Sometimes an
officer has to bite the hand that fed him.
When you
have to declare war against your own department.
by
Hal Brown, LICSW http://www.stressline.com
This
article is dedicated to these good cops: the
police couple who gave me the idea for this
article, which I stayed up until 2:30 A.M.
writing after I talked with them; the officer who
proved you can fight a town and department that
engaged in discrimination, and win big; and to
other police and correction officers who. win or
loose, fought the good fight.
The
standard of excellence and leadership
demonstrated by top police chiefs and
superintendents should be a goal all departments
should strive for. But there are those
departments run by dinosaurs; administrators who
don't even deserve to be called
"chief". They don't come close to
leading their police departments, for they lack
any real leadership skill. They run them as if
they are their personal fiefdoms. Morale is
chronically low among the officers, except for
those who play the game and are favored with
perks and promotions.
The
number one cause of police stress comes not from
"the job" itself, but from a
bureaucracy gone bad. All but the most starry
eyed and naive of you knew full well what the job
entailed when you accepted your shield or badge.
You choose to deal with the low-lives and dregs
of society, to risk getting shot at and battered,
to handling tragic accidents, and to watch
criminals get off periodically because of the
fallibility of the court system. You know you
never are totally "off the job". You
know that some law abiding citizens will always
act uneasy around you. Carrying that badge means
you've accepted the role. You do this because
ultimately being a cop is one of the best and
most rewarding jobs there is, despite the
"normal" police stress that comes with
the territory. There's incredible pride that
comes with being a good cop, and more pride that
comes when you work for a department that is held
in high repute.
Unfortunately,
police academy instructors usually don't last
long if they teach their recruits about how the
police bureaucracy is the primary cause of police
stress. (I was a volunteer instructor in a stress
management class for correction officers at a
large prison for two years, but was finally
dismissed for addressing the issues in this
article.) Police departments looking to hire
don't advertise that their morale is poor and
their leadership virtually non-existent.
Typical
rookies come to these departments with an
up-to-date education, solid training, and high
aspirations, but they learn within a short time
that they're supposed to "throw away the
book" and "go along to get along".
This is couched in macho terms like
"becoming street smart" by those who
are threatened by new ideas. I'm not referring to
fads, but proven approaches like the aggressive
community policing techniques initiated by Chief
Bratton in New York, the solid management
approaches used to foster high morale by the best
corporations, and the kind of of leadership
demonstrated by General Schwatrzkopf during the
Gulf War.
What
happens when a good cop is betrayed by his or her
own department?
As a
police stress therapist, I talk to many officers
suffering anxiety and depression precipitated by
this kind of betrayal. If there wasn't too much
psychiatric jargon as it is, I'd propose a new
diagnosis: f...'d-up chief syndrome,
or FUCS. Cops with the most
integrity and the highest ideals tend to be the
most susceptible to FUCS.The symptoms can be
acute and debilitating. They tend to be worse for
cops to handle than people in other professions,
because when you're a cop you like to be in
control, not just of situations, but most
certainly of your own reactions. If you have
anxiety attacks, with frightening physical
manifestations, or start having uncharacteristic
suicidal or reckless thoughts, it is extremely
disconcerting. You have the sense that something
is very wrong with you, that your body and mind
are letting you down.
Making
matters worse, in these police departments,
police stress is looked on as something of a
joke, and officers who become disabled by it are
considered "crybabies". These are
departments that don't even offer critical
incident debriefing because the chiefs think
their officers should be "men enough"
to handle even the most tragic accidents or
shootings without getting "all weepy with
some shrink". No officer in their right mind
would let on they were suffering from police
stress. Obviously, police stress counseling and
is considered a big fraud.
If
you have to take stress related leave, it is
common that some of your so-called friends will
treat you like you have the plague. It's as if
you've become contaminated and they don't want to
risk being associated with you. When you were
shot or injured, everyone came to visit. But when
you go out on stress leave, you find out just who
your real friends are.
How
to deal with it?
We
haven't evolved biologically very far beyond the
cavemen. Our human physiology hasn't kept up with
the changes in day-to-day living over the past
ten thousand years, let along the past fifty
years. We still have the neurological circuitry
that causes the same heightened biochemical
response when we are threatened psychologically
as when we are threatened physically. This is
called the fight or flight response, and involves
an increase in adrenaline and overall bodily
readiness to take life saving action. You
experience this on the job. You are trained when
and how to fight, and when and how to flee.
There's no problem unless you are backed into a
corner with no weapon, and are about to be
attacked by the modern day equivalent of a hungry
saber-toothed tiger - perhaps a knife wielding
maniac whacked out on PCP. In a situation like
that the caveman would have an anxiety attack.
His bodily functions would freeze or let go.
Sadly, he'd be torn apart and eaten alive.
What
happens when the attack isn't physical, but
psychological?
