The Recruits is an observational documentary series that follows a group of police recruits as they embark on the long and gruelling journey towards becoming fully-fledged police officers.

General duties police live on law enforcement’s ragged edge. Every day is unpredictable, and every decision vital. Be it a murder, a car accident, or a drunken brawl, they are the first on the scene. The split second choices they make can be the difference between saving a life, or losing one. In those chaotic first moments, the only things an officer can rely on is their instincts and training. And on Recruits, we learn, what they learn, before they hit the streets.

With unprecedented access to the NSW Police Academy and police on the beat, Recruits follows the fascinating and often confronting journey, from fresh faced, naive civilian, to hardened, skilled, and assertive constable on the street. To make the grade, the students will undergo a personal transformation greater than any other profession. They soon discover policing is more than a job, it’s a calling. Not everybody wants to do it, and not many can.

There are two phases to becoming a cop. The first is intensive training at the NSW Police College. It’s an eight-month job interview for people who think they have what it takes to join the force. People like 19-year-old school leaver Frankie, who has never lived out of home, and Marilyn, a 59-year-old grandmother on her last crack at that dream career. They will be pushed in all the skills required to be a police officer: their fitness, decision-making, communication, discipline, and above all, integrity. They’ll be trained to shoot a gun, and defend themselves hand to hand. They’ll learn how to tell someone their loved one has died. Separated from family and friends for the duration, these student recruits will come to understand the personal and financial sacrifice necessary to become police officers. 30% won’t make it.

Those who graduate from college enter the second phase of their education. They become probationary constables out on the beat. Recruits takes those first steps with people like Michael Jackson, a 21 year old former McDonald’s Manager who has dreamt of this moment since he was a kid, and Karin Parr-Jaeger, who’s making the transformation from stay at home mum, to police officer. Despite their training they soon discover how little they know about real life policing, and in the heat of the moment, how difficult it can be to put theory into practice.

In Series 2 the recruits are posted to diverse locations, from rural Parkes, to the challenging social melting pot of Mount Druitt, and the inner city, where anything can and does happen. Viewers will witness the landmark events in any officer’s career: their first arrest, negotiating heated domestics, dealing with alcohol fuelled street violence and the moment every officer dreads, their first fatality.

Recruits is as action packed and enthralling as any young police officer’s career. The road towards becoming an officer in uniform is a long and bumpy one, and our cameras are there to capture every moment of drama, disappointment, and elation.

Recruits 2 … how to make a cop.

Premiers Thursday July 29 at 8pm