Resiliency: The Future of Officer Survival
By Detective Frank Sabella, Cumberland Co. Prosecutor’ s Office
The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | September 2018
According to the Final Report of the President’ s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,“ The wellness and safety of law enforcement officers is critical not only to themselves, their colleagues, and their agencies but also to public safety.” [ 4 ] Resiliency is a word used most commonly by advertisers to describe the potential longevity of a cooking utensil or interior wall paint. When we use it to describe the well-being of an individual, resiliency takes on a much more important meaning. Resiliency is“ the ability to withstand, recover and / or grow in the face of stressors and changing demands” [ 1 ]. In policing, stress can be defined as,“ an imbalance between what is required of an officer and what the officer is capable of giving, under conditions where failure may have dire consequences.” [ 5 ] Developing a resilient mindset will help us work through this imbalance.
Resiliency is a fundamental component of being a“ comprehensively fit officer” [ 1 ]. It involves knowing ourselves on an emotional and spiritual level rather than just having self-awareness of our physical capabilities and limitations. Resiliency is also the link between physical and mental health. A healthy mind leads to a healthier body. Resiliency is what maintains us over the course of a career.
In early June, I had the opportunity to participate in the first train-the-trainer course on Comprehensive Officer Resilience offered in New Jersey. The program is a collaboration between the Officer Safety and Wellness Committee of the FBI National Academy Associates( FBINAA) and Acadia Healthcare. Acadia Healthcare, a provider of inpatient behavioral healthcare services, operates a network of nearly 600 behavioral healthcare facilities with approximately 17,100 beds in 39 states, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico. Acadia provides behavioral health and addiction services to its patients in a variety of settings, including inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, outpatient clinics and therapeutic school-based programs. The program was brought to New Jersey through the combined efforts of the Burlington County Prosecutor’ s Office, NJSACOP, Atlantic County Sheriff’ s Office, Maple Shade Police Department, and Treatment Placement Specialists, an initiative of Acadia Healthcare that provides expert, confidential treatment options to those in need.
The Comprehensive Officer Resilience Program focuses on four domains and a core group of tenets.“ These tenets are the key characteristics in an individual that foster resilience” [ 1 ]. They center on our mental, physical, social, and spiritual well-being. Throughout the course, various tools were introduced to help build resilience. Each tool tied into one or more of these tenets. Concepts such as“ Accomplishing Goals” and“ Interpersonal Problem Solving” were discussed alongside“ Spiritual Resilience” and“ Counting Blessings”. The overarching concept was one of staying positive and trying to become better from every situation. There are opportunities from growth in even the most adverse of times. This concept is referred to as“ Post Traumatic Growth” and can often be the difference between an individual becoming a“ victor”, as opposed to a“ victim” in the aftermath of a critical event.
Why is this important? According to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott A. Coffina,“ There were 46 officers shot to death in the line of duty last year across the United States, and more than triple that number died by suicide.” One study indicated,“ a higher prevalence of depression in officers( 12.5 % for women and 6.2 % for men officers) compared to 7.4 % among women and 2.8 % among men who participated in the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study” [ 3 ]. With those statistics in mind, it is hard to deny the problem. The Comprehensive Officer Resilience training is one way to begin to tackle the issue.
“ Although the media and general public emphasize the physical danger of police work, they tend to overlook the psychological danger” [ 2 ]. The public’ s opinion of us, especially in these most trying of times, only furthers our mental strain. We know that an officer in a better state of mind emotionally is going to handle interaction with the citizenry better than a stressed officer. A poor interaction with the public can have the effect of only accelerating the negative spiral being experienced by that already strained officer. Additional sources of stress can be found within an organization.“ An agency work environment in which officers do not feel they are respected, supported, or treated fairly is one of the most common sources of stress. And research indicates that officers who feel respected by their supervisors are more likely to accept and voluntarily comply with departmental policies.” [ 4 ] This tells us that having our officers mentally healthy and resilient will actually strengthen the organization overall.
Many of us have been involved in traumatic events that resulted in post-incident debriefing sessions. The goal of this program is to prepare the officer mentally, before the incident, so that post-incident recovery is shorter and adverse
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