A healthy beginning- Inside the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy

What does it really take to turn a class of recruits into grounded, ethical, and resilient officers in just 16 weeks? We go inside the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy with Director Brady Carney, Chaplain Al Perez, and Attorney Kristi Traynor to unpack the systems, choices, and human stories that shape a residential academy’s culture. The conversation begins with agile leadership—how the team runs on 16-week cycles, listens to instructors, and pivots quickly. That iterative approach blends national standards with local realities across urban and rural departments, ensuring training stays current and practical without losing the human touch.

From there, we dive into the lived experience of a residential model: the distance from family, the pressure that exposes blind spots, and the bonds that form when people from 18 to 51 years old share long days and shared quarters. Christy’s “superhero cape” metaphor reframes ethics as daily practice—tightening the knot through clear boundaries, sound decision-making, and accountability that preserves public trust. We address tough truths head-on: alcohol’s easy grip in first responder culture, the slow erosion that begins with “one more drink,” and the line between support and consequence. Al highlights grief and compartmentalization—how recruits learn to focus under stress while still finding space to heal, with chaplaincy and peer support as anchors.

We also explore practical scaffolding that keeps recruits connected and grounded: earned nights out to recharge with family, facility access and wellness resources, evening windows for calls, and social updates that bring loved ones into the journey. Brady wrestles openly with whether locals should go home nightly and why the benefits of a residential cohort—networking, realism, flexibility for night training—still weigh heavily. Not everyone will finish, and that’s okay. Sometimes choosing out is a courageous win for the person and the profession. For those who stay, the academy’s promise is high standards, honest feedback, and a community that invests in both skill and character. Subscribe, share this conversation with someone starting the academy path, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—we’d love to hear what surprised you most.

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Transcript

Welcome, Guests, and Mission

Academy Basics and First-Time Fears

SPEAKER_05 0:02

Welcome back to another episode of the Shared Voices podcast from the 1042 Project. We are so blessed to have the guests that we have here today. I got Al Perez here. He's uh as you guys know, we've been doing um some nights out here with the recruits. We try to do once a week uh with the schedule out here, it can be kind of hectic, but what a blessing to be able to just kind of come in and talk to some of the recruits and help equip them for their career going into this this line of work is is more than most people thought that they bit off. And being able to be here with them when they start their start their journey and to have a place to call home is pretty powerful. So I want to thank you, Al, because you were the first one that kind of called me and invited me in about three years ago or so. And I want to thank you for that. Um so we have Al and we have Christy Trainer. She's the attorney out here, and I've got some good questions for her. And then the man, the man, the director of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy is Brady Carney. Brady, thanks for having us, buddy. You bet. Appreciate it. Getting to know you over the last three years or so has been a blessing. Um, I love that you're out here. I love your leadership out here. I love how much you care for our first responders. I get to see it every, you know, every week. I love how much it's it's more than just academics here. It's more than just the physical um getting these people physically prepared. It's about getting mentally prepared. And I think you are doing a you're standing out above everybody else. Let me put it that way. I don't want to, you know, other I don't want to talk about any other states or anything, but I think what you're doing here is special. I really do. And I think the team you have is special. So thank you for having us on. No, thank you for being on. And then Brady, I kind of want to start with you. So if somebody gets hired, a lot of our listeners, you know, they get hired and they get told, okay, next step, you're getting hired and you're going to the police academy, right? And if you haven't seen the police academy movies from the 80s, you might not know how cool the academy is. How can you make those voices? Oh, all right.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

This isn't Reno 9-11 or whatever that is.

SPEAKER_05 2:15

But it could be a scary thing. I I know when I got hired, I was 20 years old. Like a baby at that point. And of course, at that point in my life I didn't feel like it. I'm superhero Dan, but looking back, um so it could be intimidating. And there's so many of us that come here that are already married, that may already have kids. And I would say a majority of just people in general, we carry a lot of trauma coming into the line of work. And that un that untreated trauma from the past for me is a lot of my childhood stuff. Um, if we don't address that before we get to the academy, then that stuff's gonna linger with us. And if we can learn to process our trauma from the past, as you get into this line of work where you're exposed to trauma, you'll then be able to process trauma trauma in a healthy way from the beginning. So many of us come into this field and we think we're just supposed to know how to do everything, how to be an officer, how to be a firefighter, EMT. Um but no person is meant to see as much trauma as we do in the first responder world, and we have to start talking about it because it's it's really affecting our families. And I love the fact that Brady is proactive here. So, Brady First of all, when did you start at the academy? Because I know you've you're here less than five years, right?

