OFFICER STRESS AWARENESS EXTERNALIZING PROBLEMS

[Music] okay 8:21 p.m. that's a blue hor left leather leaf drive headit on wolverham road containing one female one male they just broke into the house over there they possibly have a gun Richard Miller 230 Nassau drive reports a wallet taken from a car with driver's license and change purse the work of a police officer involves a number of unique emotional stresses which set him apart from those in most other occupations robbery armed he's a black male 6'1 145 lb from Walnut Court each officer must develop ways to monitor his own reactions to these pressures Conneticut registration Sam Sam there are other jobs in our society where the risk of injury or death is far higher than in law enforcement on the uh yet the police officer is alone each day in the awful knowledge that if he dies or is injured in the line of duty it will almost certainly be because of the intentional action of another human being Long Meadow Massachusetts Public Safety department advises three officers shot and killed 4176 victim officer observed suspicious vehicle parked in a Long Meadow Motel officers approached the motel and were shot with a shotgun this fact by itself places him under very real and constant emotional pressure how does a police officer deal with the understandable anxiety he sometimes feels in the face of dangerous individuals and [Music] situations what does he do in a society that does not expect fear among its policemen that expects only the kind of boldness and courage portrayed in the work of a television cop how does he deal with situations and individuals which fill him with uncertainty and fear in light of the expectation that he must always be in control must always be sure must never display fear or cowardice in the presence of danger [Applause] you Ain got no bus [Applause] [Music] out [Applause] [Music] get and the face of situations which often arouse understandable feelings of fear anxiety and insecurity in police officers as indeed the same events would arouse in any other human being officers sometimes respond with a mental defense mechanism uh that psychologists call reaction formation reaction formation very simply involves the pushing out of awareness of one's true feelings in a situation for a police officer feelings of insecurity anxiety fear and substituting other more acceptable emotions fear and anxiety because they are unacceptable emotions to police officers are often masked by surface emotions which are intended to convince both the officers and those around them that they are in full control that they are not anxious and fearful uh for example fear may be expressed in the form of Reckless or unwise courage which may expose the officer to unnecessary risks call the Red Sox finally won a game dick yeah they blew the last seven yeah they're playing lousy hope Green Bay wins this year Eddie Eddie there goes that car involved in a packer payroll robbery this morning are you sure that's the plate number that's it Eddie S10 to radio we're in pursuit of that brown Plymouth Scamp involved in that Packer payroll robbery this morning heading south on Long Hill Street toward i91 ramp let's pull them over are you kidding any they're armed and dangerous let's wait for the troops to get here [ __ ] we can't wait for help it'll take too long we got to pull them over now we don't pull them over now we're going to lose them many police officers have needlessly lost their lives or were seriously injured simp simply because they couldn't accept within themselves normal human emotions because they had to try and live up to The Stereotype of the super cop the He-man who never fears who never has to depend on the strength of others to do his job [Music] [Applause] [Applause] he [Music] [Applause] help [Music] [Music] he may become arbitrary authoritarian badge heavy in the eyes of citizens to whom he feels obliged to demonstrate his ability and his control of the situation [Music] have your license registration why what did I do you ran the red light back there I ran a red light I did not you know you ought to have your eyes examined I don't need my eyes examined sir you're going to need your wallet examine once I get done writing this expressions of hostility and disrespect from others more than being personally offensive to the officer May threaten to undermine his control of a situation and every fiber of his being constant tells him that he must remain in control at all costs the anxiety and officer experiences at the prospect of losing control of a situation may therefore lead to overly aggressive behavior aimed at reassuring himself and those with whom he's dealing that he is firmly in control no no officer take him out do I have to take you know I have to know my rights now please your hand off of me now either you give me a papers pal right this minute or you you go I could kill this the level of anxiety an officer experiences and his need to compensate for it through aggressive behavior may be greater in the presence of peers like others he feels a need to conceal anxieties and inadequacies in the presence of those whose opinions matter to him his need to prove himself and save face is often greater in their presence drink I work all godamn week I don't give a [ __ ] you go with that goddamn leave it alone just give a goddamn 10 bucks get off man I'm going to finish my drink come on come on [Music] oh big man put in your pocket oh yeah hey bar sh this man set the bar up it's hey come on now godamn it hey what what's the matter with you hey wa wife what godamn it because many aspects of his work are either dangerous or stress-provoking a police officer typically evolves a variety of defense mechanisms aimed at neutral izing the anxiety they produce in him the adoption of a callous impersonal attitude in the face of tragedy is a case in point wow what a mess what did he get hit with anyway 25 Christ look at his side that it's it's got to be a 45 anyways you're both full of [ __ ] it was a 38 the casings right here son of a [ __ ] I guess you're right whatever it was it did a hell of a job on because the frequent sight of death and human suffering is anxiety provoking in any person the police officer May seek to neutralize its effect on him to remain in control of his own emotions and do the things he must a police officer cannot summon the courage to perform many of the tasks he must face each day unless he somehow first manages to neutralize the anxiety they produce in him yeah well way go [Music] a little bit of traffic I know it go damn rain starting I know it I know unit 714 a fight in progress at 816 Central the Jamaica Club several subjects reportedly fighting with P qes at this time unit 718 back 714 okay 714 we got that call even humor may I ironically be summoned by police officers facing difficult or dangerous situations as a means of neutralizing inner tension and anxiety I few them of be dead by the time we get there showing these fears even admitting their existence is considered inappropriate