By Steve Albrecht for Calibre Press | Calibrepress.com
A partner of mine relayed the following story which reveals not so much about him, but rather the police profession:
“I can’t believe how much I curse on this job! It seems like when I’m in a patrol car I can’t stop using profanity. My partner is the same way. We curse a blue streak on the job and yet at home, we never talk like that. It’s like we’re completely difference people when we’re in the police car.”
He went on to talk about how his wife knows when he’s getting ready to go to work: “She says she can actually see change in my face. When I’m getting my gear together or preparing my uniform, she notices how serious I get.”
I heard another officer say that his religious beliefs require that he avoid caffeine, cigarettes, and profanity. At home he is the model of compliance to these rules, and yet at work he drinks Pepsi by the bucket full, smokes throughout his shift and swears more than he cares to admit.
So, what is with these apparent Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde police officers? What causes them to shift from loving, caring family members with wives, husbands, kids and other people who love them to hard-driving, aggressive street cops?
In two words: The Job. The profession changes people. Profoundly. And for life.
The fact of the matter is police officers are not good at “reentry.” It’s hard for anyone in a high-stress, high-risk job to turn off the adrenaline “afterburners” and come home back down to earth as if his or her body did not go through some significant physiological changes. As a profession, we do not prepare our officers to become normal human beings after wearing a badge and gun for an entire work shift.
As a veteran officer wryly suggests:
“We have a pre-shift line-up where cops get to talk about their jobs, what they did, and why they did it. They can tell stories, share jokes and create a common professional bond among each other. Why don’t we have a post-shift line-up? Cops need to be able to vent their emotions, tell a few war stories and reaffirm the fact that they successfully completed another demanding shift. Talking about what you did is a normal part of ‘re-entry’ and the stress-reduction process.”
If you’re having problems unwinding from a shift, try changing your environment from the negative to the positive. Spend time telling your fellow officers some of the things you did that day. Listen to their stories, too, and give them encouragement for doing a safe job. Before you go home to eat, sleep and interact with other people, trying riding an exercise bike, going for a run or lifting some weights to vent your pent-up energies and purge some of the negative internal chemistry that can build up with stress.
Create an unwinding ritual for when you get home. Some people make it a habit to greet their family and then immediately head off to a spare bedroom, den or patio area to read the newspaper for 15 or 20 minutes (avoiding the anti-police and crime news, of course.) Others like to change clothes and take a short nap immediately after arriving home. They wake up refreshed and ready to enjoy the rest of their off hours.
These at-home rituals serve two purposes: They give you private time to relax and readjust to the demands of home life and they protect your family and loved ones from any residual anger or frustration you may have carried home from the station.
Here’s a short prescription to keep you on a healthy, positive track:
Learn to relax! The act of relaxation is a life-saving skill. The better you feel, the longer your life will last. Get a good stress-management book, a stress-fighting audio book, a self-hypnosis tape or a similar deep relaxation program.
Take a break. Use a few quick break times to recharge your energy level. Find a safe spot where you can walk around and stretch your legs, eat a small piece of fruit or a muffin, and try not to think about police work for a few minutes.
Eat right. Even if you have to eat in your car, be sure to put something wholesome in your stomach to keep you going. If you’re watching your weight, try to eat a small, well-balanced portion of food. Give up the “feel good” foods like sweet rolls, candy, soda, and donuts and eat more fruits and vegetables, fewer sugars and fewer fats.
Get enough sleep. Getting by on four or five hours of sleep each night will negatively affect your concentration level, your motivation, your enthusiasm and your resistance to illness. Use a relaxation tape if you have trouble falling into a deep sleep. Try to go to bed at the same hour and avoid “catching up” on sleep on days off.
Take vacations. If you’re entitled to a day off, take it! Every three or four months, take an extra day off if you can and give yourself a relaxing four-day vacation. Stay at home and catch up on your home projects, favorite hobbies, pleasure reading, go to the beach, mountains or a nice park and refresh your energy level. Leave your work worries out on the street and give yourself a healthy and positive “attitude adjustment.”
Be positive. Think positive. Talk positive. Your self-image is often influenced by the information you take in. Associate with positive, reaffirming people and you’ll start to feel more positive about yourself. Hang around the “doom and gloom” types and you’ll end up thinking, talking, acting and feeling like they do. Try to avoid negative people, negative news articles and stress-inducing opinion pieces. What you say about yourself gives others clues into how you feel about yourself. Don’t put yourself down in front of others or to yourself. Speak positively about your skills and accomplishments and you’ll improve your self-image.
Get a grip on your frustration. When we’re really frustrated by some event we often say, “I can’t believe it,” or “I can’t believe this happened to me.” The definition of frustration is expectation mixed with disappointment. Instead of harping on what happened or being unwilling to accept reality, say to yourself, “I believe it. It happened. Now I’m going to fix the problem.”
Talk to your squad mates. Spend a few minutes telling your fellow officers about your work shift. Mention something exciting or amusing that you saw or did. Allow enough time to vent negative, hostile or aggressive feelings before you head home to your family. Give yourself a mental pat on the back for finishing another safe tour of duty and re-enter the regular world again.
About the author: Steve Albrecht worked for the San Diego Police Department for 15 years. He is the author of six books on officer safety and tactics, including The Police Professional: 60 Ways to Lead, with Captain Andrew Borrello. In 1992, Steve and then San Diego Police Detective Lt. John Morrison introduced the concept of Contact & Cover in their book, Contact & Cover: Two Officer Suspect Control.
