 My name is Owen James Shearer, I work out at Denver International Airport, I fuel airplanes for a living. Come on, let's go, finish up people, just push away and hold on tight. I'm originally from Fable, North Carolina, I moved out to Denver two years ago in December of 2013. I was just a normal kid, played youth sports, basketball, baseball, played the trumpet in the band for three years and then moved on, playing football, senior year I played center so they actually let me touch the ball. I always feel like as long as you stay committed to something, you'll be fine, so I really don't notice people staring at me, I mean kids will be kids, they see something different or something they're not used to, they tend to point at it and make comments about it but I mean, this is actually not something you see every day, talking about this. I was born with partial digits missing on both my hands, middle three digits to be specific. I have met people that are missing the same fingers but they're from different stories. Oh, how'd you lose yours? I lost mine in a lawnmower accident, I lost them at birth, I kind of got in the easy way. It's something I can't change and nothing that I wish or will or try to do, nothing's going to change the fact that I don't have fingers so I just make the best of the situation and take the road as it comes. I'm probably going to run by Target, get some black pens and a notebook or two. People will ask me, they're like, how do you do this stuff that you do? I'm like, well, I've got about 26 years of practice, I don't know how to do it by now. I mean, it's pretty much done with thumbs anyway. Once again, there's nothing I've come across that I can't do, it's just it's a more high level of difficulty, but I can get it done. I'm getting ready to start a new job on Monday. Exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time, but I'm ready for it to happen. Here'd be a Denver police officer. Attention! Good morning. Welcome to DPD. I'm Sergeant Kevin Brey. I'm going to be your class supervisor. Double time it out to the hangar. Let's go out this door, follow instructions. Let's go. Out the door. Double time, double time. Today is day one for recruit class 15-2. Let's go, double time, people. Day one is a very interesting day. We have to get the tone set for the entire academy. Come on, move it down. Why is that hole there? It's kind of a calling and a lot of people are just driven to be police officers. Down. Push down. Up, up, up. Back, back, back. Because they're willing to put their lives on the line every day, no one asked them to do it. They went out there and volunteered pretty much. That's the sense of honor that I feel is worth joining. One sir. Two sir. Three sir. Four sir. Five sir. Six sir. Seven sir. Eight sir. Nine sir. Ten sir. It's going to be tough, I think. It's going to be a lot of stuff thrown at you in a relatively short amount of time, but I'm always up for a challenge. If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. Rhea, sir. Sid Berry, sir. Van Pelt, sir. Very good. We need to get the recruits in the mindset that this isn't just another job. Skills team two seems to have figured it out. This is practice for every day for the rest of their career. Skills team three, you line up in the same fashion. The class that we just received today has 35 recruits. Being together as a class is going to be instrumental in your success. I guarantee you that. Our expectation here is real simple. We have 26 weeks to work with you and we're going to take every single moment. Class, dismount, fall out, double time. Went in my first day and it kicked my butt, but I enjoyed it. We're here to protect life and property. As you can imagine, being a police officer, there's a lot of knowledge, which is why they're here for 26 weeks. A lot of that time is spent in the classroom. They have a lot of criminal law, they have a lot of municipal code, basic investigations all the way up to complex crimes that come in, and so there's really a lot to know and understand. If there's a hazardous materials spill, it's a new adventure in its own, but then it's also learning how to do your job better too. Most of the times, they're not going to be in a box, they're going to be on a big old pallet shrink wrapped. We are trying to break that stereotype of what a police officer is. We want people from every walk of life. We have short, we have tall, we have every religion, we have every color. We value that diversity. Look, listen, just pay attention to the scene. Pay attention to your surroundings, and that's with everything you do in this job. It was different from college, because in college, I didn't feel like I was really going for anything or had something to strive for, really, but here, this is for your job. The goal here is for the guy in the middle to work his way out of this crowd. You've got to be aggressive about this, you've got to hit and then carry through that person. Questions? All right, fight hard. This is a big one. ACT is the rest controlled techniques. Go! Get back! Get back! Come on, police! How to handcuff people and then when someone doesn't want to go to jail and they want to fight you, you don't need tools to handle the situation. Come on, we've worked hard. There were times when it was tough. They do push you to places where you never thought you could go, and then they teach you how to go push past it and push through the pain, because you can't give up out in the streets when it's