instructor development course

Instructor Development Course

Brad Natalizio

Police OfficerVillage of Chester

47 Main StreetChester, NY 10918

845-469-4681

Police Involved Shootings and Stress Management

Objectives:Upon completion training, each student will be able to verbally or in writing:

• Without reference to notes, list five examples of critical incidents, without error.

• Without reference to notes, list three signs of stress that a Police Officer may experience after a police involved shooting, without error.

• Without reference to notes, verbally state two examples of a perceptual distortion a police officer may experience from a police involved shooting, without error.

Objectives:

• Without reference to notes, list two benefits of police involved shooting intervention, without error.

• Without reference to notes, list two recommended agency protocol's, after an officer is involved in a shooting, without error.

Value to the trainee:

• Make trainee aware of emotional and psychological responses associated with police involved shootings.

• Make sure that the trainee is aware that stress management is essential after a police involved shootings and the benefits of intervention.

Reality of training:

• Cops function at a different level than the general public, when our perception of reality is disturbed we begin to doubt ourselves and intervention is a key element for emotionally surviving a police shooting.

• Officer’s experience many different and deep emotional reactions to critical incidents and police involved shootings.

• In 2007, 71 officer’s in the U.S. were killed by gunfire.

What is a critical incident for a Police Officer?

• Any situation faced by emergency service personnel that causes them to experience unusually strong emotional reactions which have the potential to interfere with their ability to function either at the scene or later.

• A critical incident is any event or experience, which has the power to overwhelm the defenses of an individual.

• Critical incidents are typically sudden, powerful events that fall outside the range of ordinary human experience.

Critical Incidents:

• Disrupts beliefs, values, and basic assumptions about how the world and the people with in it work.

• Critical incidents may last only a few seconds or the incident can last for hours.

• Because they happen so abruptly, critical incidents can have a strong emotional impact on the officer.

Critical Incidents:• There is no right way to react, think, or feel during

and after a critical incident.• The definition of a critical incident must remain fluid

because what affects one officer might not affect another.

• The circumstances of the event, the personality of the officer, the way the incident is handled by the department, the media, and peer and family support all affect the officer’s reactions to the incident.

Myths about Critical Incidents

• If it didn’t bother another officer, it means that it won’t bother me.

• If it does bother me, it means that I am weak and not cut out to be a police officer.

What are some examples of a critical incident?

• Police involved shooting• Hostage or barricaded situation• Major traffic accident• Serious injury, death, or suicide of a fellow officer• Mass casualty• Death, injury, or abuse of a child• Contact with communicative diseases• Attempting to rescue a victim where the pain and suffering is obvious• Knowing the victim• Serious injury or death to a civilian resulting from department service

operations• Any other serious threat to the life of you or your partner

Why is it important to identify a critical incident?

• Agency protocol• Emotional welfare of the officer or officer’s

involved• Watch for signs of harmful stressors• Understand that stress symptoms are OK and

natural

Objective Review:List five examples of critical incidents.

• Police involved shooting• Hostage or barricaded situation• Major traffic accident• Serious injury, death, or suicide of a fellow officer• Mass casualty• Death, injury, or abuse of a child• Contact with communicative diseases• Attempting to rescue a victim where the pain and suffering is obvious• Knowing the victim• Serious injury or death to a civilian resulting from department service operations• Any other serious threat to the life of you or your partner

Police Involved Shootings

• Shootings involving armed police officer’s• Threat of death or serious physical injury

imposed, use of deadly physical force• Under § 35.30, a police officer may use deadly

physical force to the extent he reasonably believes it necessary to defend himself or someone else from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force

• Critical incident

2007

• Causes of shooting deaths:• 15 Officer’s were shot during domestic violence calls• 5 Officer’s were shot during a robbery• 3 Officer’s were shot during a traffic stop• 4 Officer’s were shot by a co-worker• 4 Officer’s were shot by their own gun• 2 Officer’s were shot for retaliation

• 71 Officer’s in total died by gunfire

Emotional ImpactPhysical on scene stressors: • Knot in stomach• Nausea• Hyperventilation• Muscle tremors• Profuse sweating• Chest pains• Chills • Dizziness

These on scene stressors can be due to gore of incident, panic, ect.

Emotional Impact

Delayed responses• Headaches/ dizzy spells• Tremors/ muscle• Stomach disturbances• Heartburn/ chest pains• High blood pressure

Emotional Impact

What is a Perceptual distortion?

The psychological and emotional flooding that occurs during a traumatic incident that may distort how information is processed and recalled.

Emotional Impact

Perceptual Distortions:• Time seeming to speed up or slow down• No feeling of recoil from weapon• Lingering odor or taste of burnt gun powder• Gunshots may be muffled• Tunnel vision

Emotional Impact

Perceptual distortions: During a police shooting• Cognitive processing system automatically

switches over to experiential thinking• Training goes into action– Automatically– Rapidly

Emotional Impact

Perceptual Distortions

• “I told the SWAT team that the suspect was firing at me from down a long dark hallway about 40 feet long. When I went back to the scene the next day, I was shocked to discover that he had actually been only about 5 feet in front of me in an open room. There was no dark hallway”.