Leadership, Change, and 16-Week Cycles

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Correct. Uh so prior to coming to the academy, I spent about 16 years with the Des Moines Police Department. Uh, and then I came out to the academy in March of 2023. So approximately two and a half years now I've been at the academy.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

Seems longer than that. Yeah. You've done a lot in a in a you've done a lot in a hurry.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Yeah, we've uh we've covered a lot of ground. I think we've made a lot of positive changes. There's always a big to-do list. Uh we'll keep working on that. But uh, I think we've come a long way. I think we have a tremendous staff in place. I think uh, as I mentioned, we've made a lot of positive changes. And, you know, uh we have a unique opportunity here where we kind of operate in a 16-week cycle, 16 weeks at a time. Uh, and we try certain things, we try new things, uh, and some of them work really well, and some we need to continue to adjust. And so we use the downtime, which is usually one week, which is uh very busy, filled with conversations, with ideas, with improvements, and then uh we run you know another 16-week cycle and try to keep implementing those changes and improvements uh every single time we have a training cycle here.

SPEAKER_05 4:39

I love that. Because you're not just saying this is the system, we're sticking to it. You're saying, hey, I hey team, let's let's make this better if we need to. Let's figure out what's working and not working. Let's not keep doing things that aren't working and adjust it.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

So you're constantly adjusting the dial on the Yeah, even within a 16-week cycle, uh, we might try something in week two or three. Uh and when we circle back to that, uh we pivot. We, you know, change that up a little bit. So we're constantly evolving here. And I talked to uh the recruits very early on to tell them, you know, I ask them what they've heard about the academy coming in here, and you know, that that feedback and what they've heard is all across the board. Uh, but we're also very open with them that their experience is gonna be a little bit different than everybody else's uh because we make continual changes and there are little things and nuances that are different from even if they had friends or coworkers who were here the 16 weeks right before them. It's going to be a little bit different. And then depending on uh attitude, effort, friendships, uh relationships that are established here, um each experience can be a little bit different. Um a class takes on a life of its own, and we have two classes here together. So each cycle takes on a little bit of life of of its own. And so every 16-week cycle, uh, the experience is a little bit different.

Class Personalities and Diverse Cohorts

SPEAKER_05 5:58

I noticed that each each class kind of has their own personality, which I think is kind of neat.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

They do. So in any 16-week training cycle, we have anywhere between 65 and 90 recruits here, and we split the the total number of recruits into two classes, and each class does take on a little bit different of a personality. Um you know, sometimes uh the people who are in each class are, you know, one class might be comprised of those closest to the Des Moines Metro, and the other class is from the rest of the state or the eastern half of the state and the western half of the state. Um, you know, we have people who are from 18 years old up to I think 51 uh since I've been here, age 51, come through the academy. Uh we have prior military and we have some folks who this is their first job ever. Um and so there's a lot to take into account. Uh we have people who are single and we have people with uh young kids at home, grown kids at home. Um so that there's a lot that goes into that mixing bowl or melting pot, if you will, uh, for the persona of each class that comes through here.

SPEAKER_05 7:06

That's amazing. So it's not just you obviously you have it, you have a team of people, or these decisions that are being moved, these fluid decisions that are moved being moved, is that something that you're pivoting on or something you and your team meet on, or how do you guys decide how to how to pivot?

How Pivots Happen and Staff Input

Balancing Standards with Human Realities

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Sure. Uh so there's a lot of conversations and consideration that go into the changes. Um, one, there's a network, um, it's called Iatalyst, the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, uh, which I'm a member of. And they're a great organization uh where academy directors and other states talk about what they're doing and what works and what doesn't work and changes they've implemented. And so they're a great sounding board for model standards and kind of what other people are doing. And so I take that information and try to tailor it to what we do here or what we need to do here. Um and our staff, you know, we've really tried to create an environment where uh our staff can bring ideas and bring things forward. And our instructional staff has contact with the recruits on a daily basis. And so they're the ones who are providing not only the training and the instruction, but they also develop uh connections with the recruits and they hear feedback and they see things that work or don't work, or maybe things that we need to make changes to. And so I I think our instructional staff does a tremendous job about uh bringing those ideas forward uh and not only things that work or don't work, but ideas about how we can continually make things better. And so we talk about those. We have staff meetings um, you know, throughout the academy and then just a lot of ongoing conversations, uh, whether it's instructional techniques, conversations that we have, um, you know, balancing nights out or challenges uh to navigating, you know. This this profession is really difficult. Um, you know, and the reality is some people, given their individual circumstances or maybe just the time, it's not right for them. And so trying to get everybody to a point where they're competent and can be safe, uh, but also ensuring those who aren't quite ready yet, um, that that can be a difficult balance.

SPEAKER_05 9:21

Yeah, that has to be. Because then at the end of the day, you're in the people business. Correct. Right. You're in the people business.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

We are there to serve the public.

