Back from Iraq, without much help, says officer involved in shooting
Shooting in March raises questions about readjustment for police officers who serve.

By Tony Plohetski
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, July 29, 2007

In the first few weeks after he got home from Iraq last year, Texas National Guard soldier Wayne Williamson broke into a rage almost every time he saw something on TV about the war, especially when the talk was about sending more troops.

One night, while he was sleeping, his wife touched him, and he leaped from bed with what she described as a "wild look in his eyes."

At work as an Austin police officer, Williamson, who has been on the force for nine years, said he was starting to notice he was different. He felt less patient with people, including those he pulled over in his East Austin patrol area.

He said he also began operating under a theory that if he had survived the war for 10 months, he wasn't going to get killed at home. No matter what.

Then in March, eight months after he had returned to work, Williamson responded to a report about a home invasion in which a 911 caller said a man might have a knife.

Williamson spotted the man, who started running. He chased him over a pedestrian bridge crossing U.S. 183 near Manor Road, close to a shopping center teeming with customers.

Then Williamson pulled his gun. And he shot.

Whether Williamson was justified in opening fire — the man wasn't hit, but police later determined a bullet struck a nearby car with two small children inside — is still under investigation by internal affairs detectives. The case is expected to go before a police disciplinary board in the next several weeks.

But Williamson and his attorney, veteran police lawyer Tom Stribling, say the officer's experience in the war zone and subsequent emotional trauma probably blurred his split-second judgment and affected his decision to shoot.

Across Texas, hundreds of law enforcement officers who serve as military reservists have been called to active duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, often spending months overseas operating under the rules of combat.

But when their tours are up, many are coming home and finding little help from the military or their employers in adjusting to life as police officers.

For instance, the Texas Department of Public Safety has traditionally done little more than tell returning troopers that a department psychologist is available should they want treatment. The agency has only recently begun training a "peer support team" with other veterans for troopers returning from war.

Nationally, a few law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, have developed more rigorous post-war decompression and screening programs for officers. Deputies in Los Angeles must meet at least once with a psychologist, and then they are assigned a mentor in their units to monitor them for a year.

Police psychology experts said they know of no group or organization that monitors the performance of police officers who return from military duty.

A recent study by the American Psychological Association said as many as 25 percent of all soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq have some psychological wounds.

Williamson said he had been considering treatment from a private therapist at the time of the shooting.

He remains on leave until the case is resolved. In a recent interview, he declined to say what specifically — if anything — led him to shoot, citing the ongoing investigation. Police said they later found a knife near the duplex they said the man was trying to break into.

After returning from Iraq, he said, "my thinking was, 'I got back with my fingers and my toes, and I thought I had made it.' I thought it was over."


Assistance varies


Since the Sept. 11 attacks, 48 Austin police officers who are military reservists have been summoned to active duty. As of last week, 12 officers were on military leave.

DPS has had 113 troopers called up since that time, 72 of whom have returned.

And since 2005, Travis County sheriff's officials say, 13 deputies have gone to active duty, five of whom have come home.

Officials from those agencies said it is unclear how many officers called to active military duty have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Julie O'Brien, an acting Austin assistant police chief, acknowledged that the department doesn't conduct mental health screenings for returning vets, even though the agency has an in-house psychologist.

"It's hard to assume that just because people serve in the military, there's something wrong with them," she said.

O'Brien, who declined to comment on the Williamson case, said all officers who have been absent for an extended period, including those on military leave, must visit the training academy to review any policy changes or learn about new laws. She said that in most instances, officers work with more experienced colleagues on the street until they're ready to work solo.

Police Chief Art Acevedo, who has been on the job for a week, said he plans soon to review a proposal that would require all officers gone for an extended period to visit the department psychologist at least once.

"Any time an employee has been away from active police duty, you should see if their skills have been diminished," Acevedo said.

DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said that after a trooper returned from military duty last year, he suggested the agency do more. That led DPS to form a peer support group, in which veterans could meet and share experiences or tips for settling back into work. Mange said DPS is now training members of the support group.

Sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade said his agency relies on the military to identify and treat veterans who may have difficulty readjusting to civilian life.

"The military does an extensive debrief, and they give us a medical release, saying they are fit for duty," Wade said.

At the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, however, officers who come back from active duty must go through a four-day program in which they are assigned a mentor from their unit to evaluate them during the next year, said Dr. Audrey Honig, chairwoman of the psychological services section for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The mentors are trained to spot symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and signs of "hypervigilance" and to encourage the officers to seek help if necessary, said Honig, who also is the sheriff's department's psychologist.

Honig said a couple of dozen of the department's several hundred deputies who have been called to active duty have sought help from the psychologist. Many didn't realize they might be suffering from post-traumatic stress symptoms for several months after returning to work, she said.

Dr. Stephen Curran, a nationally known police psychologist who has helped several local law enforcement agencies develop similar programs, said he has treated several returning veterans once they went back to police work.

He said the officers had problems coping with stress, were irritable, were overreacting on duty and had misperceptions about what they were seeing and hearing.

"Combat changes people," Curran said. "You don't just come back from combat and go back into patrol."


Enjoying the job


Williamson, who grew up in Rock Hill, S.C., was studying physics at the University of South Carolina when he realized he had a weak background in science. He abandoned his dream of finishing college and joined the U.S. Army in 1986.

Williamson, who was last stationed at Fort Hood, had risen to the rank of sergeant when he left active duty in 1996 and joined the National Guard.

He worked as a bank teller, insurance agent and security guard before getting hired by the Austin Police Department.

"What I found in the academy was that I like what I do, being able to help people when they need help," he said. "There is an impact right then and there."

He recalled his efforts as an officer trying to address neighbors' concerns about a nearby homeless camp, where he said he met a disabled veteran.

Williamson said he told the man about services offered by Veterans Affairs. He checked on the man a couple of weeks later and learned that the agency had helped him find a place to live.

Williamson said he anticipated getting called to active duty after the Sept. 11 attacks, but a couple of years passed before he was mobilized in August 2004.

"I was like, 'Oh, my God, I'm actually going to war,' " Williamson said. His wife, Tammie, promised that she would handle matters at home and said he should focus on surviving.

As an intelligence officer, Williamson was stationed in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, Iraq, but he wasn't on the front lines day in, day out. Still, he said he was frequently awakened by bombs and other explosives.

"At a certain point, things blow up, and that for you becomes as natural as getting a cup of coffee," he said. "Every two or three days, something went 'Boom!' "

The Army discharged Williamson from active duty in April 2006, and he returned to work as an Austin police officer three months later.

Stribling said Williamson spent about three weeks at the training academy, where he practiced shooting.

Williamson wasn't required to visit the department psychologist, and he wasn't assigned to spend shifts with a training officer in the field, Stribling said.

"I don't want to fault APD," he said. "In hindsight, I can clearly say enough wasn't done."


Changed for life


Since the shooting, Williamson has seen a private therapist, from whom he said he has learned more about his experience at war and how it has affected his life.

He said he has learned the importance of seeking aid if he suffers symptoms, and he is eager for the internal investigation into the shooting to be finished.

He said he wants to return to work as an officer.

"It feels to me like I'm getting back to where I was," he said. "I'll never be the person I was again. But you move forward."

tplohetski@statesman.com; 445-3605

Ellie