Guest Editorial by Dr. Daniel M. Blumberg, Ph.D. & Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou, Ph.D.
Police officers face daily threats to their physical and psychological health. The job has become more difficult than ever.
Law enforcement agencies struggle to hire enough new officers to keep up with losses due to incumbent officers who retire, quit, go out on disability, or, most tragically, are killed in the line of duty.
An alarming number of police officers commit suicide.
(A 25-year veteran with the New York Police Department took his own life, less than one day after another officer died by suicide. Commissioner James O’Neill is struggling with the news. Courtesy of CBS Evening News and YouTube. Posted on Aug 15, 2019.)
And, there are far too many officers who are terminated for some act of misconduct.
The vast majority of officers who end up terminated were not innately corrupt.
They began their law enforcement careers after passing a rigorous hiring process, which included a polygraph and psychological evaluation.
They had hopes of making a positive difference in their community.
Often however, the nature of the job, including external operational critical incidents and internal organizational challenges, fundamentally changes many police officers.
Nevertheless, there is some hope.
POWER stands for Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, & Resilience.
POWER is more than just a new book, which presents evidence-based strategies to assist law enforcement agencies in implementing policy programs to promote wellness for their personnel.
POWER is the start of a movement to change how police officers are hired, trained, supervised, promoted, disciplined, and, most importantly, supported.
The goal is for police executives to adopt a culture of wellness where officers’ psychological security is viewed to be as important as their physical safety.
Many of the psychological dangers facing police officers are not well-known to police executives.
Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is familiar, most police officers never develop this condition despite their extensive exposure to death and human suffering.
Conversely, compassion fatigue, moral injury, moral distress, and burnout are more common among police officers, but not well-understood by most police executives.
For that matter, many of these conditions are just now getting some much needed attention in the law enforcement scholarly literature.
However, these difficulties have been extensively researched in other professions.
Moral injury, for example, has received considerable attention among military service members and veterans.
(The emerging issue of moral injury has been most often associated with returning military personnel. However, Volunteers of America believes this construct extends beyond the military setting, requiring more investigation into how to identify and treat moral injury among diverse populations. In that vein, Volunteers of America, The Soul Repair Center, and The Braxton Institute came together to hold a seminar titled, “Moral Injury and Collective Healing,” an advanced training session for professionals in multiple fields, including theology, psychology, corrections, the arts, ministry, and more. Experts came together in this collective effort and this video highlights an interview with Dr. William P. Nash, speaking on the subject. Questions and inquiries regarding this video’s content may be made to Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock at RBrock@voa.org.Questions and inquiries regarding this video’s content may be made to Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock at RBrock@voa.org. Courtesy of Volunteers of America and YouTube. Posted on Oct 25, 2018.)
Also, compassion fatigue has been studied among healthcare providers, whose experience with crisis and trauma parallels that of police officers.
These psychic wounds lead to a variety of on-duty and off-duty problems, including decreased motivation, compromised decision-making, impaired relationships with co-workers and family members, and a variety of medical concerns.
(Learn More in this video used in RMPC Basic Training. An example showing the reality, impact but also the means to move through compassion fatigue. Courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Police Chaplains and YouTube. Posted on Aug 28, 2019.)
A POWER perspective shifts the emphasis away from a reactive approach that focuses on officers’ problems to a preventative orientation designed to prevent and minimize these problems.
POWER sees the interconnected relationships among officers’ wellness, their ethical decision-making, and their job satisfaction.
Police executives who foster an organization’s culture of wellness understand the reality of the psychological risks of the job and put in place numerous programs, policies, and procedures to support officers’ health and wellbeing.
This becomes a vital feature of efforts to improve officer retention, morale, and, just as importantly, community relations.
Ultimately, POWER is another risk management tool that keeps officers and the public safer and more secure.
(Learn About Practices in Modern Policing: Officer Safety and Wellness, and the PRO (Performance and Recovery Optimization) Program developed at the San Antonio Police Department. Courtesy of The International Association of Chiefs of Police and YouTube. Posted on Nov 30, 2018.)
Power: Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, and Resilience; a Review
Description
Power: Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, and Resilience collectively presents the numerous psychic wounds experienced by peace officers in the line of duty, including compassion fatigue, moral injury, PTSD, operational stress injury, organizational and operational stress, and loss.
Authors describe the negative repercussions of these psychic wounds in law enforcement decision-making, job performance, job satisfaction, and families.
The book encompasses evidence-based strategies to assist law enforcement agencies in developing policy programs to promote wellness for their personnel.
The evidence-based techniques presented allow officers to get a more tangible and better understanding of the techniques so that they apply those techniques when on and off-duty.
This book is an excellent resource for police professionals, police wellness coordinators, early career researchers, mental health professionals who provide services to law enforcement officers and their families, and graduate students in psychology, forensic psychology, and criminal justice.
