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In case you haven't noticed, you're living in a personal crisis society. As a
police officer, you'll deal with some kind of crisis nearly every day of your
career. It's always been that way for police officers. The biggest risk you
face — even bigger than risk to your physical safety — is becoming a
casualty of the ever increasing personal crisis mania.
Today, personal courage is expressed in some pretty perverse ways.
You're told it's okay if you're as weak and inadequate as the next guy. An
entire industry has been built around personal crisis, and police officers
are an ideal target for this burgeoning industry. The next time you watch
your favorite cop show on television, take note of how much time is
devoted to the personal crises of the cop cast.
One of the greatest benefits of being a police officer is the opportunity to
view social behavior at its best and worst; albeit, the worst far outweighs
the best. However, that's good, because you see, first hand, the often
disastrous consequences that result from irresponsible personal behavior.
So, why is irresponsible behavior so tolerated, and even acceptable, in so
many parts of the society you serve? The short answer is, it's profitable.
A growing economy combined with doctors, lawyers, all kinds of advocates,
and a runaway healthcare system have made personal crisis a multi-billion
dollar industry.
However, the personal crisis industry is suffering the same growing pains
any industry suffers from fast and furious growth. Any infrastructure is
only as good as its ability to handle the volume for which it's designed.
When the volume exceeds the design, things start to become complicated.
Police officers have always been at risk of being adversely affected
psychologically by situations and circumstances that come with the
territory. Some may become physically ill from some of the things they
simply witness. In the past, a police officer either put all the awful things
into perspective, or the police officer would resign and look for another
line of work. Peer pressure contributed significantly to weeding out those
who were psychologically unsuited for police work. That pressure was
rarely mean spirited. Instead, the pressure was applied in good faith with
the welfare of the individual police officer as the primary factor. Of
course, since police officers are so dependent upon one another, the
group's welfare was also of paramount importance.
Things weren't perfect. Some police officers would succumb to stress and
emulate, in various degrees, some of the irresponsible behavior they
observed in others on a daily basis. However, most would disdain such
behavior, and they would consciously work to prevent similarly destructive
behavior from entering their personal lives. In other words, they learned
from their observations.
Today, the weeding out process by peer pressure has pretty much come to
a halt. To ever increasing degrees, it's now acceptable for police officers to
be just as weak and dependent as the next person. You might ask the
question, "What about the pre-employment psychological testing?" Good
question. Most, if not all police departments, now require psychological
evaluation of people seeking to become police officers. Of course, the
primary purpose of pre-employment psychological testing is to identify the
aggressive personalities among us. Pretty much everything else can be
fixed later on by the Industry…or so some believe.
There are two exceptions to the "fix it later" category. Domestic violence
and sexual harassment are gender specific zero tolerance items. Both of
these transgressions will prevent your employment as a police officer in
the first place. If they occur post employment, you'll find no sympathetic
counseling solutions from the Industry. If you have to ask what is meant
by "gender specific," you'll have to work on your powers of observation.
Every person will have a personal crisis, from time to time, in his or her
life. These occurrences are normal and inevitable. Normality applies
when you're subjected to a personal crisis which is beyond your ability to
control. Obviously, these crises would include actions by others close to
you which may cause you stress and worry in varying degrees. Ill health
or death of a family member or a close friend comes in at the top of that
list.
In the past, a police officer's personal life was pretty much his own. I'm
using the masculine pronoun [his], because, in the past, nearly all police
officers were male. Police officers were expected to keep their personal
affairs in order. There was little tolerance for personal crises which
adversely affected other police officers and their daily work environment.
Of course, since police officers were working in a single gender
environment, they had a tremendous support group.
Police commanders rarely became involved in an individual police officer's
personal crisis. When a commander became aware of a crisis, or a
perceived crisis, in a police officer's personal life, he'd simply make it
known, to those subordinate to him, that he wanted the problem
addressed…and solved. If an effort was not already underway, that's when
the police officer's immediate supervisor and fellow police officers would
swing into action.
