NYPD using Patrick Swayze movie Road House to train police officers

Trainee cops are shown a scene in which Swayze's character explains how to deal with rowdy clients

Patrick Swayze in Road House (TM & MGM/Youtube)

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is teaching trainee cops how to stay cool under pressure, by showing recruits what they believe is a particularly persuasive Patrick Swayze movie.

As part of three-day mandatory lessons, NYPD bosses require their 22,000 trainee officers to watch the 1989 action film Road House, the New York Post has reported.

The scene which recruits are shown features Swawyze playing the tough bouncer Dalton, as he describes how to handle unruly customers.

"Never underestimate your opponent and expect the unexpected, never start anything inside the bar unless it’s necessary.

“If somebody gets in your face and calls you a c*k sucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won’t walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can’t walk him, one of the others will help you, and you’ll both be nice,” he says.

“I want you to remember that it’s a job. It’s nothing personal.”

The scene also includes Swayze’s the message: "I want you to be nice, until it’s time to not be nice."

The news comes after The Post reported that lectures for trainees were so dry that officers were falling asleep in their seats.

The NYPD, the largest police department in the US, would not comment to the Guardian whether it would use other Swayze films to train recruits, while the Los Angeles Police Department, the third-largest force in the nation, told the newspaper it did not use Road House in its officer training, and had “no plans to do so”.