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When recruits were repeatedly punched and tased during a role-playing exercise texas Game Warden Academy Last year, they were taking part in a long-standing police training tradition that critics say should be retired.
By the end of the day, at least 13 cadets were reported injured. At least two shocks. Torn knee. Bloody nose. A broken wrist. Two will require surgery. Someone will resign in protest. Another left the job before the drill.
A state investigation later found nothing wrong with the drill, which supporters say is intended to teach recruits to make good decisions under intense physical and mental stress. At the Texas Game Warden Training Center on December 13, 2024 The experience may be traumatic for some. hamiltonTexas, but it was not unique.
Since 2005, exercises aimed at teaching defensive tactics at law enforcement academies have been linked to at least a dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries, some of which have resulted in disability, according to an Associated Press review.
The exercise – often known as Redman training for the brand and color of the protective gear worn by participants – is intended to teach law enforcement recruits how to defend themselves against combative suspects. They are among the most challenging tests in police academies. Law enforcement experts say that when properly designed and supervised, they teach new officers important skills.
But critics say they can put recruits at risk of physical and mental abuse that drives some promising officers out of the profession. Given the lack of national standards governing police training, academies have wide freedom to run such exercises.
Here are some findings from the AP report.
The practice has left a trail of deaths and injuries
A series of tragedies across the country in recent years have drawn new attention to the details of the curriculum at law enforcement academies.
In August, 30-year-old John-Marcus Stollems died two days after a training exercise at the San Francisco Police Department Academy. He suffered a head injury while fighting a trainer wearing a padded suit.
The autopsy found that his death was an accident caused by complications of muscle and organ damage “in the setting of a high-intensity training exercise.” His family has filed a legal claim against the city and hired experts to conduct a second autopsy.
Video obtained by the AP shows that in November 2024, a 24-year-old Kentucky game warden recruit died after fighting with an instructor in the pool to the point of collapsing. William Bailey’s death was ruled as accidental drowning due to “sudden cardiac arrhythmia during physical exertion”.
A year earlier, a Denver police recruit had both legs amputated after a training fight, which his attorney called a “barbaric torture ritual” and hospitalized him. An Indiana recruit died from exertion after being beaten by an older trainer, and a classmate became disabled after fighting the same man.
Exercises take many forms and are widely used in police academies.
Academies have discretion to design training within state guidelines, and the AP found that practices take many forms at local police, county sheriffs and state departments. These are sometimes called “combat training,” “fight day” or “stress response training.”
Some recruits have to fend off multiple attackers at once. Others fight a series of trainers one after another. Some academies deliberately use older, more skilled coaches. The stated goals are generally the same: to use the skills learned at the academy to fight or subdue the attackers and to never give up.
Recruits and instructors wear protective gear to protect their heads from injury. But there are no uniform safety guidelines, including whether academies must have medical personnel on site.
Injured game warden recruit speaks out to bring about change
One of the recruits injured last year was Heather Reala former Wyoming Game warden who moved back to her home state of Texas to continue her career.
Sterling was a defensive tactics coach at Wyoming before enrolling at Texas Academy, and she became concerned when she learned about the so-called four-on-one drill.
During the exercise, the cadets faced attacks from four instructors playing the role of violent attackers. Cadets must kick and punch at a bag held by an instructor and try to block the attacks for 90 seconds or more.
Sterling thought the scenario was unrealistic. She said she has never been ambushed at work and if that happened in real life she would be able to use her gun or other force.
The video shows that Sterling was punched seven times in the head in less than two minutes, and the last blow knocked off his wrestling helmet. He was also thrown to the ground.
Sterling said she had a severe headache, and later drove herself to seek medical treatment. He was diagnosed with a concussion.
Sterling passed drill but resigned from the academy in protest. Now she’s speaking out in hopes of bringing about a change in practices in Texas and elsewhere.
“I’m worried that someone will be killed,” she said. “This is a poorly disguised attack.”