A lot is made of the fact that police officers deal with some extremely
stressful situations in their work environment…and that's true.
But…police officers are just people, and they experience the same kinds of
crises in their personal lives as anyone else. Many would argue that the
police officer's work environment contributes to, and exacerbates, the
seriousness and potential damage from a personal crisis which would
otherwise be less were it not for the police officer's working environment.
This goes right back to my point that the police officer's working
environment can be a very positive factor when confronting a personal
crisis. The truth is that police work is a very convenient causal excuse for
any number of personal crises in police officers' lives.
When people talk about personal crisis, they tend to miss the meaning of
"personal." The vast majority of personal crises — for anyone — will
involve a personal relationship with a person of the opposite sex. It
doesn't matter whether the cause of the crisis is financial; work related or
whether the primary cause arises from unique circumstances within the
personal relationship. The severity of the crisis will depend upon how the
crisis affects the personal relationship.
Again…in the past…and before the crushing advance of political
correctness, police officers were quick to support their own and do
everything in their power to provide good counsel to their fellow police
officers. The biggest advantage of any single gender work environment is
its ability to absorb a multitude of views. Police work used to be unique in
this regard. A police officer could receive counsel ranging from thoughtful
to the absurd, but the police officer had the advantage of evaluating his
crisis in the light of honest counsel.
Today, the absence of the single gender work environment, and the
onslaught of political correctness has placed the personal crises of police
officers squarely within the domain of the Personal Crisis Industry. The
informal peer counseling of the past is now not only unwelcome, but it's
also dangerous to any police officer who might offer counsel to a fellow
police officer who is experiencing a personal crisis.
When you begin your police career, you're going to see a lot of police
officers in crisis. If you're a relatively self sufficient individual, you're
going to view most of the "crises" you observe as just everyday, normal
problems people have. While your predecessors would have quickly
verbalized that view without fear of retaliation, you won't enjoy the same
freedom to express your views.
police officer, you'll deal with some kind of crisis nearly every day of your
career. It's always been that way for police officers. The biggest risk you
face — even bigger than risk to your physical safety — is becoming a
casualty of the ever increasing personal crisis mania.
Today, personal courage is expressed in some pretty perverse ways.
You're told it's okay if you're as weak and inadequate as the next guy. An
entire industry has been built around personal crisis, and police officers
are an ideal target for this burgeoning industry. The next time you watch
your favorite cop show on television, take note of how much time is
devoted to the personal crises of the cop cast.
One of the greatest benefits of being a police officer is the opportunity to
view social behavior at its best and worst; albeit, the worst far outweighs
the best. However, that's good, because you see, first hand, the often
disastrous consequences that result from irresponsible personal behavior.
So, why is irresponsible behavior so tolerated, and even acceptable, in so
many parts of the society you serve? The short answer is, it's profitable.
A growing economy combined with doctors, lawyers, all kinds of advocates,
and a runaway healthcare system have made personal crisis a multi-billion
dollar industry.
However, the personal crisis industry is suffering the same growing pains
any industry suffers from fast and furious growth. Any infrastructure is
only as good as its ability to handle the volume for which it's designed.
When the volume exceeds the design, things start to become complicated.
Police officers have always been at risk of being adversely affected
psychologically by situations and circumstances that come with the
territory. Some may become physically ill from some of the things they
simply witness. In the past, a police officer either put all the awful things
into perspective, or the police officer would resign and look for another
line of work. Peer pressure contributed significantly to weeding out those
who were psychologically unsuited for police work. That pressure was
rarely mean spirited. Instead, the pressure was applied in good faith with
the welfare of the individual police officer as the primary factor. Of
course, since police officers are so dependent upon one another, the
group's welfare was also of paramount importance.
Things weren't perfect. Some police officers would succumb to stress and
emulate, in various degrees, some of the irresponsible behavior they
observed in others on a daily basis. However, most would disdain such
behavior, and they would consciously work to prevent similarly destructive
behavior from entering their personal lives. In other words, they learned
from their observations.