The
caveman never experienced this. What did he know
about psychology? He just had to survive from day
to day. Sure, he had to learn to hunt and gather,
discover fire, invent the wheel...but life, short
as it was, was pretty basic back then.
But
you're a twentieth century Homo-sapien burdened
with the remnants of a Cro-magnum brain. You have
the very same fight or flight response when you
face a dangerous situation as primitive man.
Fighting you can handle, but because of your well
deserved pride, taking flight is huge blow to
your self-esteem. This is especially true if you
are running from a psychological attack.
When
you are mourning the loss not only of the job you
love, but of your ideals, you discover just how
much grief hurts. Add self-blame and shame, and
it gets worse. You can become your own worst
enemy with the negative thoughts about yourself
that go through your mind. Your marriage may be
in trouble, and your future is uncertain. You
don't even know if you'll be well enough to
function anymore.
The
answer is that you have to declare war, and fight
back.
But
if you're like many cops in similar situations,
you've being going it pretty much alone before
seeking help. Here's the advice I give to my
clients:
Admit
you're engaged in a conflict equivalent to
war, and with a formidable, but not
unbeatable, enemy.
Develop
your own coalition and alliances - your war
team - which will include the best lawyer or
lawyers you can find. If your union is worth
anything, use them too, but don't just count
on the union to fight for you. If
discrimination is involved, file a complaint
with the appropriate agency. Love them or,
more likely as a cop, hate them, if your
civil liberties have been violated, see if
the ACLU will take your case.
Find
yourself a good police stress therapist, one
you can trust, and one who will not be
involved in writing any kind of reports that
may be used against you. Consider paying out
of pocket, because insurance companies
require at minimum a diagnosis, and if you
end up suing for work caused a police stress
disability, a psychiatric diagnosis can
sometimes be used against you. A
psychotherapist can treat you for what is
called a life adjustment diagnosis like
"job stress", but insurance won't
pay for it. Add the cost of therapy into the
financial settlement your lawyer will fight
for. Ask the therapist to see his or her
notes about you, and make sure they don't
write anything that may be used against you.
Usually minimal notes are better than
extensive ones.
While
your therapist should write as little as
possible, you should document as much as
possible. Carry a notebook, and when you
interact with the bosses or have a potential
incident, write everything down as soon as
possible after it happens.
If
you are ordered to have a psychiatric
evaluation, remember that the doctor is
working for your bosses, not for you. Don't
lie or be evasive, but don't say anything
that can be misinterpreted either. For
example, you may feel rightfully that some in
your department are working against you and
perhaps setting you up. Even if you have
proof they have been out to get you, never
use the word "paranoid" to describe
how you feel. Your aren't clinically paranoid
when you have real enemies who are eager for
you to make the slightest mistake. Paranoia
is a mental disease and is not caused by
stress.
Stop
being so insulated. Reach out to those who
may have gone through the same thing you did
and ask them to talk about their experiences
with you. This may open up old wounds for
them, and be uncomfortable for you too. But
sometimes sharing feelings with another cop
who has been there can really help. It can
also give you tactical information and help
you plan strategy. Explain about your war
team and ask them to join it.
Remember,
you are going up against a lot of power and
resources when you take on your chief, the
department and whichever level of government
you work for. So you have to put together the
best team you can and prepare yourself for a
drawn out and frustrating war.
Once
you do all these things, I predict you will begin
to feel better. You've taken action and engaged
the fight element of the fight or flight
response. Your pent-up energy will be mobilized.
You will be doing something, instead of waiting
for something to be done to you. Then you can use
police stress therapy to:
help
deal with your feelings about being let down
by your department,
resolve
irrational feelings of shame, self-blame or
embarrassment,
begin
to resolve your grief over your loss,
resolve
any marital or family problems,
learn
stress management techniques, and
help
plan for your future.
Remember,
there is always life after "the job".
Some officers who win in court or before a
disability board, still feel they have lost
because they were so disillusioned and battered
by having to fight for what was due them. Just
because you initially had to leave the job
because of police stress doesn't mean you can't
realize other dreams and ambitions.
Deep
down inside a cop is always a cop. At first you
may not want anything to do with being associated
with law enforcement or being a "former
cop". But you will probably change you mind.
So make sure your lawyers demand you be issued a
"retired officer's badge" if your
department balks at awarding you one. If you
don't get one, order one yourself and carry it
with pride. Make sure you keep your concealed
weapon permit, too. Never for a moment think of
yourself as a mentally disabled officer if you
have to retire on police stress disability. When
you are in a position to identify yourself if you
need to exercise the right of citizen's arrest,
or assist an active duty officer, flash the tin
and state proudly "I'm on the job". In
truth, you are a retired officer
and are "on the job", a fact
you can explain after the bad guys are cuffed and
and carted.
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