Police suicide : is police culture killing our officers? PDF
Preview Police suicide : is police culture killing our officers?
Police Suicide Is Police Culture Killing Our Officers? Police Suicide Is Police Culture Killing Our Officers? Edited by Ronald A. Rufo, EdD Boca Raton London New York CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20150622 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4822-3500-5 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. 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CCC is a not-for-profit organization that pro- vides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photo- copy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com I would like to dedicate this book to my granddaughter Alinah, who makes me very happy and is very special in so many ways. I love being her Papa. Even at a very young age, she is thoughtful and considerate. To my three wonderful daughters Rita, Laura, and Cara, who touch my heart, each in a different way, and who I love with all of my heart. To my Dad, who influenced me in so many ways and who passed away at a young age, I know he would have been proud of me. To my beautiful wife Debbie, who has always been supportive and patient in my effort to complete my book and to get my crusade about the importance of being emotionally stable to all police officers on and off the job. Debbie has always been my inspiration to reach for the stars and never look back. Contents Foreword ix Acknowledgments xiii Editor xix Introduction xxi 1 Welcome to the Police Academy 1 RON RUFO 2 Police and the Three Arenas of Social Interaction 21 KENT WILLIAMS 3 Tell Me That I Am Wrong: Who We Are versus Who We Ought to Be 27 THOMAS CLINE 4 Police Stress and Burnout 55 RON RUFO 5 Trauma, Critical Incidents, Risk Factors, Acute Stress, and PTSD 87 RON RUFO 6 Nine Personal Issues That Can Be Detrimental to an Officer 123 RON RUFO 7 Emotional Health and Concerns: A Cry for Help Is the First Indication That There Is a Problem 141 RON RUFO 8 Suicide Is Never a Dry Run 167 BOBBY SMITH vii viii Contents 9 Police Suicide 187 RON RUFO 10 Law Enforcement Suicide Prevention 215 JOHN MARX 11 Conclusion 239 RON RUFO Index 243 Foreword By Robert E. Douglas, Jr. When Dr. Ron Rufo (Chicago police officer) asked me to write this foreword for his book, I was extremely humbled by his request. As executive director and founder for the National Police Suicide Foundation since it was founded in 1997, I have traveled worldwide speaking about mental health suicide pre- vention for our law enforcement officers along with our military personnel. What I have seen should be alarming to law enforcement leadership in our country. We have been seeing over the past 25 years an ever-increasing con- cern for line officers dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as officer-related suicides to every in-line-of-duty death according to the 2014 report put out by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, on June 6, 2014 (IACP National Symposium on Law Enforcement Officer Suicide and Mental Health: Breaking the Silence on Law Enforcement Suicides). With these pressing issues facing the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in our country, it is extremely important that we focus on preventive mea- sures by our administrative and supervisory training programs to address them within our ranks. Dr. Rufo has aggressively addressed all these issues and much more in his book, Police Suicide: Is Police Culture Killing Our Officers? It is my professional opinion that the greater enemy that our officers struggle with each day is not the suspect on the street but instead the enemy that lives with officers attempting to effectively address their emotional trauma that impacts their daily lives! Dr. Rufo provides the psychological and departmental roadmap in helping leadership as well as the officers to navigate through this maze of emotional and physical issues they will face each day while on the street as well as at home. I strongly believe that Dr. Rufo is a true “difference maker” (as John Maxwell, author of numerous books on leadership, would say), as he addresses our leadership issue in charting the course for law enforcement agencies to make great decisions on helping and assisting their personnel strive to serve their communities throughout this country. Never forget that change is unavoidable! The only thing certain about our tomorrow is the decision we make today. Dr. Rufo’s book illustrates that such positive and creative change must happen first within us before it can happen around us! ix x Foreword By John Mayer, PhD The suicide and attempted suicide of police officers is a mental health concern that has been neglected for too many years. The stigma of discussing mental health is slowly, but steadily, being lifted in many segments of our society and in many occupations, but in those occupations that carry with them the duties of protecting others, the idea of attending to one’s own mental health remains heavily stigmatized. There are many reasons given for the denial of mental health care in these professions, and some of them have been the peer culture within the occupation, the role models available to the workers, inef- fective coping mechanisms, and poor preventive measures within the occu- pation. In the culture of the police officer, one of the most prevailing reasons for the inattention to emotional or personal self-care is the mind-set among their fellow police peers that such concerns identify them as weak and not fit to handle the rigors of the job. Appearing weak in front of their fellow officers makes them vulnerable, and being vulnerable will get them ridiculed and shunned by the other officers. In police work, in addition to these prevailing forces keeping police officers away from mental health prevention, Rufo, in this book, delves into specific forces in the lives of police officers that create a peer culture that puts low priority on mental health prevention and the officer’s emotional life. Sadly, in the 25 weeks of training in the police academy, there is no attention paid to the coping mechanisms needed to handle the large amount of stress and negativity that the police officer faces on the job each day. This formal personal preparation should be an integral part of the police officers’ tool- kits as they approach their jobs each day. The lack of formal preparation not only perpetuates the stigma against mental health services but it also leaves the officer no other opportunity to learn personal coping mechanisms other than through peer observation, informal mentoring, on-the-job training, or fending for one’s self through some other means such as investing in a book like this to augment training. And, of course, it also opens up the great pos- sibility that the police officer will cope with strenuous work through negative behaviors and emotions. This is where Rufo’s book becomes invaluable as a tool for police officers because it supplements what prevention they are getting elsewhere. For that reason, this book is a must read for every officer, every administrator, every chief everywhere to cope with the complexities of modern police work. Let me talk about this book for it is not only a book for police officers but also a book for police administrators, municipal officials, police family members, and everyone who wants to understand the pressures and cop- ing mechanisms of a municipal police officer. The book is well researched, thorough, well presented, and well organized. It covers all one would need to know to understand the problem of police suicide. Police Suicide: Is Police
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