Traumatized police prone to bad decisions; stress symptoms, suicides up

Mental health specialists say the nation’s anti-police climate is compounding struggles by traumatized police officers, who are more likely to make mistakes in potentially deadly encounters that stir up anti-cop narratives.

“By telling them they are all bad people, that’s going to lead to trauma,” said Cherylynn Lee, a police psychologist. “When someone is suffering trauma or stress, it has an impact on the brain. It is more difficult to concentrate and clouds thinking.”

A police officer in Fargo, North Dakota, who was fired last month for mishandling two cases, filed a lawsuit to get his job back. He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is also mentioned in a lawsuit filed last week against a Florida police department involving a stun gun in a 2019 struggle.

PTSD can arise among officers from physical attacks and distressing situations, such as encountering abused children or dead bodies. The effects include substance abuse, sleeplessness and unprovoked aggression, which all can impair judgment.

“Until we start looking at these factors, we are going to have judgment errors. They are going to most heavily fall on the minority community, which has already been impacted by systemic racism,” said Kevin Gilmartin, a former police officer who has written books on officers’ emotional wellness.

Through the first six weeks of this year, 19 officers died by suicide, according to data from Blue Help, a nonprofit that works with officers dealing with mental health issues. The pace for police suicide is similar to that of 2021, when 153 officers took their own lives. Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for police behind COVID-19 last year.

Ten officers so far this year have died violently at the hands of criminals.

An estimated 17% to 35% of the nation’s police officers have experienced PTSD or depression at some point in their careers, according to a 2020 Northern Illinois University survey.

A 2011 Harvard University study of 5,000 police officers found that 40% had sleep disorders, one symptom of PTSD. Those who screened positive for a sleep disorder had a 25% higher risk of expressing uncontrolled anger and a 35% higher chance of having a complaint filed against them.

They also had a 43% higher chance of making a serious administrative error, including mistakenly believing an outstanding warrant had been issued and errors in filing a report.

Ms. Lee said anti-police rhetoric exacerbates PTSD in officers who are already struggling. It reduces “resiliency,” the term used to describe a person’s ability to adapt and recover from trauma, she said.

“Something restorative like a child waving to an officer on a bike patrol can promote resiliency,” Ms. Lee said. “But those interactions are happening less and less, and the impact of that community mistrust reduces resiliency, so they have less to work with.”

At least 189 Minneapolis police officers — more than 20% of the department’s staff — filed disability claims last year. They said they were suffering from PTSD resulting from the protests over George Floyd’s death in 2020.

Roughly a dozen officers who filed claims were inside the city’s 3rd Precinct station, which was burned down during the social justice riots. The city has paid more than $3.5 million in disability claims for PTSD.

Ms. Lee said she is seeing three times as many clients as she was in 2019 and now has a waitlist for her services. Waitlists have become so common that officers seeking treatment have developed their own slang term: “rostering.”

“Most clinicians are not taking on new clients or are overextended,” she said. “It takes a certain kind of clinician to work with law enforcement.”

Nearly every police department offers an employee assistance program, which is tasked with helping officers deal with the stresses of the job.

Few officers take advantage of the program because the city funds it, and tensions between police and local governments are at an all-time high, said Nick Edwards, a former detective who suffered from PTSD.

“They have this resource available, but they don’t trust it,” said Mr. Edwards, who works with 911 At Ease International, a nonprofit that supports first responders suffering from mental health issues.

Officers are turning to private treatment. Data from 911 At Ease shows that up to 25% of employees at police departments where the organization is established use its services and just 3% use workplace assistance programs.

Mr. Edwards sees the toll the current environment is having on police. He is a member of a Facebook group of roughly 40,000 current and former police officers.

He said the group’s tone has changed from camaraderie to frustration. Officers used to post memes and funny videos but now are asking for help or discussing how to transition to another job, he said.

“There is a sense of helplessness. They are asking why they are doing this because the community hates them, their department isn’t supporting them. It’s alarming,” Mr. Edwards said.

Meanwhile, retirements and resignations are soaring. A Police Executive Research Forum survey of roughly 200 departments last year found a 45% increase in retirements and a 20% increase in resignations compared with 2020.

During the police exodus, cities are reporting significant increases in shootings and homicides. Last year, 16 U.S. cities set homicide records.

Solutions to reducing PTSD among officers remain elusive.

Mr. Gilmartin said officers need more time off from their jobs because the long hours cause fatigue and hamper mental and physical ability. He said Canada and Australia give police seven to nine weeks of vacation, nearly three times what their U.S. counterparts have.

With fewer officers on the job, more officers are working longer hours.

Mr. Edwards said more officers are asking for help and departments are recognizing the need to provide treatment.

The police department in Rochester, New York, this month became the latest to launch a wellness and resilience unit to help officers recognize how the stress of the job is impacting their mental health. It differs from assistance programs because it is tailored for law enforcement’s specific challenges.

“There are a lot more resources, and it’s becoming more mainstream in departments to ask for help,” Mr. Edwards said. “When I was in law enforcement, we didn’t talk about it. That’s the flip side to this environment: Officers are stepping up to ask for help.”