Becoming the Blue: Dallas Police recruits learn traffic stop techniques as the academy winds down
The end is in sight for a class of Dallas police recruits who only have six weeks left in the grueling 10-month academy. CBS News Texas reporter Dawn White continues to follow three recruits as they buckle down and push through the challenges of becoming a police officer in part four of her series, "Becoming the Blue." It's access at the Dallas Police Academy training facility no one has been given before.
DALLAS — It's a frigid morning of training for class 400. They're eight months into their pursuit of becoming the blue. Twenty-nine-year-old Hernan Armendariz is learning to steps of a traffic stop.
"They give us training on how to approach the vehicle, how to do a subject check, traffic check, how to get to the vehicle, how to walk up together," Armendariz said.
"We're learning reality-based training. It's a huge eye-opener of what kind of calls we're going to take out there in the field," recruit Athena Close said.
Close said the training prepares her for what she may face on the streets. It's a danger all too real for the men and women who wear the badge and want to make sure they can stay in the right headspace, think quickly, and remain calm during every stop, not just the ones they face in training.
"There's no set routine on traffic stops or calls," Close said. "It can change like that, and you always have to have your thinking cap on."
"From the calls that we take during the day and the scenarios that we do, so that I know and I'm more prepared and the scenarios go smoother," recruit Peyton Segars said.
Segars, 24, is a former teacher who's applying that life experience to the academy.
"I think as a teacher, you notice the things that you hear from behind you, from the side, your head is kind of always on a swivel," Segars said.
Close is 40 years old. Her father is the sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan. She's also a mother of two teenagers and believes that will help her relate to young people as a police officer.
"Having a little girl, we might clash a little bit, but now I know how to sit down and actually listen to hear what she's saying. I can say, 'Okay, tell me what the problem is, and let me help you handle it or come up with a better solution,'" Close said.
Armendariz said his experience as a Houston firefighter helps him stay calm throughout the academy.
"We might experience something that we've never seen before and never felt," Armendariz said. "We've still got to push through it."
Class 400 started back in May. They're a little more than a month away from graduation and are ready to apply what they learned in the classroom on the streets.
"I'm staying focused and keeping that same mental state of I'm here," Segars said.
"I want to be the voice for someone that doesn't have that voice or is too scared to speak out, and I think my training here would definitely help me with that," Close said.
"I'm very excited to get out there and perform to the best of my ability and serve the community in Dallas," Armendariz said.
The group already has long-term career goals for their careers in law enforcement.
"I'm looking into SRG, which is Special Response Group. They deal with the riots and protests," Close said.
"I would love to get into detective work, possibly homicide or something like that," Segars said.
"I think the two units that really catch my attention are the helicopter unit and the fugitive unit," Armendariz said.
The clock is ticking for the recruits to put their training to work and become the latest graduating class of the Dallas Police Academy on March 7.
