Behind The Scenes With John Walsh: LAPD Training Facility

This week, John Walsh and AMW head over to the Los Angeles Police Department’s training facility to see how the LAPD prepares their rookies for life on the force.

“The LAPD is a giant police department faced with lots of challenges,” John says. “Living in L.A, you got all kinds of bangers, big gang population, all kinds of criminals, all kinds of different crimes.”

While filming the episode, John got to hit the shooting range to fire a variety of weapons and participate in crime simulations like vehicle pursuits. L.A. happens to be a huge hotspot for police chases, and John points out that a lot of the high-speed chases you see on television usually take place in L.A.

All in all, John was incredibly taken aback with the intense training the LAPD goes through and the immense amount of pressure involved in their day-to-day operations.

“I don’t think people realize how hard cops have to train,” John says. “In a split second, you have to make a decision to whether take a life, protect your own life, or cover your partner.”

Life as a cop means facing life threatening situations all the time. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page,17 officers died while in the line of duty in the month of January alone.  To see more of John and the LAPD, tune in this Saturday night on FOX.