Residential Life and Support Systems

Wellness, Resiliency, and Life Skills

SPEAKER_05 9:29

Yeah. So, you know, the so our the the recruits get hired, they come here for 16 weeks. And for some of you that may know or may not know, um, they stay here Monday through Friday. So it's not uh like the Des Moines Academy, they go home every day, the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, because it covers the whole state. We have officers coming in from everywhere. They do stay here Monday through Friday. And sometimes that can be one of the hardest challenges it was for me when I went through 25 years ago, was being away from the family, being away from your support system, the ones, you know, the ones you love most, the ones you you can rely on. Um, when you're going through hard times, well, you're at the academy and and and it is fun and and it is, you know, it's not hard, but you sometimes you can have hard times, so your support system's taken away and it and it can be tough. Um, we're always looking at ways to try to battle that, right? Like, how can we help our recruits get through the academy where their marriages are healthy out, where their friendships, you know, are healthy, where their their relationship with their department's healthy. Um we want to be able to, when they come here, to have kind of a pathway. Because when you come here, for me anyway, it was big time imposter syndrome. Like you feel like you don't belong. And you and I found out since then pretty much everybody that comes through here feels like that. Um so when you get here, um, sometimes the people you meet the meet at first, the ones you get to hang out with will dictate how you go through the academy, in my opinion. Um, the people you choose to hang out with when you come to the academy recruits, it matters. Um if your friends are are going out and they're drinking or doing anything on their nights out, that um you know, you don't want to be around. Don't be around it. You're here for 16 weeks, just put all that stuff aside for 16 weeks because um not just myself, but Al and everybody here at this table have unfortunately had to deal with um police officers that don't make it through. That um things have happened, and that's pretty hard, Al. Seeing that it's heart, it's heart crushing, and we're not here to judge the system, we're here to learn how to love the people better and make this a healthier way.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

Yeah, um, let me just say this first, and it starts with great leadership. I think you you said it best. Having um Director Kearney, with the long experience he's had, he's walked these footsteps where many of these young ones are walking through. Um and I often describe um when I look at his leadership, he has enough in his history, he's a bit old school, holds a strong, great standard, but then also he understands this new generation. Gen Z just thinks very different than when you think about a couple generations ago and how they handled their trauma. And so what makes, I think, and I appreciate him saying this, we're always looking for better ways, um, new modalities, new organizations. And he's allowed myself, you, and others here to explore what those possibilities are, yes, what those resources are. Um he's never micromanaged, he's always like, okay, let's try this, let's try this. And like he said, it's always different. Um, every academy is different. And you learn from the previous one, or a new organization steps to the plate and offers that. So I think um it really starts with having a director that brings the best resources, individuals, and organizations accessible. Otherwise, we fail at it if we didn't have the liberties to do what we do here. So that's a hats off to him uh in terms of just being able to empower the team, just to offer as many modalities as as is needed here.

Why Care Matters: Culture and Team

SPEAKER_05 13:04

And again, we're not here to to powder Brady and and and and lift him up. We're not like but he truly is doing an amazing job. And that's why I wanted to come and record here because I see something different. Um I see something different in you than I see in a lot of leaders.

Legal Ethics and the “Superhero Cape”

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Well, I think you uh bring up some really good points about the challenges that I think we have to try to navigate. Uh, and part of a big part of that is that we are a residential academy and that recruits come here and they stay here, they live here, uh, they completely invest themselves for 16 weeks. Uh, and that's not lost on me of what that means to their support system. It there is no other way around it than it's difficult to do. Uh no other way. You know, we have some people here from Sioux City, Dubuque, Keokuk, you know, Fremont County in Southwest Iowa. We also have people who live 10 minutes away, Johnston, Ankeny, Oak City. Uh and it's all the same. They're away from their families, they're away from their kids, they're away from home, they're away from their support system, they're away from what's comfortable to them, uh, and they're here. And so, you know, we talk about from day one, this is going to be hard work. It's going to be challenging. There are going to be things that are up to, you know, ups and downs. Um, but we also want them to connect with each other and have fun and ensure that this is a valuable uh experience for them. And part of that is building new connections, you know, finding new people that maybe you otherwise wouldn't have talked to or connected with. Um, and then giving the tools in the toolbox, tools on their tool belt, which can be communication, can be, you know, de-escalation, can be firearms, can be use of force. It also can be uh life skills, you know, um wellness, resiliency, um, those sorts of things, helping build support systems if they don't have one in place already. You know, if someone um is young and single and never had a job before, uh not that they haven't uh experienced challenges in their life, but what they've had to overcome might be very different than someone who's had military experience has gone through having a family or financially supporting other people or separation or divorce. And so it is really, really hard to do one size fits all training. Yeah. Um, and so we try to provide options. We try to provide resources uh in conjunction with very high quality training. Uh, and that takes a lot of people, uh, like you folks and what you're doing um to provide resources, outlets, and options to people that can benefit them throughout their journey. And I think uh there's no better place to try to implement those things than here when people are starting.