Today, the weeding out process by peer pressure has pretty much come to
a halt. To ever increasing degrees, it's now acceptable for police officers to
be just as weak and dependent as the next person. You might ask the
question, "What about the pre-employment psychological testing?" Good
question. Most, if not all police departments, now require psychological
evaluation of people seeking to become police officers. Of course, the
primary purpose of pre-employment psychological testing is to identify the
aggressive personalities among us. Pretty much everything else can be
fixed later on by the Industry…or so some believe.
There are two exceptions to the "fix it later" category. Domestic violence
and sexual harassment are gender specific zero tolerance items. Both of
these transgressions will prevent your employment as a police officer in
the first place. If they occur post employment, you'll find no sympathetic
counseling solutions from the Industry. If you have to ask what is meant
by "gender specific," you'll have to work on your powers of observation.
Every person will have a personal crisis, from time to time, in his or her
life. These occurrences are normal and inevitable. Normality applies
when you're subjected to a personal crisis which is beyond your ability to
control. Obviously, these crises would include actions by others close to
you which may cause you stress and worry in varying degrees. Ill health
or death of a family member or a close friend comes in at the top of that
list.
In the past, a police officer's personal life was pretty much his own. I'm
using the masculine pronoun [his], because, in the past, nearly all police
officers were male. Police officers were expected to keep their personal
affairs in order. There was little tolerance for personal crises which
adversely affected other police officers and their daily work environment.
Of course, since police officers were working in a single gender
environment, they had a tremendous support group.
Police commanders rarely became involved in an individual police officer's
personal crisis. When a commander became aware of a crisis, or a
perceived crisis, in a police officer's personal life, he'd simply make it
known, to those subordinate to him, that he wanted the problem
addressed…and solved. If an effort was not already underway, that's when
the police officer's immediate supervisor and fellow police officers would
swing into action.
A lot is made of the fact that police officers deal with some extremely
stressful situations in their work environment…and that's true.
But…police officers are just people, and they experience the same kinds of
crises in their personal lives as anyone else. Many would argue that the
police officer's work environment contributes to, and exacerbates, the
seriousness and potential damage from a personal crisis which would
otherwise be less were it not for the police officer's working environment.
This goes right back to my point that the police officer's working
environment can be a very positive factor when confronting a personal
crisis. The truth is that police work is a very convenient causal excuse for
any number of personal crises in police officers' lives.
When people talk about personal crisis, they tend to miss the meaning of
"personal." The vast majority of personal crises — for anyone — will
involve a personal relationship with a person of the opposite sex. It
doesn't matter whether the cause of the crisis is financial; work related or
whether the primary cause arises from unique circumstances within the
personal relationship. The severity of the crisis will depend upon how the
crisis affects the personal relationship.
Again…in the past…and before the crushing advance of political
correctness, police officers were quick to support their own and do
everything in their power to provide good counsel to their fellow police
officers. The biggest advantage of any single gender work environment is
its ability to absorb a multitude of views. Police work used to be unique in
this regard. A police officer could receive counsel ranging from thoughtful
to the absurd, but the police officer had the advantage of evaluating his
crisis in the light of honest counsel.
Today, the absence of the single gender work environment, and the
onslaught of political correctness has placed the personal crises of police
officers squarely within the domain of the Personal Crisis Industry. The
informal peer counseling of the past is now not only unwelcome, but it's
also dangerous to any police officer who might offer counsel to a fellow
police officer who is experiencing a personal crisis.
When you begin your police career, you're going to see a lot of police
officers in crisis. If you're a relatively self sufficient individual, you're
going to view most of the "crises" you observe as just everyday, normal
problems people have. While your predecessors would have quickly
verbalized that view without fear of retaliation, you won't enjoy the same
freedom to express your views.
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The
Personal
Crisis
Industry
Personal
Crisis
Industry
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