Adam-12 (1968)/Training Division

Training Division
Season 6, Episode 8
Airdate	November 7, 1973
Written by	Michael Donovan
Directed by	Kenneth Johnson
Produced by	Tom Williams
← 6x07 Van Nuys Division	6x09 → Capture
Adam-12 — Season Six

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Training Division is the eighth episode of the sixth season of Adam-12, and the one hundred thirty-fourth episode overall.

This episode gives further insight into the purpose of a probationary period as used in law enforcement. Whereas Reed – one of the main protagonists and three years removed from his probationary period – successfully passed his rookie period (and has had his status upgraded several times since), the focus of this episode is on a rookie officer whose performance is not only below standard but, through his actions and judgment, has started to pose serious safety issues for himself, fellow officers and others. By episode's end, a report of explosives call will go a long way in determining whether the rookie officer is fit for law enforcement.

Starring: Martin Milner (Officer Pete Malloy), Kent McCord (Officer Jim Reed)

with John Elerick (George Barrett), Bill Elliott (Officer Grant), William Boyett (Sgt. MacDonald), Arthur Peterson (Elwood Thompson), Inez Pedroza (Teller), Joe E. Tata (Craig Hanawald), Fred Stromsoe (Officer Woods), Don Ross (Investigator Kincaid), Alfred Shelly (Jake)

and Gary Crosby (Officer Wells)

Uncredited: Shaaron Claridge (Dispatcher)

Plot Overview

The officers deal with probationary Officer George Barrett, a know-it-all rookie whose attitudes and lack of good judgment prove to be extremely dangerous. Barrett is a recruit from the Los Angeles Police Academy and was one of the top five in his class, but throughout this episode, his skills are contradictory.

First up in this episode: a report of a bank robbery. The suspect is an elderly man, sitting in a chair awaiting service.

Barrett immediately deduces that, since the man merely looks harmless enough, there is nothing dangerous about the suspect. (The man had presented a note to the teller asking for $1 million.) Under questioning by the officers, it becomes clear the man is confused about who he is or where he lives, and it is determined he didn't have a weapon. Still, there was a serious situation and it should have been handled as though it were an actual robbery. Barrett doesn't seem to understand what he did wrong, as an aghast Reed, Malloy and Wells try to explain that the man still posed a danger to bank employees. Barrett is reprimanded for mishandling the situation, and by the officers' conversation it's not the first time; he is given a reprieve but a stern warning that his job is already in jeopardy.

Things later come to a serious head when they deal with a pair of extortionists who have hidden a bomb inside a supermarket.

Barrett, along with Reed and Malloy, go into a warehouse where the extortionists – one of them posing as a hostage – are hiding out. When Barrett is told to arrest the "hostage," he chokes. Reed, however, instantly goes in for the arrest. Barrett admits he was unable to make the arrest (possibly, he was confused over whether the man was really a hostage and that he didn't appear dangerous) but that's of little consolation to Reed, who is pissed: He tells them he could tell just by watching the behavior of the other suspect that he wasn't a "hostage."

Malloy and Reed then want to talk to Sgt. McDonald, both who want Barrett dealt with. McDonald tells them to relax: Barrett has been told to go home (as this was apparently the last-straw incident) and that a hearing to have him removed from the force has been scheduled. McDonald notes that every officer makes a mistake or two, but Barrett wasn't seeming to learn from his mistakes. McDonald then explains (moreso for the audience's benefit) what a probationary period is: A time period where ranking officers can observe a new recruit and determine whether he will be a good officer and fit for the department; he also notes that sometimes, one can't always tell if a newly hired employee – especially one who has done a good job in training, interviews, etc. – will actually be a good employee.

Along the way, the officers also deal with a motorcycle officer who injures his back while making a routine traffic stop. The truck driver he did stop lends a helping hand by calling an ambulance, and in the end, he's just given a notice to fix the truck's broken taillight. The opening scene shows a traffic stop where four officers are killed in a shootout with a pair of robbery suspects, who make a clean getaway ... only for the incident – a re-enactment of the then-recent Newell Massacre – to be a training exercise for police academy trainees, of which Barrett is one.