SPEAKER_05 15:55

Yeah, and that's the difference you make, Brady, is because I get phone calls from you saying, Hey, I met this other organization, you should give them a call. You guys are you're like you you you are not one who competes with people, you're there to help complete each other. Like, and that's how we are. Like we can all help complete each other. And that's what that's what I love about this organization. I love that that's what you've done from it. Must have been from the day you got here because it was shortly, it was like three years. It was so fast. Like, wow, and it was time gone. Like once you got hired, I think I was in here pretty quick and we were having conversations and I was blown away. I'm just gonna be honest. Like, I didn't when I first came here, I thought, oh man, I wonder how this is gonna go. I was, you know, I came through in the I think Gene Shepherd area, maybe I don't know, a long time ago. 2000. And and I don't know how it'd go, but I came in here and I've found somebody who's just a person, someone who cares. And I mean cares. So why do you care so much? Because you could real easily just factory these people, get them in, get them out. But you're in the hallways talking, you have a chaplain here who's who's doing things. You you are going the extra mile. Why do you care so much?

Patterns: Alcohol and Boundary Issues

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Um, that's a that's a great question. Uh, and I don't know that I have a great answer for it. So I I don't know. I've I've been there, I've done it, I'm still there. You know, I think um the value and the importance of what we do here at the academy uh to represent the profession, to build people uh going into the profession to serve the public is extremely important. Um, you know, we talk about it as a staff a lot. Um, you know, we're a small agency, small staff, small budget, uh, but the importance of what we do uh is vast. And I think everybody expects us to be really, really good at what we do. Yeah. And we have that takes a lot of work. Yeah. That takes a lot of investment. That takes a lot of really good people here. Um and I think it's a package deal. You know, I think too much of the conversation has been about me uh and not enough about the people that we have here as part of the team. You know, a big part of what I've tried to do is get really, really high quality people here who are good at what they do uh because they have such a big impact on day-to-day operations uh and the profession as a whole. And I, you know, I think we have a tremendous staff in place who do a lot of really good work.

SPEAKER_05 18:15

And that's what good leadership is, right? It's not about us being the greatest at every level. It's about, you know, being able to lead and bring in the people who are called to work in those positions and allow them a healthy place to grow that. And and I think that's pretty cool.

Erosion Effect and Consequences

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Um speaking of which, with that, with directors, speaking of high-quality people, um, I've had some great conversations with our attorney that's here with us, Christy Trainer. Um, and just from her eyes, being able to see what she sees, and this is the other side sometimes, the difficult side that we're talking about. Um and uh and so Christy, I just have a couple of questions for you, just if you want to chime in here. Knowing um what we just talked about, some of the some of the things that um our law enforcement struggle with. What are some of the things in your space that oftentimes you see that's difficult because of the role you you hold uh as an attorney?

SPEAKER_00 19:13

I think that law enforcement officers are under a lot of stress, right? I think that they um do have very difficult jobs and I think there's a lot of pressure on their shoulders. And that's one of the things that I have the opportunity to talk to recruits about when they're here, is that I think they come here and they have big bright eyes, and there's a lot of pressure on their shoulders, and they do come with a little bit of background um and a little bit of baggage sometimes. And they come into this profession um meaning to do a lot of good in in the world and in their communities. And I think that they have really big hearts, and that's a great thing. And one of the opportunities I have um while they're here is to talk to them about their superhero capes. And that's kind of how I put it to them.

SPEAKER_03 19:55

Let's hear it. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

You're here and you've got a superhero cape and it's tied really tight. And one of the things I want to talk to you about while you're here is how to keep that cape tied really tight. And these are the ethical obligations and rules that you have as a law enforcement officer to keep that cape tied on really tight. And that's what I like to talk to them about. Because one of the things that we teach our children is when you're in danger and you feel unsafe, one of the first people we teach our kids to run to is who? A police officer. Right? And if we want to teach our kids to run to law enforcement officers and police officers when they're in danger, right, we want that superhero cape tied on really super tight. And that's one of the analogies I like to make for them. And when they've when they run into the pressures that they run into when they're out working, like, you know, I'm making a stop and someone doesn't want a ticket, and so they want to do something to get out of that ticket. How do you get away from that pressure?

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Right.

Not for Everyone—and That’s Okay

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Or when I've had a really bad day on the job and I've seen something terrible, awful that I can't bleach out of my eyes. So I won't want to go to the bar and try to get rid of it that way. Yeah. How do I get out of that pressure? Right. And those are maybe not the best ways to deal with those pressures. What other resources might we have? And that's where Chaplin Perez comes in, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:14

Well, let me ask you this too. And when we talk about resource, um, what would you say are some of the predominant things you're seeing? Um, I know we've had conversations around it. Uh, when you've seen officers that unfortunately um haven't been able to manage or maybe are afraid to look for a resource or search seek it out or trust issues. What are some of the things I think you're seeing that are patterned that are predominant in the struggle uh with first responders in our region?

SPEAKER_00 21:41

A couple of our big issues are obviously um alcohol issues.

SPEAKER_03 21:44

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Um especially on the job or outside of the job that weigh in on whether or not, you know, they can continue to have public trust, um, inappropriate contact on the job um with public citizens, um even after citizens they've given given citations to. Those are two of the big issues that we see.

