At the Ready

At the Ready

“At the Ready” is a documentary by Maisie Crow that is set in El Paso, Texas. It targets the law enforcement classes which take vulnerable students who want to assist their families without accumulating college debts through offering them well paying jobs. This movie was made at a time when Donald Trump was still the president of America and family separation dominated headlines in most American newsrooms.

The majority of students in this class are Latinos many of whom have immigrant parents or relatives living in America illegally. They learn more than just how to arrest criminals or what to do during an active shooter situation they come face to face with these realities themselves.

The film opens on the first day back at school: kids awkwardly introducing themselves, braces gleaming against their excited smiles. At Horizon High School alone (one of approximately 900 schools across Texas that offer law enforcement education), students can choose among courses that will prepare them for careers as officers or agents in different agencies such as Border Patrol which is obviously popular within a border city like El Paso.

Apart from ordinary classroom exercises, there is also an extracurricular club where learners compete with other schools by enacting scenes from real life scenarios involving peacekeeping forces etcetera; here they get trained on skills like shooting guns accurately under pressure, military tactics execution during combat operations and identifying illegal drugs plus much more vital knowledge needed by security operatives serving within borders states.

There are three voices among others heard throughout Crow’s documentary. First off we meet Cristina who graduated recently from Horizon High School and joined Border Patrol right after finishing her studies there too. As events unfold before our eyes she finds out about some really tough parts of being part of such an organization especially when one has deal with young children coming alone having been separated from their families somewhere along US-Mexico frontier lines; although always saying repeatedly that all she ever wanted was help out my own community also make mom n dad proud me still job pressure points question this.

Then there is Mason, a trans individual that identifies as male but was known by Kassy in his former life at school due to transitioning later on when already away from home most times since dad went abroad for better employment opportunities. Initially feeling comfortable among fellow classmates who shared similar interests with him within these law enforcement studies; however things started changing after he realized many teachers had negative attitudes towards LGBTQ persons like himself thus creating doubts about whether he truly belonged there or not anymore being such an environment.

Lastly we have Cesar another caring type guy always ready assist younger sibling take care of household chores while mom works long hours just make ends meet. He too questions relevance police courses offer him personally or in general terms given father’s previous run-ins with authorities over criminal activities.

The camera of Crow picks up all the little things that matter when it comes to showing what these teenagers go through and how they are sold on joining the ranks of peace officers by their instructors or anyone else trying to recruit them into different agencies dealing with law enforcement matters.

The program started back in 2009 even though it seems much older than this because its recruitment video features graduates turned cops who were students before plus a teacher telling her class not worry about anything ever again once become part because never will be alone thanks network established throughout years since inception which could sound quite tempting considering other tempting factors actors use convince young ones sign up this involves appealing kids’ loyalty towards loved ones communities etcetera so you see backpacks decorated using police force symbols among others while different students carry notebooks decorated using Border Patrol logos amongst others.

Apart from this other steps also done by “At the Ready” consist of showing viewers what normal school life looks like for children attending these classes as opposed those who do not participate in mainstream education system alongside them including displaying Thin Blue Line flag hanging above their classrooms indicative environments where such units take shape .

Salaries are talked about in schools and at the dinner table. For many students of immigrants, the road to a steady job with a steady income is part of the American Dream. It’s what their parents take pride in, and then becomes how they can support their families right out of high school. But for some of these guilt-ridden, insecure students, these classes become hell. They question themselves when other Latinos call them racists or traitors.

The teachers directly tell the camera they hide some of the real ugliness of their jobs from the kids like scarier life-or-death situations or how much it wears on you when your career is sending people to jail all day but still push their students into those same careers because that’s what got them out. This cycle has only spread since this documentary was made.

El Paso is just across the border from Ciudad Juárez. Many of this film’s main subjects cross over to see their families. Immigration and militarization are very personal here, even as recruiters sell them as assets to any law enforcement branch they join.“

At the Ready” looks at those conflicts with empathy: What could make a young person care enough about others to want to learn how to arrest and subdue bad guys? How does one generation convince another to replenish its ranks? It’s not unlike a military pipeline or a gang’s, beginning with under-18s whose greatest interest might be work and money off the street but who come out capable of making an informed decision on whether or not they’d like to dodge bullets for it.

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