Violence takes its toll on policeBy Jessica Meyers
CORRESPONDENT
Police Lt. Mark Gagan remembers the Christmas lights almost as well as the trail of bloody fingerprints. The tiny handsmears on the wall led Gagan to a 4-year-old girl who died sucking her thumb, and a decapitated infant.
A 10-year-old boy ran out of the house holding his cut throat and survived.
Their mother had been forced to watch before the husband killed her and then himself, investigators believe.
"Sitting in a room after the incident with the other officers, I said, 'My soul is seared by what we just saw,'" Gagan said. "Everyone just started crying. I said, 'This stuff is not normal.' Then we all went out that night and got hammered.
"I still drive by the house where it happened," he said.
Such scenes are impossible to forget, but if it stands out in its grimness, it was only one in a city of about 103,000 that, according to a recent study, is the third most dangerous in the state.
The Richmond Police Department has reported 38 homicides this year, and police have answered calls on 223 shootings.
Yet, in contrast to the neighboring police departments of Oakland, Walnut Creek and San Francisco, Richmond has no internal programs to address the psychological stress inherent in police work.
Up to 30 percent of police officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, estimates Dr. George Everly, a founder of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and a leading scholar on human stress and psychological trauma.
Gagan said the "walk it off" image officers project actually increases the possibility of post-traumatic stress disorder and leads to depression, anxiety, nightmares, irritability and outbursts of anger.
"There is this male-dominated bravado, a tough Dirty Harry approach," he said. "It's total BS. Guys talking after work over a drink, that collective commiseration is part of the problem instead of part of the solution. You need people who are willing to say, 'Look, guys, something is wrong.'"
Peer support trains officers on a force to become professional listeners and to recognize warning signs of suicide and depression.
About 2,500 officers are trained in peer support annually in the United States, said Bonnie Spitzer, a former president of the California Peer Support Association who has helped develop and teach peer support programs.
There are 140 police departments that participate in the association, but Spitzer said probably a significantly larger number implement peer support programs throughout the state.
Although Gagan agrees a peer support program would be beneficial, he fears the atmosphere in the department would prevent many from using it.
"The culture in the department is not exactly cohesive," he said. "I don't want to spearhead something without interest."
Lt. Rick Clark, a 26-year veteran of the Richmond force, said no one there has ever suggested a peer support program, and he thinks it could be useful.
"It would give guys an opportunity if they wanted to talk to someone," he said. "There are some things you don't forget."
He winced at the memory of a boy he found mangled by pit bulls.
"You could see bone, ligament, tendons, but his eyes, you know, they said, 'Where were you?' That was the worst for me."
A state-initiated Employee Assistance Program is available to city employees. However, insurance issues and a hesitancy to speak with people who might not understand the nature of police work often prevent officers from using those services, said Dr. Joel Fay, a licensed psychologist and police officer who runs the San Rafael Police Department's peer support program.
Richmond Officer Anthony Mikell said he often sees cops deal with stress in negative ways: infidelities, gambling and drinking. But that only masks post-traumatic stress disorder.
Nevertheless, talking to trained mental health professionals does not appeal to him.
"No one can understand a soldier coming back from war," he said. "When I have my innocence taken away, why should I take away yours?"
"Police culture discourages seeking help for problems," Fay said. "Our culture says we have to take care of other people's problems as well as our own. There's a shame attached to counseling. We take crazy people to the hospital, we don't seek help ourselves."
That is why establishing a departmental peer support program with trained officers is so important, said former Lt. Dell Hackett, president of the Oregon-based Law Enforcement Wellness Association.
"It gives officers who are reluctant to seek mental health services _-- and cops are invariably adverse to mental health professionals _-- an ability to talk to someone who understands their situation," he said.
"I can't imagine doing business today without the peer support program," said Lt. Kenneth Parris, who oversees the program in the Oakland Police Department.
He said he has heard no complaints since it started in 1999.
Oakland's program has 16 trained officers and three professional staff members in a force of 803 sworn officers.
"The program is invaluable for a department like Oakland with so much activity. It lessens potential trauma and diffuses future trauma," Parris said.
The San Francisco Police Department started its peer support program in 1980, and it is one of the oldest in the country, with a Behavioral Science Unit dedicated to peer counseling and stress debriefing.
For that reason, Sgt. Mary Dunnigan, who runs the unit, can quantify the data in a way less structured programs cannot. She said the 300 trained members conduct 6,000 sessions a year for a force of 1,697.
She said the program provides a confidential and safe environment for officers to discuss interpersonal issues, as well as an initial point of contact for those in need of more assistance.
Berkeley police Capt. Bobby Miller is attempting to revamp his department's inactive peer support program. He said it started to fade about 10 years ago when peer support members began to retire and no new officers received training.
He said the tough-guy stigma has long passed, and officers are ready for the service.
"Years ago we would not mention problems to anybody because it made you look vulnerable," he said. "We have grown up. We have grown past that. It's not every day that a police officer deals with a traumatic situation, but we do see stuff that has an effect, and we need to address it."
He said approximately 17 officers have applied to be peer support members, and he hopes to have the program running by the end of the year.
Yet Hackett, who was instrumental in establishing a peer support program in the Lane County Sheriff's Office in Eugene, Ore., warned the system needs to be set up correctly.
"I've seen good intentions that die on the vine because people select their own team and choose officers that are not necessarily trusted or they don't receive support from management or there are budget issues," he said.
Fay said budget concerns are no excuse.
"The cost is so inexpensive and the benefits are so great," he said.
Police officers can receive training at their regular employee training sessions.
If Richmond continues to experience the numbers of homicides and shootings it has this year, Gagan said cops will need healthier ways to cope.
"If you can really identify with the pain, then the job will suck you dry," he said. "In this meat-grinder of a city, I rarely get the sense that the problem is solved."
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Whatever is holding up a peer counseling program needs to stop, be it money or institutional resistance or lack of city support. It's bad enough that officers aren't filling the ranks for want of pay and benefits. Now that's compunded by sending them out on the streets mentally unprepared to cope.
RPD deserves better, just like the whole city itself deserves better.