Pressure Tests and Grief in Training

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Yeah, I think I think um those two definitely stand out. Uh substance use predominantly alcohol, um, whether it's as Christy mentioned, uh off-duty conduct or on-duty conduct. Um, you know, alcohol has a big influence and um you know finds its way into a lot of different situations within the within the profession. Um, you know, and that's something we navigate here as well. You know, I think a lot of these things um we see on the front end during the basic academy about being a residential academy when we grant Knights of Liberty or Nights Out, you know, uh a frequent place the recruits like to go is somewhere where they can consume alcohol. You know, and uh we hear the stories, we hear the feedback over the years, over the classes, you know, they find ways to try and get it in the building as well. And it just um, you know, uh whether it's for common conversations or just that outlet, uh, alcohol is a common one, uh, not only in law enforcement, but public servants in general.

SPEAKER_05 23:13

Yeah, it's kind of just more widely accepted. I mean, you can't go to the gas station without standing to the left, a stack of bottles of alcohol. I mean, they're everywhere you go, is alcohol. It's just accepted. So therefore, when it comes to numbing our pain, one of the easiest things to do is drink alcohol because people don't a lot of times don't um put a stigma on that, like ah, you're just having a beer calming down. But you know, if he's doing something worse than that. And so it's so many of us run to alcohol because it's kind of it's not only ingrained in law enforcement, it's almost become like a hey, the shift's over, let's go have a beer. We had a really bad call today, let's go, let's go to Dave's house and and play poker and get drunk. I mean, it just that's kind of what happens.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Yeah, and I think you incorporate uh the challenges, the stressors, uh, the ongoing trauma, the critical incidents that come up over time, you know, and it just has that compounding effect. And um, you know, maybe what was a drink or a couple trunk drinks becomes more, and what was a night a week becomes a couple nights a week. And pretty soon, you know, it's easy to stop and look around and then holy cow, you know, we're having a lot of drinks every night. Uh, and then that's impacting life. That's impacting uh performance in the profession. And you know that uh just kind of continual erosion, you know, and pretty soon uh you don't have the support system and then you've lost your family. Uh and you know, then something bad happens um that impacts your ability to be in the or remain in the profession. Yeah. And it's just um, you know, it's I look at it as like continual erosion, you know, and if you just don't have the ability to recognize where you're at or the resources or the support around you, uh you rode long enough and pretty soon you don't have anything. Uh and that happens.

SPEAKER_05 24:54

And I don't mean I don't mean this to sound heartless, listeners, so please don't think that, but sometimes when people come to the academy, they don't make it through the academy. But sometimes that's this is the Brady talking, this is me talking. So this is the academy talking, this is me. Um sometimes it's a good thing. Because if if you can't get through these 16 weeks at the academy, it's gonna be pretty tough to get through 12-hour days, seven-day stretches, overtime, plus court, plus dealing with your kids as ball games, your wife, it can be hard. So not everybody that comes to the academy makes it, but most of them do. We don't lose a lot of them, I don't think. Um but at the same time, it it can sometimes be a good thing because we want to weed some of that out. But we can also see some of those issues and we can address them and we can deal with them here at the academy so that doesn't carry on to their career.

Redemption: Owning Behavior and Reentry

SPEAKER_01 25:43

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. Uh we we do see those things come to light here, and we try to address what we can. Uh, and some are deal breakers, right? Some so that's the reality of it. Some just are. Uh, some people realize on their own during their time here that this just isn't for them. And sometimes that's in week, you know, that's day two, sometimes it's week two, and sometimes it's week 15. Um, you know, again, all shapes and sizes, things look differently. And some people realize that on their own, and other times it's through uh, you know, conduct or activities or uh additional training to what this profession looks like. Um, but I think you bring up a really good point. It is not for everybody. And I tell them that's okay. Yeah, it is okay. That is okay. And maybe it's for them, just not right now.

SPEAKER_05 26:34

Yeah, and thanks for trying.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Like, what a bold move. Absolutely. Yeah, and it's just interesting the conversations that happen. Uh, some people uh will say, you know, I thought I'd try it and just see what happens, and then I realized, oh man, this is a lot different than what I thought it would be. Yeah. Or I realize I need structure in my daily life or my schedule, or holidays and weekends, overnights. Um, people figure out that they don't like all the the risk that come with the job. And that's okay. That is completely okay.

SPEAKER_05 27:07

Yeah, we love them. We'll we'll pray for you as you go. Like, that's great. That doesn't mean you're a weak person. That doesn't mean that you're a lesser anything. Correct. Like you're trying out a new field that you've never tried. Just like anything. If I go, I went and tried to sell cars after law enforcement. I did it for a year. I didn't like it. I got out of it. And I think that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

That is part of what we're here for as a basic academy is to help people understand those things. Yeah. Some people get here and they're kind of um, you know, almost ho-hum, and then they love it. They completely buy in. They they go through the training, uh, they see things at work, and they just are absolutely all in. And and that's the other side of it. That's outstanding. Yeah. And and then the people who realize, eh, I tried it and this isn't for me. All of that is okay.

