Psychological/Mental Preperation

[XYZ]

I've seen the ads for the premiere of Rookie Blue - new series on ABC about rookie police. One of the ads shows a rookie officer on her first day in a situation that she may have to shoot someone.

Does your training provide for you to be mentally prepared on day one - I realize I'm referencing a television series but wanted to hear about some of your first experiences that broke you guys in.

Thanks for sharing any stories.

[bodyarmorguy27]

I think your life experiences will be more of a benefit to being mentally prepared.

None of my training prepared me to watch a mother do CPR on her dead three year old child in the hospital emergency room after they pronounced him. He drowned in a swimming pool with less than two feet of standing water after his ball fell in and he tried to retrieve it. He couldn't stand up because it was so slippery and he drowned. I can still see the mud and algae under his fingernails, and the dirty pool water on the gurney.

A lot of these cop shows are full of cliche. And like anything related to policework, it can become relatively mundane and boring. There aren't many cop shows that last more than one season, as realistic as they portray themselves to be.

[Samuelx]

Just when you think you've seen the (insert your adjective of choice here) thing, something new will come along and surprise/shock/etc the heck out of you.....

[SoCalDep]

Haven't heard of the show. My training experience was alright. We had an 18 week academy, three weeks of jail operations training, and three months of "on-the-job" custody training. I worked custody for about 4.5 years, then two weeks of patrol school, six months of "on-the-job" patrol training, Continual Patrol Training (CPT) about every two years (if you're lucky), additional in-service training when available and (if you can get a spot) such classes as AR15, force instructor, and specialized training for DB, special units, FTO (going in a little over a week) etc.

I think my dept. does a good job of covering mental preparation, but I also think much is up to the individual. I've seen day-one trainees that I barely trust to get out of the car with me. Others (prior military often being a big factor) have the combat mindset from the beginning.

My first "broke in" experience was at about 2am on a traffic stop. I saw the passenger messing with his right pocket and he wasn't listening to me telling him to put his hands on the dash. I opened the door and saw the butt of a Luger sticking out of his pocket. I had the barrel of my gun against the back of his head and have no doubt I would have shot if necessary. On that note, I can think of two occasions where I actually got really close to making a conscious decision to shoot someone. The first was a vehicle theft suspect who tried to shoot my partner but couldn't get the gun out of his waistband. He ended up throwing/dropping the gun but then started fighting with us. I remember looking at his gun sitting on the ground with the hammer cocked while we wrestled with the guy. I had one of his arms in one hand and had the weapon-light shoved against the guy's head and I thought to myself "Is he going for the gun? Should I just kill him now?" I decided that we were gonna win the fight and we did. The second was a little over a month ago when a paranoid (soon to be) mental patient jumped off her couch and went for three kitchen knives under the cushion. My gun was out and I was starting to pull the trigger when she reached past the knives and pulled out her wallet with the ID she told us she didn't have.

There have been many times when things happened so fast I sorta "woke up" to reality with my pistol out and pointed at the person. I guess that's ingrained training and mental preparation, but it happens so fast I don't really consider it a decision making process....My words fail me a bit and I'm sure others know what I mean.

The conscious decision to act in a life/death situation is something for which training helps but cannot fully prepare. The lucky among us prevail and learn from the experiences.

[9mmepiphany]

your academy training is no better at preparing you to handle the mental aspects of the job than going to law school prepares you to practice in a court of law.

it teaches you what the law is, proven officer safety techniques and what procedures to follow in given circumstances...but it doesn't teach you what it will feel like or how you'll react. that is why a two officer car, where one officer is a trainee, can't handle a two officer call...they are not even a one officer car. the training officer has to keep a constant eye on the trainee.

many folks find that they can't handle to fluid interaction of day to day police work...hopefully they are brave enough to leave before they get too used to the benifits