• “When I got home from the shooting, my wife told me that I called her on my cell phone during the pursuit of the violent suspect just prior to the shooting. I have no memory of making that phone call”.

Emotional Impact

Perceptual Distortions

• “I saw the suspect suddenly point his gun at my partner. As I shot him, I saw my partner go down in a spray of blood. I ran over to help my partner, and he was standing there unharmed. The suspect never even got a shot off”.

• “If it hadn’t been for the recoil, I wouldn’t have known my gun was working. Not only didn’t I hear the shots but afterward my ears weren’t even ringing”.

Common Stress Symptoms After a Police Involved Shooting

Emotional Symptoms:

– Heightened sense of danger– Nightmares– Sleep difficulties– Agitated/ irritable– Overactive– Blaming/ denial– Fear/ Anxiety – Isolation/ withdrawal– Depression


Physical Symptoms:

– Tremors/ shakes– Confusion– Crying – Chills– Light headed– Rapid pulse– Profuse sweating– Upset stomach


• What is anxiety? “Apprehension, dread, or un-easiness similar to fear but

based on an unclear threat” (paranoid)

• What is depression?“A state of deep despondency marked by apathy,

emotional negativity, and behavioral inhibition” (really sad)

Prolonged sadnessFactor that leads to suicide


Signs of depression:

• Difficulty in making decisions• Decreased productivity• Inability to concentrate• Decline in dependability• Unusual increase in errors in work• Being prone to accidents• Frequent tardiness, increased "sick" days• Lack of enthusiasm for work

20 Signals that I’m Stuck:

Twenty Signals Handout• Look for these signals in fellow officer

after a shooting • Seek intervention

Objective Review

• List three signs of stress a Police Officer may experience after being involved in a shooting:

• List two perceptual distortions a Police Officer may experience from a police shooting:

Police Involved Shooting Intervention

Police involved shooting intervention:

• Mental health counseling• Co-worker support• Peer/ family support


Mental Health Counseling:

• The process by which a professional counselor helps a Police Officer cope with mental or emotional distress, and understand and solve a personal problem (police shooting)

• The initial post shooting intervention should occur within one week after the shooting

• Separate from fitness for duty assessments


• A post-shooting intervention should be conducted by a licensed mental health professional trained to work with law enforcement personnel….WHY?– Delivering mental health care to members of the law

enforcement community is difficult– Police officer’s often resist to counseling

• Strong sense of self-sufficiency and insist that they can solve their own problems.

• Officer’s generally possess skepticism of outsiders and have difficulty trusting counselors.


A post-shooting intervention should be conducted by a licensed mental health professional trained to work with law enforcement personnel….WHY?– Counselors may not have a thorough

understanding of policing– Officer’s use humor to vent– Officer may evaluate counselor


Co-worker support:• Look for signs of change in behavior– Abuse of alcohol/ drugs– Explosive anger/ rage– Sexual acting out– Increased use of sick time


Co-worker support:• Do’s: –Provide support

– Express concern

– Listen


Co-worker support:• Don’t– Make judgmental remarks about tactics– Joke– Make negative comments– Minimize impact


Peer/ family support• Prior to shootings, families of officer’s should

be made aware of reactions to traumatic incidents

• Problems may surface at home• Family members are convenient target for

officer’s misplaced emotions


Why is it important to seek intervention after a police involved shooting?

PROMOTE OFFICER’S ABILITY TO SURVIVE!


We Have It Hard Enough:

Life expectancy: 77 v. 59Divorce rate: 55% v. 84%


Benefits of police shooting intervention:

– Ensures new coping skills– Reduces long term stress• Illness• Retirement• Suicide


Benefits of police shooting intervention:

– Reduces turnover and health insurance costs– Improves communication– Increases productivity– Raises morale– Promote the officer’s ability to survive

Recommended Agency Protocol

• 31 step recommended agency protocol– Review handout

Objective Review

• Without reference to notes, list five examples of critical incidents, without error.

• Without reference to notes, list three signs of stress that a Police Officer may experience after a police involved shooting, without error

Objective Review

• Without reference to notes, verbally state two examples of a perceptual distortion a police officer may experience from a police involved shooting, without error.

• Without reference to notes, list two benefits of police involved shooting intervention, without error.

• Without reference to notes, list two recommended agency protocol's, after an officer is involved in a shooting, without error.

Summary

• Do what is necessary to survive and never give up the will to live– Be aware of emotional impact– Seek counseling…it’s OK

BE SAFE!

Thank You

instructor development course

Documents

police shooting

examples of critical

benefits of police

critical incidentsif

trainee aware of emotional

strong emotional reactions

officers reactions

deep emotional reactions