Key Features
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Provides reader with evidence-based strategies to promote officer wellness
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Covers compassion fatigue, moral injury, PTSD, operational stress, and more
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Written by established scholars and professionals from a law enforcement context
Readership
Forensic Psychologists, Law Enforcement Officers, Criminologists, and Policy Makers. Students in Psychology, Criminal Justice, and Police Wellness programs at community colleges or universities
Table of Contents
Section 1: Foundation
1. Introduction
2. Defining Police Wellness
3. Neurobiological Threats to Maintaining Personal Wellness
4. Implicit Bias and Threats to Maintaining Personal Wellness
Section 2: Psychic Wounds: Consequences of a Lack of Personal Wellness
5. The Moral Risks of Policing
6. Compassion Fatigue & Burn-Out
7. Moral Injury in Law Enforcement
8. PTSD and Other Operational Stress Injuries among Police Officers: Empirical Findings and Reflections from Clinical Experience
Section 3: Intervention and Prevention
9. Creating a Culture of Wellness
10. Promoting Wellness
11. The Role of Compassion Satisfaction
12. Neurobiology of Police Health, Resilience, and Wellness
13. Community Relations & Community-Oriented Policing
14. Closing Thoughts
Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou and Dr. Daniel M. Blumberg Recognized in 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards
Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou and Dr. Daniel M. Blumberg
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Excellence in Scientific Research
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Co Authors of ‘Power: Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, and Resilience’
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‘Power: Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, and Resilience’ collectively presents the numerous psychic wounds experienced by peace officers in the line of duty, including compassion fatigue, moral injury, PTSD, operational stress injury, organizational and operational stress, and loss.
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Drs. Papazoglou, a Postdoctoral Scholar, Yale School of Medicine Affiliated Researcher, Teachers College – Columbia University of New York, and Blumberg, a licensed clinical psychologist who has spent the past 33 years providing all facets of clinical and consulting psychological services to numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, describe the negative repercussions of these psychic wounds in law enforcement decision-making, job performance, job satisfaction, and families.
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The book encompasses evidence-based strategies to assist law enforcement agencies in developing policy programs to promote wellness for their personnel.
-
The evidence-based techniques presented allow officers to get a more tangible and better understanding of the techniques so that they apply those techniques when on and off-duty.
-
The book is an excellent resource for police professionals, police wellness coordinators, early career researchers, mental health professionals who provide services to law enforcement officers and their families, and graduate students in psychology, forensic psychology, and criminal justice.
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About the Authors
Konstantinos Papazoglou
Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral scholar at Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his doctoral degree (PhD) in psychology (clinical – forensic area) as Vanier Scholar at the University of Toronto (UofT).
He is a former Police Major of the Hellenic Police Force and European Police College and he holds a master’s degree in applied psychology from New York University (NYU) as Onassis Scholar.
Currently, he is involved in community policing trauma-focused programs aimed to support victims of violent crimes.
In addition, he is affiliated researcher with the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University of New York.
Dr. Papazoglou’s research work focuses on stress, trauma, and resilience promotion among police officers.
Towards this direction he has established research collaboration with many law enforcement agencies in US, Canada, and Europe (e.g., Police Training Institute – Illinois State Police, State Police of Kentucky, National Police of Finland).
He has published more than 40 scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.
In addition, he presented his research work (more than 100 presentations) in many scientific venues (e.g., American Psychological Association, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies) and received many awards (e.g., American Psychological Association – Criminal Justice Section Outstanding Doctoral Research Award; American Psychological Foundation – Levinson Scholarship Award; American Psychological Association – Police and Public Safety Section – Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in Police and Public Safety; American Security Today – Homeland Security Platinum Award).
Further, he conducted workshops and presented to numerous government agencies in US, Canada, and Europe (e.g., Federal Police University of Germany, Police University College of Finland, Trainer the Trainers Seminar – European Police College, Canada Department of National Defense – Research Centre, Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, etc.).
Konstantinos is a member of the research advisory team in Badge of Life Canada and a doctoral representative of the American Psychological Association – Police and Public Safety Section.
Moreover, he is a co-moderator of the European Medical and Psychology Experts Network (EMPEN), an official network of police health professionals established and sponsored by the European Police College (CEPOL).
He also worked as a clinical forensic psychologist with the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services providing clinical services (assessment and treatment) to criminal justice offenders.
Affiliations and Expertise
Postdoctoral Scholar, Yale School of Medicine Affiliated Researcher, Teachers College – Columbia University of New York
Daniel Blumberg
Daniel M. Blumberg, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who has spent the past 33 years providing all facets of clinical and consulting psychological services to numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
In addition to his expertise in workplace stress prevention and trauma recovery, Dr. Blumberg is an authority on the selection, training and supervision of undercover operatives.
He is an Associate Professor in the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University’s San Diego Campus where he teaches a variety of psychology and forensic psychology courses.
His research interests include police integrity, the moral risks of policing, and programs to improve relations between the police and the community.
Affiliations and Expertise
Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor, Alliant International University
Learn More… https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/moral-injury-in-police-work
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