American reservations law enforcement emergency response teams are overwhelmed due to lack of sufficient staff and future Cadets who must go through a grueling training process and background checks to become certified Navajo Tribal Police. This program watches several Cadets and there families go through their own training at the academy and home family life as the transition to being on the job on there own Navajo Tribe Police Officers.

A three series episode documentary that is absolutely binge worthy 👍

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.

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.

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.