Post by Cary Friedman on Aug 12, 2007 0:34:41 GMT -5
The ILEETA Review Volume 3, Issue 2
Reviewed by Lawrence A. Jackson
CPR, firearms, EVO, Legal updates…the list of regular training departments need to deliver seems to go on forever. Most of it isn’t much fun, it’s just necessary. However, one critical subject is often overlooked. Ethics, values, and spiritual training are things that our parents were expected to give us before they sent us to school. The academy was supposed to teach us about police ethics before they sent us out on the street. Nevertheless while we worry about first aid or legal updates we assume that the two hours of ethics in the academy 15 years ago was adequate preparation to carry officers through a career dealing with violence, death, homelessness, child abuse, and the other evils that officers face on a daily basis.
Solid moral character and a positive self-image are critical prerequisites for any public safety professional. While backgrounds and polygraphs do a good job of selecting suitable, stable, well adjusted recruits, what happens to them after years of contact with corrosive situations and individuals? Who in law enforcement wouldn’t benefit from a booster shot of humanity and self-respect? How can it be administered without sounding like the worn out “free cup of coffee” speech from the academy?
Wisdom from the Batcave: How to Live a Super, Heroic Life uses a unique approach to give a new twist to those sensitive topics many officers avoid. Wisdom from the Batcave is an easy to read book that deals with the personal, spiritual issues of character, ethics, and self-development without heavy handed lectures or oaths and codes. A life long fan of comic books, author Cary Friedman illustrates positive values and personal ethics by examining the career of one of the most famous crime fighters of the last 70 years … Batman.
Friedman points out that the heroic Batman has some real cop qualities. He doesn’t get his super powers from being bitten by a spider, or birth on another planet. Batman’s skills are the result of constant training and education. He works nights, in the rain, is always on call, and never seems to finish a meal. For many law enforcement readers, identification with the Caped Crusader will be immediate and obvious.
With actual panels from DC Comics, Friedman offers Batman up as a model for living a satisfying heroic life. However, while Friedman’s example is a fantasy, the topics he addresses involve real life issues of heroes and villains. The 18 short chapters including Dealing with Adversity, Defining Victory, Self Esteem, Idealism, and The Price of Greatness all have real application to officers who fight the good fight and still seek to maintain a personal and spiritual balance in their lives. Wisdom from the Batcave offers up concise, well grounded analysis and advice reminiscent of your grandparents, or that great sergeant who broke you in years ago. Friedman’s observations and suggestions are both timely and timeless. And the use of Batman’s story as a teaching metaphor is both entertaining and effective.
In Wisdom from the Batcave: How to Live a Super, Heroic Life, Friedman offers advice on how to recognize and reinforce the hero inside of us all. Friedman’s use of the modern “graphic novel” is an adaptation of storytelling, the most ancient teaching method. Just as Aesop used his fables and Grossman gave us his sheepdogs, Cary Friedman now offers us Batman to remind us that being a hero is a matter of hard work, good choices and a strong spirit.
Lawrence (Larry) Jackson is a full-time faculty member at the Washtenaw Community College Police Academy in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A use of force trainer and writer, Larry seeks to understand and pass along the things that created thousands of heroes he’s met and served with since his academy 30 years ago.
Thank you, Larry!
Buy the book at batwisdom.com or www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Batcave-Live-Super-Heroic/dp/097619662X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-2049388-0767169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186896928&sr=8-1!
Reviewed by Lawrence A. Jackson
CPR, firearms, EVO, Legal updates…the list of regular training departments need to deliver seems to go on forever. Most of it isn’t much fun, it’s just necessary. However, one critical subject is often overlooked. Ethics, values, and spiritual training are things that our parents were expected to give us before they sent us to school. The academy was supposed to teach us about police ethics before they sent us out on the street. Nevertheless while we worry about first aid or legal updates we assume that the two hours of ethics in the academy 15 years ago was adequate preparation to carry officers through a career dealing with violence, death, homelessness, child abuse, and the other evils that officers face on a daily basis.
Solid moral character and a positive self-image are critical prerequisites for any public safety professional. While backgrounds and polygraphs do a good job of selecting suitable, stable, well adjusted recruits, what happens to them after years of contact with corrosive situations and individuals? Who in law enforcement wouldn’t benefit from a booster shot of humanity and self-respect? How can it be administered without sounding like the worn out “free cup of coffee” speech from the academy?
Wisdom from the Batcave: How to Live a Super, Heroic Life uses a unique approach to give a new twist to those sensitive topics many officers avoid. Wisdom from the Batcave is an easy to read book that deals with the personal, spiritual issues of character, ethics, and self-development without heavy handed lectures or oaths and codes. A life long fan of comic books, author Cary Friedman illustrates positive values and personal ethics by examining the career of one of the most famous crime fighters of the last 70 years … Batman.
Friedman points out that the heroic Batman has some real cop qualities. He doesn’t get his super powers from being bitten by a spider, or birth on another planet. Batman’s skills are the result of constant training and education. He works nights, in the rain, is always on call, and never seems to finish a meal. For many law enforcement readers, identification with the Caped Crusader will be immediate and obvious.
With actual panels from DC Comics, Friedman offers Batman up as a model for living a satisfying heroic life. However, while Friedman’s example is a fantasy, the topics he addresses involve real life issues of heroes and villains. The 18 short chapters including Dealing with Adversity, Defining Victory, Self Esteem, Idealism, and The Price of Greatness all have real application to officers who fight the good fight and still seek to maintain a personal and spiritual balance in their lives. Wisdom from the Batcave offers up concise, well grounded analysis and advice reminiscent of your grandparents, or that great sergeant who broke you in years ago. Friedman’s observations and suggestions are both timely and timeless. And the use of Batman’s story as a teaching metaphor is both entertaining and effective.
In Wisdom from the Batcave: How to Live a Super, Heroic Life, Friedman offers advice on how to recognize and reinforce the hero inside of us all. Friedman’s use of the modern “graphic novel” is an adaptation of storytelling, the most ancient teaching method. Just as Aesop used his fables and Grossman gave us his sheepdogs, Cary Friedman now offers us Batman to remind us that being a hero is a matter of hard work, good choices and a strong spirit.
* * * * * * * * * *
Lawrence (Larry) Jackson is a full-time faculty member at the Washtenaw Community College Police Academy in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A use of force trainer and writer, Larry seeks to understand and pass along the things that created thousands of heroes he’s met and served with since his academy 30 years ago.
* * * * * * * * * *
Thank you, Larry!
Buy the book at batwisdom.com or www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Batcave-Live-Super-Heroic/dp/097619662X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-2049388-0767169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186896928&sr=8-1!