Police Academy

Many teams will be running in Sunday's 31st annual Blue Cross Broad Street Run, but none will be more competitive than the "Team of Heroes. " Five Philadelphia police veterans will be trying to outrun five police academy rookies. "I think we'll be starting a rivalry," Sgt. Matt Maguire, president of the police running club, said yesterday. "It's good we're getting the recruits involved because our club is getting old. Most of us are over 45. We're older than Donovan McNabb, and they got rid of him. " The veterans are John Gallagher, Paul Haye, Vicente Jamerez, Mike Slowsser and Mike Chitwood.

It's no coincidence this dummy looks out of sorts before the July 4 weekend. It took part in a Police Academy demonstration on illegal fireworks' dangers put on by Officer Pete King.

It's quite possible that future historians of the "Police Academy" films will consider "Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach" a pivotal entry in the series. Even though the two most recognizable members of the "Police Academy" troupe, Steve Guttenberg and Bobcat Goldthwait, are no longer on board, their absence is barely noticeable. "Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach" proves that, in this case at least, concept transcends personality. It also transcends logic. Having come in late on the series, I've never fully understood what's going on. I realize that dopey good-guy Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes)

Talk about things going from bad to worse! That's what's happening during these summer doldrums in home video. This week, there's an unusual foreign film that's worth a look but not much else, unless you count a pair of two- star movies, which start to look good when you see the one-star alternatives. WEDDING IN GALILEE (1987) (Kino) $79.95. 113 minutes. Makram Khouri, Anna Achdian, Tali Dorat. An extraordinary and timely work from an unusual source - Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khleifi.

Class No. 323 graduated from the Police Academy at the Mann Music Center yesterday morning. Among the 95 graduates was Officer Gary Capuano (above), who looks towards crowd gathered for the ceremony. Another new grad, Officer Joseph P. Murphy (left), poses with sons Joey, 7, and Joshua, 4.

Nick DeBlasis (left), 21, kept a tradition when he graduated from the Police Academy yesterday: He's the fourth son of Chief Inspector Vincent R. DeBlasis (right) to join the force. The others are Vincent, 32; Robert, 37; and Gary, 36.

Following in her father's footsteps, Elizabeth Cellini (above) was one of nearly 100 police recruits who graduated from the Police Academy during ceremonies at the Civic Center yesterday. While most will work in Philadelphia, some graduates will serve the city of Chester and Bensalem and Horsham Townships. Mayor Rendell addressed the group.

MIKE CHITWOOD was a rookie cop fresh out of the Police Academy on Nov. 7, 1964, when he was walking a beat on Susquehanna Avenue in North Philadelphia with a seasoned officer who was teaching him the ropes. Chitwood - who went on to become a much-honored Philly cop and is now the police superintendent of Upper Darby Township - and his partner, Mike Muto, might not have been prepared for heroics that day, but that's what they got. On the 1600 block, they saw flames shooting out of a house and a woman with a baby hanging onto a rope between the second and third floors, calling for help.