Encouragement, Ambassadors, and Family Support

SPEAKER_05 27:52

Yep. You're not, but you're not gonna be shamed out of here, you're not gonna be laughed at. Like, no, like thank you for giving that opportunity. But Alan Christie, I wonder what happens when we take somebody we don't know and we apply pressure to them. It's like a fruit. When you apply pressure, you kind of see what's inside of it. So sometimes here at the Academy, you're gonna be under pressure. And and I think that's when we start to people start to reveal themselves or they start to realize the pressure and the weight of the job. Um, so sometimes when people come here, it's just they haven't been under this much pressure to be to expose some of this stuff in their past. Um, what do you guys see when it comes to that? When somebody comes here, Chris, you um we all put on a face when we come here. I'm sure you all know that. We put on the biggest face for all of you guys, uh, because we're all squared away and perfect. But then when we come here, you guys you start to see us under pressure. We're staying here day after day. We have tests, we have these things, and people start to crack. So when we start applying pressure to people, um what generally happens with that? And what am I trying to go with that, Al? Help me with that.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

Well, you know, I was thinking this.

SPEAKER_05 28:56

Because sometimes we just don't know what we have in us until we have pressure on us.

Nights Out, Standards, and Connection

SPEAKER_03 29:00

Well, um, and like director was saying a little bit earlier, um, there isn't a one-size-fits-all. Um, this academy moves quickly, unlike a department that has peer support and has familiar building trust here every 16 weeks with different faces, that takes time as well, but it moves quickly. Yeah. Um and we, you know, director, uh, right off the cuff, the beginning of the academy will address those issues head on to be mindful of the blind spots and issue. And that's always good proactively coming in because that face is on and everybody doesn't know everybody. It's like high school or college, your first day. Uh, but eventually those things come to surface. And, you know, obviously, um, having done this several times, um, director, assistant director, and much of the staff are are well aware that you know they're available to to help and talk to as well. I'm not the only person here. Um and uh, but again, um we're not gonna see, as you said earlier, in 16 weeks, you can suppress things like for instance, we Had students here who've lost a loved one or lost a family or lost someone dear. Well, we know the five second, well, it depends on what model you're looking at. If you're looking at a five-point or seven-point grief cycle, um, the biggest concern I have oftentimes is our environment moves, it has expectations, and they may not always they have to almost shelf one of those processes until they're able to fully deal with it here and stay focused. And as the director said, it's one of the sacrifices and hard expectations of the job because we can't grieve like everybody. You know, law enforcement, unfortunately, oftentimes are not able to handle a grief, and we think time heals all wounds, but then ultimately anger surfaces later. I know director has seen it when we've seen our own fall, when we've seen others fall in. It's a really hard thing to do. And I think in this profession, and again, I I'm not the expert to speak to this, but eventually you learn how, like public public figures that recognize I I've got to compartmentalize and focus on what my responsibility is, and then deal with something later, but making sure we have our people. Um yeah, I mean, um the the biggest thing for you and I, and I'm curious with this, Christy, because this has been going through my mind, and I think you and I are in the redemption business. What brings balance in what we you and I do is like, you know, there are many times I've sat with director, and there's been a situation that's been here. And my heart is I speak from heart first before sometimes head and knowing those things. And so it's been a really helpful way to help me process. Uh uh director has helped me kind of process like, okay, hey, it's good to have heart, but we also have to think about you know the implications and what this could happen and these different things. And so always when I think about an officer that may be struggling or a recruit, um, it's not just feeling sorry for wrong actions. There are consequences and things. You and I in the redemption business um try to focus on that sometimes. Christy, I have a current question I wanted to ask you.

SPEAKER_05 32:02

Knowing you I got a whole podcast to ask her questions. Yeah, but keep going with it.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

I'm telling you. Um because we are in that space, there's listeners listening to this and say, okay, I blew it. I blew it, I'm out of it, I know this is what I'm supposed to do. What do you how does one get back? Because we you have people coming to you. I've had people coming, okay, I want to get back in, and like, oh no, it doesn't work that way, but two months later, three months later, you're not hopping back in here that quick. But what is what happens when you see the redemption process when we see some of that kind of stuff happen?

Staying Connected: Schedules and Social

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Well, it depends on where it started from, right? Yeah. And it's there's not always a quick answer or a quick fix. But I would say the biggest step is owning your behavior.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Right? You've got to own that behavior and you've got to you've got to take responsibility for that behavior regardless of what it was. Um and I would say that's always going to be the first step. And this isn't a situation where you can fake it till you make it. Right? You've got to truly own it and take responsibility for it, and you've got to mean that. And I would always say that actions speak louder than words when it comes to um past bad conduct. And you've got to be able to, especially if you're in a situation where the council's been involved and your certification is on the line or there's been some sort of sanction with respect to your certification, I think we're talking about having to show by actions specifically to the council that you mean what you say, right?

