Quite a bit has changed in broad comedy movies since the eighties.
“Consider” and “Reconsider” jumped out from the very first moments of the movie as possible symptom or treatment. The opening credit states that the mayor has lowered entrance requirements to enter the Academy, thereby letting in undesirables… undesirables according to the police commissioner. He deems them of the wrong weight, height, and “color”. They must be persuaded to quit on their own.
The Academy cadets are told they must survive 14 weeks of training. So, we have a timelock limit. I also suspected the story might be heavy on theme and less so on a Situation domain. However, the more I watched, the more I picked up on so many psychological and manipulative-based humor. Mahony continually plays mind games at Lt. Harris’ expense, pranks, etc. in an effort to get kicked out. When Harris’ honchos are told to find out where the cadet party will be held, Mahoney gives them the address of the gay bar… gay jokes possibly being common in psychological domain comedies. In the third act, Commandant Lassard accidentally gives the patrols the wrong locale to guard. You can also see “how people think” being an issue as Commissioner Hurst thinks of these “oddballs” as not true police material. The movie emphasizes how their bizarre quirks both make them outcasts and finally help resolve the story.
This psychology domain also made more sense in terms of the phases or signposts of the story. We see them in the second half of Act Two playing roles of cops as part of their training. Tackleberry shoots his pistol to get a poor woman’s cat out of a tree, for example. So they’re not quite cops yet. I suspect Act Three (signpost four) is Becoming as they patrol the streets during the gang riot.
In the first part of the story, it’s made very clear Lt. Harris and Commissioner Hurst want to persuade the cadets to quit. This would be conceiving an idea, and probably developing a plan.
I would say the concern is the lower left quad in each domain. This is a familiar, common quad in American movies. The Psychology Objective domain would therefore be concerned with Becoming. Lt. Harris is concerned about these “dirtbags” becoming police officers, and so are the dirtbags… er, cadets. This puts the relationship story concern in obtaining. I am guessing Mahoney is the main character. He keeps hitting on cadet Thompson, which doesn’t relate to the objective story, but he does see her for a moment as he’s about to decide to quit. He’s in Lt. Harris’ office when he sees her through the window… thinking of what he’d be missing he decides to stay. Perhaps she’s the change character as this change in Mahoney occurs only half way through the film.
I am guessing, since Mahoney’s activity consists mainly of psychological manipulation of characters, primarily Lt. Harris, that he’s a Be-er. This puts him in Fixed Attitude and Thompson in Situation. She is physically attractive, which instantly lures Mahoney to hit on her their first day. Her attractiveness is a physical impact on him.
Furthermore, I would not be surprised if the Story Dividend turns out to be Innermost Desires. George Martin continually sneaks into the women’s dorm, until bumping into the statuesque Lt. Calahan. Rather than kick him out, she practically plays “dominatrix” to him. Each character has a moment of gleeful achievement in the second half. Hooks gets to finally make it over the wall during training. Mahoney gets the girl: Thompson. Leslie Barbara gets a moment during the climactic riot when he confronts some past neighborhood bullies and beats them up.