by the officers themselves hey shut that light off down here use your flashlight what the hell is the matter with you nothing thing but you never know when there's going to be some [ __ ] s up anyone of these project when those was ready to shoot a cop what are you worried about nothing they just don't pay me enough to make a Target out of myself well if you're losing your nerve we can go talk to the captain maybe he can throw you on a 911 or even put you on a radio police officers can seldom Express such emotions as fear anger anxiety and uncertainty directly toward the people and things that produce these feelings but the need to release them [Applause] remains wag anybody hurt no are the car's driveable yes you realize we've been waiting over 40 minutes well I've been really busy we're straight out early some sort of service officer I pay taxes for something like this I'm sorry I I'll get it going as fast as we can uh let me have your license and registration please it's hot out here I've got a lot of things to do this is very important hold please can't can't we duck all this I've got an appartment your regulations sir I'm sorry I'll go as fast as I can really I'll have you out of here in no time all right Officer I bet if it was his lunch time he'd be uh we'd have been through here in 15 minutes no ma'am it takes the same amount of time really I've already had lunch well here my papers here you can see they're in order all right thank you okay why make them out here and let me get out of here it's hot we'll be done in a minute okay all right look officer can't we duck all this I have a very important appointment really I'm going as fast as I can I'm only going to be another minute I've got to do everything in duplicate you smoke have a cigarette relax we'll be out of here in a minute now what is wrong with you what's the matter I can't read this report my 8-year-old son could make a better report than this well I I just wrote it up in a hurry that you know my pen was skipping well you've been on the department a long time you know the courts won't allow any blue ink why don't you shape up because he often feels blocked from directly expressing his true feelings the officer May begin to vent the frustration that builds within him in the form of what psych olist call displaced aggression s95 to radio go ahead s95 give me a current check on mnx 875 that was Mike Mike x-ray 875 oh you dumb [ __ ] that's Mike November x-ray 875 you got it this time hey B when the Sun goes down it's night time how about turning your lights on before somebody runs in [Music] here sometimes the frustration and anger that occasionally builds within an officer may be expressed toward inanimate objects or the system of which he is a part rather than against other people everything secured Colin is unfounded l65 l65 l65 ah [ __ ] this goddamn equipment ain't working right this cheap ass City you think they care about us I don't know how they expect us to get a goddamn thing done let's go chronic frustration and anxiety of the sort routinely experienced by police officers may in time become converted into a sense of futility and cism directed toward the entire Criminal Justice System the officer may lose faith in both the system and his role in hey buddy hold it what hold it got bag that ain't my bag I found it on the ground I just want to see what was in it oh let's see what we got here narcotics PA up in mind J you're you're under arrest hey you live around here over around Benson what's your name hes Eddie Hodes all right Eddie take off here yourself all right what are you doing I you know where you letting him go we had him cold cold for what man possession possession my ass there is no drugs in here it just allows a kid we still could have booked him for possession of n paraphernalia what go through all that paperwork for allous Mr what do you think will happen to him I still think we should be doing our job that's what we're getting paid for yeah well let me tell you what getting paid and doing your job is going to give you nothing but headaches it's not worth it you know I used to be real gungho like you when I first come on a job as a matter of fact I remember when I first come on a job my partner and I were down on Pearl Street and we got called for a drunken disorderly guy we went down there the mob almost killed us almost ran the Cruiser off and grab my gun for me so what happened what happened nothing happened that's what we get to court and the court let let them plead the breach of the peace and the guy that tried to grab my gun fell in the assault on a police officer they let him go I still think we should have busted him from I want I'm just putting in my time and I'm going to keep it at that I'm not worrying about anything anymore you understand [Music] [Music] controlling external reactions of the kind we've been watching is difficult for some officers but it's important that it be done for every time particularly when interacting with the average citizen the officer leaves an impression that that not only affects the image of the department but more importantly will determine the reactions of those same citizens with officers who come on duty at a later time S1 S11 respond to the Windor court for a street gang note that will be a second call one subject rested earlier K yes 11 how the off officer reacted earlier affects their lives their safety not just his own [Music] get back the effects of officers who display their understandable but often self-destructive external reactions affect everyone they come into contact with the same fears and cynicism that an officer displays at times are the responses the average citizen may feel oh thank God you're finally here I've been worried sick for the last half hour I'm sure I saw a Prowler look don't blame me for being late I'm the only car for 10 square miles what do you mean the only car you mean that you're all by yourself that's right lady just me you got a complaint Go Tell it to the mayor well look officer I'm sure I saw a Prowler you sure I mean it couldn't have been a cat or a dog or something well uh I I don't know no I I saw a shadow no I'm sure I saw a Prowler we get this all the time people think they see things now look I know what I saw I saw a Prowler you know just last week I was in the middle of a rape investigation a rape and we got the same exact kind of call but as it turned out it was just a rack cool in the guy's garage you mean that there are rapes in the neighborhood well last month we had three oh my god look lady obviously there is no one out here so I suggest you just lock your door and leave your lights on and that's it for tonight okay so goodbye oh my God it is essential for every officer to prepare himself to deal with the effects of his work the wide range of human emotions that will surface in him and others from time to time ask yourself how successfully you deal with these emotions do you control them or do they control you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] la for