Blog
Leaving the Job: How Cops Can Transition to a New Career
30 years of police work is not for everyone. Here's how to make a graceful exit. Asking police officers to stay on the job for 20 to 30 years may be a mistake, costly to the officer, the agency and the community. Transitioning out of police work into the civilian...
17 Tips to Help Prevent Police Suicide
Police officers are twice as likely to kill themselves as to be killed in the line of duty. To prevent someone from killing themselves, don't mince words. Two crucial ways to intervene with a suicidal officer are to separate them from their weapons and to buy time. If...
Is New Federal Law Encouraging Cops to Commit Suicide?
On August 16th, President Biden signed two bills into law, the “Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Law Enforcement Training Act” (H.R. 2992) and the “Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022” (H.R. 6943). There is much to be appreciated...
The Uvalde Massacre: What’s in Store for First Responders?
I hadn’t planned to write another blog this month, but the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and the massacre in Buffalo, New York, compelled me to put my thoughts on paper. I’m thinking about trauma and first responders and the emotional wallop created by mass...
Growing Old in a Young Person’s Profession Pt. 1
One of the great pleasures of a long-lived career as a police psychologist is watching officers as they grow from wide-eyed, eager rookies to a more settled version of themselves. From recruitment to retirement, police work changes people and affects their families. A...
Women in Policing: How It Feels to Be a Reluctant Hero
Women in law enforcement face continuing doubts about their ability to be as brave, competent, and dedicated as their male counterparts. How we respond in a life-threatening crisis may be hard to predict. One woman may have exceeded expectations. Being hailed as a...