thedrifter
11-16-07, 08:45 AM
Police look at pitfalls of returning reservists
By Kevin Johnson - USA Today
Posted : Friday Nov 16, 2007 8:19:57 EST
Shortly after Wayne Williamson returned to Texas from an 11-month deployment to Iraq as an Army reservist, he began jumping at virtually every unexpected sound.
Although his attorney now says his reactions were perhaps classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Williamson told no one, including his supervisors at the Austin Police Department, until March — after he opened fire on an unarmed suspect during a brief foot chase.
The suspect was not hit, but one of the three rounds struck a parked van, narrowly missing two children inside. The shooting cost Williamson his job, and prosecutors are reviewing whether his reactions were criminal.
“In hindsight, everyone believes he should not have fired,” said Tom Stribling, Williamson’s attorney. “His assessment of the threat level was wrong. He was assessing [the incident] as if he was back in the military, not from a police officer’s side of it.”
Williamson’s case represents an increasing concern about thousands of returning reservists. Unlike other part-time troops, they resume duties that sometimes require the use of lethal force under conditions very different from the combat zone.
At issue is the judgment of when to use lethal force.
“In civilian police work, we err on the side of not shooting,” said Audrey Honig, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s chief psychologist and chairwoman of psychological services for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “In the military, they err on the side of shooting. We are very concerned that some officers are unable to make that transition.”
This concern is prompting the IACP to develop a national strategy to assist returning officers.
“This is about trying to save careers,” said Jim McMahon, the IACP’s chief of staff.
Some local departments already have transition programs in place.
In 2004, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department established a program requiring officers to meet with department psychologists. Supervisors closely monitor them for at least a year. Officers assigned to patrol duties spend their first days back with another officer in vehicles usually manned by a single officer. This summer, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began requiring returning officers to spend a day at a department shooting range to test their judgment in various lethal-force scenarios.
Los Angeles sheriff’s Cmdr. Gil Jurado said that was done after questions surfaced about two prior use-of-force incidents involving deputies who served as reservists. Both deputies were disciplined but remain on the force.
In one case, Jurado said, the deputy explained his decision to fire his weapon by using a military expression that he was “laying down cover fire” rather than firing at a specific target.
Jurado says department regulations require deputies to choose specific targets when using potentially lethal force. After the two incidents, the department began testing returning officers’ responses in various use-of-force scenarios.
Such programs have been established in other cities.
“We had one officer freeze on the firing range,” said Tucson police psychologist Mary-Wales North. “He was unable to fire his weapon. He tried to come back too soon. Luckily, it happened on the [shooting] range and not back on the street.”
A survey last month of 103 psychologists across the U.S. who treat public safety officers found 16 percent were counseling those who had returned from combat zones, said Stephen Curran, a Maryland psychologist who conducted the survey and counsels officers.
“You can’t just put people back in these jobs, give them their badge and gun and expect that things are going to be fine,” Curran said. “Getting back into the flow of things is a challenge [for returning officers]. Most make it, but there are others who come back with problems.”
Of particular concern, Curran said, are the long-term effects of prolonged and close-range exposure to blasts from mortar fire or improvised explosive devices. Even when there is no apparent physical injury, repeated exposure can trigger symptoms similar to concussion, which can substantially alter victims’ ability to concentrate.
“Recovery time can be a year or more,” Curran said of the condition, which is not easily diagnosed.
Although thousands of officers served in Vietnam, the Iraq war differs because of the urban combat and the military’s unprecedented reliance on reservists, who routinely are dispatched to the front lines there and in Afghanistan.
“With the reserves, there was no prior expectation that they would be called to a combat circumstance,” Honig said.
Last year, a Justice Department analysis estimated 11,380 police officers had been called for service.
“Combat changes people,” Curran said.
Ellie
By Kevin Johnson - USA Today
Posted : Friday Nov 16, 2007 8:19:57 EST
Shortly after Wayne Williamson returned to Texas from an 11-month deployment to Iraq as an Army reservist, he began jumping at virtually every unexpected sound.
Although his attorney now says his reactions were perhaps classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Williamson told no one, including his supervisors at the Austin Police Department, until March — after he opened fire on an unarmed suspect during a brief foot chase.
The suspect was not hit, but one of the three rounds struck a parked van, narrowly missing two children inside. The shooting cost Williamson his job, and prosecutors are reviewing whether his reactions were criminal.
“In hindsight, everyone believes he should not have fired,” said Tom Stribling, Williamson’s attorney. “His assessment of the threat level was wrong. He was assessing [the incident] as if he was back in the military, not from a police officer’s side of it.”
Williamson’s case represents an increasing concern about thousands of returning reservists. Unlike other part-time troops, they resume duties that sometimes require the use of lethal force under conditions very different from the combat zone.
At issue is the judgment of when to use lethal force.
“In civilian police work, we err on the side of not shooting,” said Audrey Honig, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s chief psychologist and chairwoman of psychological services for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “In the military, they err on the side of shooting. We are very concerned that some officers are unable to make that transition.”
This concern is prompting the IACP to develop a national strategy to assist returning officers.
“This is about trying to save careers,” said Jim McMahon, the IACP’s chief of staff.
Some local departments already have transition programs in place.
In 2004, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department established a program requiring officers to meet with department psychologists. Supervisors closely monitor them for at least a year. Officers assigned to patrol duties spend their first days back with another officer in vehicles usually manned by a single officer. This summer, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began requiring returning officers to spend a day at a department shooting range to test their judgment in various lethal-force scenarios.
Los Angeles sheriff’s Cmdr. Gil Jurado said that was done after questions surfaced about two prior use-of-force incidents involving deputies who served as reservists. Both deputies were disciplined but remain on the force.
In one case, Jurado said, the deputy explained his decision to fire his weapon by using a military expression that he was “laying down cover fire” rather than firing at a specific target.
Jurado says department regulations require deputies to choose specific targets when using potentially lethal force. After the two incidents, the department began testing returning officers’ responses in various use-of-force scenarios.
Such programs have been established in other cities.
“We had one officer freeze on the firing range,” said Tucson police psychologist Mary-Wales North. “He was unable to fire his weapon. He tried to come back too soon. Luckily, it happened on the [shooting] range and not back on the street.”
A survey last month of 103 psychologists across the U.S. who treat public safety officers found 16 percent were counseling those who had returned from combat zones, said Stephen Curran, a Maryland psychologist who conducted the survey and counsels officers.
“You can’t just put people back in these jobs, give them their badge and gun and expect that things are going to be fine,” Curran said. “Getting back into the flow of things is a challenge [for returning officers]. Most make it, but there are others who come back with problems.”
Of particular concern, Curran said, are the long-term effects of prolonged and close-range exposure to blasts from mortar fire or improvised explosive devices. Even when there is no apparent physical injury, repeated exposure can trigger symptoms similar to concussion, which can substantially alter victims’ ability to concentrate.
“Recovery time can be a year or more,” Curran said of the condition, which is not easily diagnosed.
Although thousands of officers served in Vietnam, the Iraq war differs because of the urban combat and the military’s unprecedented reliance on reservists, who routinely are dispatched to the front lines there and in Afghanistan.
“With the reserves, there was no prior expectation that they would be called to a combat circumstance,” Honig said.
Last year, a Justice Department analysis estimated 11,380 police officers had been called for service.
“Combat changes people,” Curran said.
Ellie