SPEAKER_05 33:39

Yeah, we're pretty good at blowing smoke up your butts. Yeah. Yeah, when we need to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

I think I think it's your actions. Yeah.

Facilities, Camaraderie, and Fun

SPEAKER_05 33:46

It's the fruits. Yeah. The fruits of the lifestyle, right? Are they making changes? Because we are really good, uh especially as men. Um to not to struggle with that. Um, I lost my train of thought there, but that's okay. I do that a lot. But before we close this out, let's uh I really want to end because I want this to be a this is positive. I want this to end on a very positive note. Like if you're coming to the academy, first of all, be pumped, be excited, welcome to the the career, what a journey. No, you're not alone. And I know it can be sometimes scary and overwhelming, but um, no, we're here. There, we're here for you. Our ambassadors are if you have questions about the academy coming in. If if you and your wife or you and you and your spouse want to talk and sit down with one of our ambassadors or myself to kind of talk about what it's like to go the academ go through the academy, have a healthy marriage through it, have a healthy relationship, um, reach out to us. We would love to sit down and have a conversation with you. Um, we don't have all the answers. We may not always be right, but we promise we'll be real. Um, but reach out to us because you've never gone through this, so give yourself some grace. Um, as the spouse at home, you've never gone through your spouse being away for 16 weeks and starting in this new line of work, and there's a lot of changes. Give yourself some grace. You're going through a lot, and you weren't meant to carry this alone. Um, you weren't you weren't meant to to to chainsaw your way through the timber to get through there. Um it's not that. The path's been laid, uh reach out. We have a whole group of people that want to walk alongside you, help you, um, to where you don't have to reinvent the wheel on try to have a on having a healthy um first responder career. Um, so reach out to us. This this academy thing is a lot of fun. Um, they do get um, so you're here for 16 weeks, but Brady, you did they do get nights out, um, depending on on certain factors, but they do get nights out a few weeks into the academy. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Correct. Uh we determine as a staff and ultimately uh I make the decision when they get nights out. And sometimes that varies by class or varies by training cycle. Um, you know, it's something that we like to give. We know it provides them an outlet, we know it lets them get away, but there's also uh expectations and standards that need to be met on a regular basis uh to earn that liberty. Uh and we talk about it nights out are earned. Yeah. Um, and so there are benchmarks that have to be met individually and and as a group, uh, and then we allow for that to happen. And I I think uh it's a good thing. I really wrestle with that because I know um, you know, the outlet and the connections uh that can be made uh when those things happen. We just have to ensure that everybody's in a good place first.

SPEAKER_05 36:25

Okay. So if you're if you're a spouse and your spouse is coming here, how can they stay connected to their spouse while they're at the academy? Do you guys allow video calls? Do these can they zoom each other? Are there certain hours? Like how how do you how can we help foster that?

SPEAKER_01 36:38

So typically the training day uh is from 7:30 to roughly five. Um most of the time the recruits are dismissed from training to eat dinner around five o'clock. Uh, and if there is not scheduled nighttime training, evening or nighttime training, then most of the time their their evening is on their own. Okay. Now they're here on Camp Dodge or at the academy. Uh, but some people can visit the base. They obviously have uh, you know, we're not taking their cell phones away or, you know, they have the ability to communicate, they can video call, um, those sorts of things in the evening. I think uh one of the things we've really tried to improve for just awareness, um, not only to the community but to families, uh, follow our social media pages uh where we're providing regular updates uh with what's going on here at the academy, and that's a great way for uh people to stay in touch as well.

SPEAKER_05 37:27

I love those updates, by the way. I look at every one of them as so much fun.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

Yeah, that's been exciting. Uh, I think the most I like the pepper spray ones. Uh everybody does, uh, except for the recruits in the moment. Uh but typically they enjoy the footage afterwards as well.

SPEAKER_05 37:42

Can a spouse come and be the one who sprays the other spouse with the pepper spray or no?

SPEAKER_01 37:47

You know, I'll I'll leave that to the next director. That's enough for it.

SPEAKER_05 37:53

That's great. So, yeah, once you're here, you get a couple nights out. You know, this campus, this campus is very big. The building is and in Camp Dodge. There's a gym here. Um they can go down and there's places here, what are they called? A PX? I forget what it's called.

Should Locals Go Home? Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_01 38:06

Yeah, we have uh a gym here in the building. Then there's the wellness center uh in Camp Dodge. Uh General Osborne and his staff are great uh to allow the recruits to use that facility on an ongoing basis, even outside training. Uh PX, which is a you know a military installation version of a convenience store. Yeah. Other recruits can go there. Uh and then yeah, when we grant the nights out, then the the recruits get to go off the base uh to their destination of choice.