trying to kill you. There are no resets in life, so if you're dead, you're dead. There's no coming back from that. There you go. Get out of there. Don't let them surround you. Get off that wall. When you think you have nothing left, you do. I mean, they teach you how to go to that place and find it. No one ever said you're not going to fall on your face at least one point in your lifetime, because I mean, everyone is, we're all human. We all make mistakes. And sometimes you're going to feel like crap and want to puke your guts all over the floor, or just curl up in a ball in a corner and just lay there for about five minutes after you're done, but you know it didn't kill you either. Me, I wanted to do it again as sick and tormenting as that sounds, but I can't let myself not be good at something if I'm going to try it. If I'm going to try something, I'm going to at least go full on and all out for it. Divock is a driving portion of the training out here. They're paying us to drive fast, so let's drive fast. Divock is more road courses, so more braking, more acceleration, better steering and car control. You get through the courses as fast as you can without knocking over as many cones. Shows you can control a car in different ways. You have a lot more control of a car than you think you would. I'm a NASCAR fan, so it's a blast. Getting to do stuff, a lot of people don't ever get the chance to do. So I've just been soaking it in and enjoying the ride as it goes. Everybody's challenged. Everybody comes up against someone that doesn't believe in them or doesn't think that they can do what they want them to do, and we all have to prove ourselves at some point or other. You just have to find your own way to overcome those challenges. One drop of oil there and there, one here. It was more of just getting reps in, building muscle memory, tankering with my hands. We had just had to figure out something that we could make work for me. As soon as we figured it out, it wasn't a problem at all. What we found out was that I was pushing the gun and then jerking the trigger. Again, three rounds on that piece of paper, lean around the direction, I tell you. As soon as they made me aware of what I was doing, left side. I could recognize it when I was shooting, so I can do something just as well as you can. It doesn't make a difference how many fingers I have in my hand. These instructors told me like the first time I went out. All right, eyes and ears. It's all about taking deep breaths and just slowing yourself down. Make sure you're seeing everything that you need to see. That really helped a lot for me. No matter how bad your day went or how crappy you feel at the end of the day, the sun's still going to come up in the morning, so just get ready for the next day, you'll be fine. This afternoon we're just practicing for graduation. Class, present, arms. Make sure that tomorrow goes as smoothly as it can so that they can be proud when they're up there in front of all their family and friends. Whatever my hand does, your right hand should be doing the same thing, okay? We better get this stuff straightened up. Step out and fall right in line behind sheer. Because tomorrow there are going to be hundreds of people in there watching us march down and get our badges. So everyone face forward, line up behind the person in front of you. Obviously it's a big day for them. It's what they've been working 25 weeks for. And I'm going to dismiss you. You're going to do exactly like you do every other morning. A lot of sweat, a lot of tears, a lot of hours of studying, you know, hard physical workouts. Just a lot. As soon as Duane gets here, we'll start getting you guys your photos as well. We're graduating 32, and they started with 35. There you go. Good. It's difficult for some people. This job's just not for everybody. Come back with your feet right there. Good. We're here with a higher level of stress than most people are accustomed to, so nothing against those guys, but I mean, it just wasn't for them. Okay, here we go, one more time. They start out as individuals and they come together as a team. By the end, they're a close-knit group that build these friendships and bonds that will last their career. We don't give the badge away. You have to earn it. And they truly do. And so they can stand proud tomorrow when they get that badge pinned down their chest and be proud of the fact that they really did earn that badge. Remember that everything that you do reflects on all of us, because now you're part of this family and people don't see you as a person. They see you as a uniform and a badge. Every action you take represents all those men and women who sacrificed everything for this badge. Remember your God, your family, and then the department. Okay? Your priority's straight, and if you do that, you'll have a long, fruitful career. That makes Mama feel happier. Gunner Police, basic recruiter class, 15-2, class, forward. Owen J. Shearer, badge 15033. I'm the most humble person out there, so I'm not going to harp on things that I've done or give praise or anything. I just want to be judged equally as everyone else was. Raise your right hand and please repeat after me. We've been through the training and they've demonstrated their abilities to perform here, and now he's going to go out and demonstrate his abilities to perform in real-life situations. I believe that you can do anything you set your mind to, so if your mind's fully committed 100%, you can do it.