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**PTSD among Police Officers: Impact on Critical Decision Making**
 May 2018 | Volume 11 | Issue 5

*Dr. John Violanti, University of Buffalo, is a retired NYPD Officer  and conducts research on Officer Safety and Wellness Issues.*

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may occur when a person is  exposed to traumatic events. Persons so exposed may experience symptoms such as  distressing memories of the event, avoidance of any reminders of the event, and  physiological emotional difficulties. Police officers are often exposed to  traumatic events, such as seeing abused children or dead bodies, severe  assaults, and involvement in shootings, and are therefore at risk for PTSD.  Such exposure can impair the mental well-being of officers and affect their  ability to perform duties to the public. The potential long-term effects of  PTSD in police officers may additionally lead to behavioral dysfunction such as  substance abuse, aggression, and suicide. It is estimated that, on average,  approximately 15 percent of officers in the U.S. experience PTSD symptoms. Unfortunately,  it is not definitively known what the true scope of this problem is among  police.

A critical aspect of police work in the field is making good decisions  that are beneficial to the safety of public. We are presently engaged in  research examining the effect of symptoms of PTSD on decision-making brain  functions among police. According to cognitive psychologists Drs. Janet and David  Shucard, decision making refers to an “adaptive feature of brain executive  mental function that allows one to attend selectively and respond appropriately  to a varied and often rapidly changing environment while monitoring conflicting  response options and inhibiting inappropriate responses.”1

Nowhere is this more critical than when officers are faced with the  use of deadly physical force. Decisions not to shoot, missed shots, and  inappropriate tactics can cost officers or bystanders their lives or leave them  grievously injured. It is of critical importance for accurate, rapid decision  making in deadly force confrontations despite the fact that they often occur in  complex, fast-paced, ambiguous and low-information situations. As difficult as  decisions to use deadly force are in themselves, such decisions may only be  exacerbated by PTSD. Decisions involving deadly force, albeit critical, are not  the only significant decisions that police officers are faced with.

In a recent preliminary study, we used measures of brain function to  determine the effects of PTSD on police decision making.2 We recorded  electroencephalography (EEG) while police officers were presented with a  decision-making situation. Then, we compared the decision-making abilities of  those officers having higher levels of PTSD with those that have low or no PTSD  levels. Results suggested that officers who have higher levels of PTSD had  greater brain activation in areas related to rapid decision making. Disruptions  in rapid decision making by an officer who has PTSD may affect brain systems  due to heightened arousal to threats, inability to screen out interfering  information, or the inability to keep attention.

We are hoping our research will help develop methods to deal with the  problem of PTSD among police. Of course, the best way to deal with this problem  is primary prevention of PTSD before, rather than after, it develops in  officers. Techniques such as trauma inoculation training, trauma awareness, and  proactive assessments are needed. Training in PTSD awareness is especially  important at the police academy level. Reducing the risk for trauma and  subsequent PTSD will likely result in improved professional performance (e.g.,  better decisions, decreased distraction, less risky behavior, and fewer  occupational injuries, accidents, and assaults) and benefit both the community  and police officers.

Dr. John Violanti          University at Buffalo, State University of NY          New York State Police - Retired

References:     1. David Shucard and Janet L. Shucard,  “Electrophysiological and Neuroimaging Studies of Cognitive Control:  Introduction to Special Issue,” *International  Journal of Psychophysiology* 87 (2013): 215–216, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.03.009.             
2. T.J. Covey, Janet L Shucard, John M  Violanti, and David Shucard, “The Effects of Exposure to Traumatic Stressors on  Inhibitory Control in Police Officers: A Dense Electrode Array Study Using a  Go/NoGo Continuous Performance Task, *International  Journal of Psychophysiology* 87 (2013): 363–375, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.03.009.

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