Topic: Traceurs seemingly ahead of Police.

[Kyle Reiniger]

So I was doing Parkour one day, and a police officer in training(can't think of the term) saw me doing it and talked to me about it. We were in a great friendly conversation, but apparently they had taught him to SPECIFICALLY land on his heels. He said they yelled at him when he landed on the balls of his feet, because they said he might loose his balance. I see this as complete idiocy. Teaching them to land on their heels is just provoking an injury. I told him to land on  the balls of his feet or he will be risking an injury, however as traceurs I think we need to talk to them about it, I don't know if this is just a local problem, but they should be taught better. On the bright side, Parkour Police seem pretty far off before they can catch us (: Opinions? Has this happened to anyone before? Ways to fix this issue?

[Jason C. Astor]

Yup. A buddy of mine is a cop. When he was going through training they were telling him to run heel to toe and land flat footed if jumping a fence or something. I explained to him why this is total B.S. but I'm not sure if he listened or not. Yeah, I don't see many cops ever being real athletes as long as they carry guns and radios. Hate to say it but it's like fighting. Alot of cops can bring down a drunk or high A-hole but if you put them in a hand to hand fight against a "Real" fighter (No weapons or Back up, and the Fighter didn't care he was a cop) Cop will usually lose. They just don't train enough once they get out of Basic. A traceur Is never satisfied with training which is why a cop couldn't catch us on foot

[Jordan Strybos]

This seems ridiculous, and I'm astonished that nobody would speak up during training and raise the issue...seems like somebody in the group should know at least something about the basic mechanics of the body.

[Nick Fernandez]

That's such a silly excuse for not landing on the balls of your feet. I feel bad for you because one day you'll meet those same arrogant policemen who will probably yell at you for doing parkour, and if not there's still the chance of either getting on their bad side or making friends with them after explaining how to land properly.

And isn't a police officer in training called a cadet? Something like that.

[Alec Furtado]

This seems ridiculous, and I'm astonished that nobody would speak up during training and raise the issue...seems like somebody in the group should know at least something about the basic mechanics of the body.

[Kyle Rudolph]

Good.

Now I know I can always outrun them.

[Patty Craig]

Personally I would prefer that police don't know how to land properly. They already have more technology then is necessary, they don't need to know how to better chase down people.

[Adam McC]

The only thing that concerns me here more than our police offers learning bad body mechanics is the quickness of members of our community to be grateful for their misfortunate so that we could get away with crime in such an event. Really?

And to think, people wonder why Parkour struggles to become legitimized.

[Conrad Moser]

The police have their own issues with legitimacy these days...

[jaycee]

I'm not a police officer, but just to play devil's advocate, it's entirely possible that there's a reason they do that... ie, that the risks of injuring yourself are outweighed by the risks of landing off-balance when you're chasing a guy with a weapon.

[Kyle Reiniger]

Wow I truly didn't expect all these replies, haha. I want to teach them how to land properly, because I care about each person as an individual, however if they ever end up outlawing parkour, I dont want to be the traceur responsible with helping teach them how to catch us. It's just strange to me though, that a well funded state(compared to people) can't learn proper science, yet a community of people can. I guess that shows what will power, curiosity, and dedication is capable of.

[Zach]

Is there any traceurs here who are actually police officers? I would think that it would be a good idea if some of us joined the force, that would even the odds a bit, (just an idea, if you don't like it don't hate lol)

[Kyle Rudolph]

The only thing that concerns me here more than our police offers learning bad body mechanics is the quickness of members of our community to be grateful for their misfortunate so that we could get away with crime in such an event. Really?

And to think, people wonder why Parkour struggles to become legitimized.

Did I ever say anything about committing crime? I just like to run away from police officers after making eye contact with them. It's a fun hobby.

[steve dahlin]

That Officer in Training, needs to tell his trainer to balance on the balls of his feet, then balance on his heels, and tell him which one is easier.

Maybe there is some sort of misunderstanding, Cops are trained to run heel to toe because it makes their footsteps more silent.

as far as landing though from any height, like hoping a fence, landing on the balls of your feet is definitely the safest, most natural way to land.

[Ryan Sannar]

They probably have their reasons. Might be difficult to change the way its taught. Seems like its really really pushed into their heads

[Rafe]

That Officer in Training, needs to tell his trainer to balance on the balls of his feet, then balance on his heels, and tell him which one is easier.

Maybe there is some sort of misunderstanding, Cops are trained to run heel to toe because it makes their footsteps more silent.

as far as landing though from any height, like hoping a fence, landing on the balls of your feet is definitely the safest, most natural way to land.

Running heel to toe is not quieter, the most plausible reason they are taught to run that was is the fact they will be wearing combat boots with which are fairly stiff and have an elevated heel you actually have to do odd things to run on the ball of the foot while wearing a shoe like that it it will often result in tiring quicker and stressing the achilles tendon. Likewise with big heel you can afford to land heel first though there is no good reason to do so it was considered standard in distance running to teach a heel to toe gate up until from the 70's through the 90's as is often the case the police are probably behind the times.

[Stephen]

Is there any traceurs here who are actually police officers? I would think that it would be a good idea if some of us joined the force, that would even the odds a bit, (just an idea, if you don't like it don't hate lol)

I'm actually going to be working on a career in Law Enforcement in a few years lolz, not sure specifically what branch/section of Law Enforcement but that's what I'm looking at.

[7Erik7]

Some people here claim that it is not good to teach parkour to the police. These people don't have the proper understanding about parkours principles. Problem with the police only occur when either the police have lack of understanding or when the practitioner have lack of understanding of parkour. If you have understanding of parkour then this is generally not a problem.

Teaching parkour to children and youngsters will have very positive consequences; in the Westminster project crime dropped by over 40%. Teaching the basics of parkour to the police will also have positive consequences since they will be able to work away more efficient but it will also be a further education in ethics, which some people in the force don't have, aswell as some people in the community dont have.

[Ryan Sannar]

+1 7Erik7

[Jason C. Astor]

Although I appreciate everyones concerns about Parkour being respected and traceurs not giving the community a bad name; I feel as though Parkour shouldn't be completely dismissed as a possible escape from even police. Those of you who disagree whole heartily have never lived in areas where Police assume you're a criminal simply because you aren't wearing a suit and Walking a straight line. And you've probably never been harassed by a some old D-bag cop (Yeah, I know there probably d-bags cause of all the stuff they've dealt with, but if you cant put aside what happened with other perps and deal with each person as a new scenario- retire)These guys have no problem trying to make everyone feel beneath them, and I for one am too proud for that Sh*

I have no problems with individual police, I know several of them personally, but I do have a problem with that establishment as a whole. I personally don't have any need to run from the cops; I've grown up and I stay out of trouble, but I know alot of 5/0 over use there power. If someone is trying to harass me for no good reason and that person has weapons. I'm running

I know a lot of you will disagree or have something to say. Just think of this: One day our liberties and rights will run dry. Those who refuse to fight for them (Disobey) will be no better then the line walking Robots the powers that be want you to be. Just saying. I feel this should be in socilizing section-- Heel to toe is Bad