SPEAKER_05 38:32

Okay. And on those nights the spouses can come too.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 38:34

Even if you live in Sioux City, if you want to come see your spouse, um on those nights out, you and I mean we encourage that. Correct. Like on your nights out, I encourage, I know Al does. We encourage if you have family close by, go see your family or have them come see you. Honestly, it's better to go see them because you get out of here.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Yeah, and we've had uh all sorts of things. You know, people uh recruits will go as a group to top golf or go bowling or go out to eat. Uh we've had some classes where recruits who live locally, the class will go over to the recruit's house uh on their nights out for dinner or play backyard games. Uh again, each cycle in each class kind of takes on a life of its own uh to develop you know what they want to do uh for connections and camaraderie.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

Okay, so I'm here and every night at Brady's house, we're gonna have a get to get Nomskity back.

SPEAKER_03 39:19

Scratch that.

SPEAKER_05 39:21

But yeah, it's it's not it's not a prison here. It's just you just gotta be here. And that's the hardest part for me was just being here. And what's funny is it feels like it takes forever, but once you're out of here, it's it's it's a sense of pride and it's a sense of freedom. And you know that it's just a one-time thing. You just gotta do it one time in your career. You're and you'll get through it. And if you this academy, you it is whatever you make of it. It is totally up to you how you make it. Um they yes, it's not up, it's it's not the staff, it's not it's not anybody else, it's up to the first responder who comes through here to be accountable and to show up and get through this. And and I know it can be hard, that's why you don't have to do it alone. Um so thank you guys. I've got like a thousand other things I want to ask, but we can do more of these um down the road or whenever. But I want to thank you for the time to just come in and kind of ask. Oh, I want to ask one more question. And you can like say, shut up, dude, and that's fine. Will there ever be a time in the future where we do look at locals being able to go home on a night-to-night basis? Or is it more just we lose too many of them if we do that?

Realistic Night Training and Flexibility

SPEAKER_01 40:28

Like so, I I think that's a conversation to have, and I've had those uh conversations with some recruits. I've had those conversations with chiefs and sheriffs about what does that look like. Um, you know, and is it just about distance or is it about agency desire? Because I think it's really hard to say, you know, if you live within 20 miles here, you can go home, but everybody else have to stay. You know, I think uh lodging becomes part of it. If people don't have to stay here, but they're from Sioux City, well, where where are they staying? Right. You know, I don't think people want to pay for a hotel room uh for 16 weeks, so that's part of it, right? And is it something that we open up um, you know, things that I've thought about is maybe we have uh a standards checklist where once you meet all of these standards, uh then you would be eligible to have the option uh to not have to stay here or something like that. Um but I think there's also the so yes, I think that's a conversation that I've had. Um again, a one size fits all is really hard to navigate. That's tough, you know, to try to come up with what that could or should look like. Yeah. Um, but the flip side is and what we try to focus on are the positives and the reasons why there's a lot of value to residential academies. Uh and the profession uh is small. It's a small circle, even across the entire state. And to get to know people and build relationships and the value of networking uh and spending time and the challenges that come with uh dealing with and interacting with and living with people who aren't just like you uh is a lot of benefit to public servants. And so um, yeah, that's a conversation we continually wrestle with and uh we we try to get all the value we can out of uh how things are currently set up.

SPEAKER_05 42:11

Yeah, that's gotta be tough, man. That's a lot to weigh. And it really is. Because then it's like you're gonna be unfair to some people. But at the same time, like you said, I mean, and really your guys' schedule is so full here, you don't really have time to go home. I mean, but if you drove home anyway, if you drove 45 minutes away by the time you got home, you'd be going to bed and getting right back up the next morning. So something about being able to stay here is kind of a safety net to Yeah, it would have to be very fluid uh because our schedule changes.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

You know, we have things mapped out, and then you know, uh the weather doesn't cooperate or space or training availability changes, and so we have to pivot. And so you might plan on going home or having a night out on Wednesday night, and you know, that night is filled with training now. And I think the other thing we try to do is we want to make training realistic of what people are getting into. And the majority is probably half of our folks are gonna work evenings or overnights. And so I think it's important that we do evening and nighttime training as well. And so some of our nights are filled with training uh to be reflective of what people are gonna face in the field when they leave here.

Gratitude and Closing

SPEAKER_05 43:11

That's that's wise. Well, thank you, Brady, and thank you to your team for allowing us in. I really appreciate it. I love your guys' heart here. Um please know we're an ally. We are we are we are people person, we are here to help the responders and their families, and I love that you guys allow us to come in and talk and thank you for that. But we're gonna close out this episode. Um, I will have them on. We'll see if that one of them will stick around to do another one, but we'll see. But if not, we're gonna have them on again down the road. Um, it's a it's a great relationship we have, and I and I truly enjoy it. And I'm glad you guys got to hear the heart of not just Brady but his team. So thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you guys next week.