MINNEAPOLIS — There’s a special way that new officers at the Minneapolis Police Academy learn to care for those who may have behavioral or mental health issues.
Leah Isaacson is a first response actor. It may not be the starring role she had in mind, but it’s a role she says will earn a reward far more important than any statue.
“When you really get down to it, you are doing a service for the people in your community,” she said. “You are playing real-life people that these cops will interact with.”
In one scenario, Isaacson portrays a drunk veteran who broke into a family member’s garage and is holding a hammer. In another scene, she plays a rape victim speaking to an officer for the first time.
“I always tell the actors that work for my company, ‘Be in the moment.’ Even though it’s not a script, you don’t have lines, there’s no memorizing lines. It’s all in the moment that’s what makes it so realistic. It’s always the give and take,” Isaacson said.