FLETC ournal Volume 18

Spring - Summer

2017

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CENTERS

 ARTESIA CHARLESTON CHELTENHAM GLYNCO 

J
Foreword

William Fallon 

William Fallon

Deputy Director

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

2 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Deputy Director

William Fallon

We are pleased to present this issue of the FLETC Journal, which highlights the 

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers’ (FLETC) Summit on Trending Issues in 

Policing. In September 2016, we hosted a three-day conference that brought together 

law enforcement practitioners, senior law enforcement executives, mental health 

professionals, experts in various topical areas, and academics to discuss some of the most 

pressing issues law enforcement is facing today. The Summit featured keynote speakers 

who are engaged in contemporary issues at the national level, and panel presentations 

and discussions on topics at the forefront of the profession.

FLETC trains officers and agents from more than 90 federal law enforcement agencies, 

as well as thousands of state, local, tribal, and international officers annually. To ensure 

our curriculum is relevant to the current context law enforcement operates in, it is 

imperative that we seek expertise and perspectives from those who study, shape, and execute the profession. In 

deciding to host this Summit, FLETC Director Connie Patrick aimed to provide a forum for FLETC and 

Partner Organization staff to hear the perspectives and viewpoints of experts and practitioners on prominent 

topics in law enforcement, and to subsequently consider potential modifications to training. 

We identified a host of subjects for presentations and discussions at the Summit, including Mental Health 

Issues Affecting Law Enforcement Responses, Mental Health Resilience for Law Enforcement Officers, Media 

and Community Relations, Biases Affecting the Law Enforcement Community, Body Worn Cameras, Effective 

Police Social Interactions, The Warrior and Guardian Mindsets, and Use of Force. On page 23 of this issue of 

the FLETC Journal, you’ll find an overview article about the Summit, including a description of each panel 

presentation. 

Additionally, in this edition of the Journal we were fortunate to have seven of our Summit speakers write articles 

on their areas of expertise. On behalf of FLETC, I would like to thank our authors for sharing their written 

work, and for their continued collaboration with FLETC. We look forward to continued engagement with them 

and other external experts and practitioners as an integral part of our commitment to providing training that is 

grounded in the latest research and practice. 

Following the Summit, we formed working groups within FLETC to further study the topics presented at the 

conference to identify potential adjustments to our curriculum. In coordination with our Partner Organizations, 

we look forward to continuing the dialogue begun at the Summit, and thank those who continue to contribute 

to this effort. 

The contents of this edition of the FLETC Journal represent just a portion of the issues we as trainers must 

address and stay current on to ensure we are providing the best training possible to our nation’s law enforcement 

personnel. Thank you to all of our partners from across the law enforcement, professional and academic 

communities for your continued collaboration in furtherance of our critical mission to train those who protect 

the homeland.

Cover Photograph: FLETC Director Connie Patrick provides closing remarks at FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing in September 2016.
www.fletc.gov 3

Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

FLETCJ

2 Foreword 

5 Reflections on Leadership

9 That Which We Call a 

Warrior 

Finding effective ways to integrate and 

respect the roles of the “guardian” 

and the “warrior” is one of the most 

critical challenges facing police 

trainers and leaders.

23 FLETC Summit on 

Trending Issues in Policing 

The Summit served as an educational 

forum for FLETC’s training community, 

and aimed to advance the national 

dialogue on issues of critical 

importance to the law enforcement 

profession.

45 Blue & You Recent Gallup data paint a contrasting 

picture that is in “black” and “white.” 

This public portrait of contemporary 

American society highlights that 

police-community relations in the 

United States is in a precarious state.

51 FLETC Holds Annual 

Awards Ceremony FLETC hosted its third Annual Awards 

Ceremony, recognizing FLETC staff 

members who exhibited superior 

performance and significant 

achievements in four general 

categories during calendar year 2016: 

Instruction, Support, Leadership, and 

Teamwork.

The Impact of Racial Bias 

on Police Decisions

Implicit racial bias and police use of 

deadly force are at the forefront of 

the national conversation regarding 

reform. Page 31

Demystifying 

Mental Health

Departments and 

agencies are 

seeking cost 

effective ways 

to increase the 

competence 

of their 

personnel in 

working with 

persons with 

mental illness.

Page 13

Safeguarding Officer 

Mental Health 

Working in law enforcement 

exposes officers to far 

more abuse, injury and 

death than the average 

citizen. As a result, far too 

many officers struggle with 

alcoholism, post-traumatic 

stress disorder (PTSD), and 

depression. Page 37

The first step to improving police community relations is for law 

enforcement agency administrators and command staff to take 

responsibility to educate their officers and agents about why segments 

of the community distrust police and other law enforcement officials.

Moving Toward Effective Police Social Interaction

Page 19
4 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

The FLETC Journal’s mission is to explore and 

disseminate information about law enforcement 

concepts, research initiatives, programs, and trends 

that impact or will potentially affect law enforcement 

training. It is produced, published, and printed through 

a joint collaboration with the Media Support Division 

and the Government Printing Office. The printed 

circulation is 2,000 and it is also available electronically 

on the FLETC website at http://www.fletc.gov/aboutfletc

The content of this publication is written in 

accordance with the guidelines of the Associated 

Press (AP) style. Articles, photographs, and other 

contributions are welcomed from the law enforcement 

training community and academia. Publication 

depends on general topical interest as judged by the 

editorial team.

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CENTERS

FLETCJournal

Director

Connie L. Patrick

Graphic Art/Design/ePublication

Keith Gartman

FLETC Summit Photographer

David Tucker

Front Row (L-R): Lauren Ware, Michael S. Milner, 

Michael Hullihan, Susan Thornton. Back Row: Tim Miller, 

Preston Farley, John Stamp, Jen Tocco.

Where FLETC Trains

FLETC Domestic Training Sites

• Glynco, Georgia 

• Artesia, New Mexico 

• Charleston, South Carolina 

• Cheltenham, Maryland 

Domestic Export Locations 

• State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement

(Training Facilities Nationwide) 

Academic, Operational, and Program Support

• Singapore 

• Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center 

(Port of Los Angeles)

International Law Enforcement Academies

• Gaborone, Botswana 

• San Salvador, El Salvador

• Bangkok, Thailand

• Budapest, Hungary

• Roswell, New Mexico

International Training and Capacity Building 

Programs

• Delivered Worldwide

Online Training 

Available Worldwide

FLETC Fast Facts

Consolidation: Consolidation of law enforcement 

training permits the federal government to emphasize 

training excellence while keeping costs low. Professional 

instruction and practical application provide students 

with the skills and knowledge to meet the demanding 

challenges of a federal law enforcement career. They 

learn not only the responsibilities of a law enforcement 

officer, but, through interaction with students from 

many other agencies, also become acquainted with the 

missions and duties of their colleagues. This interaction 

provides the foundation for a more cooperative federal 

law enforcement effort. 

Integrated Instructional Staff: FLETC has assembled 

the finest professionals to serve on its faculty and 

staff. Approximately 50 percent of the instructors 

are permanent FLETC employees. The remaining 

instructional staff are federal officers and investigators 

on assignment from their parent organizations or 

recently retired from the field. The mix provides a 

balance of instructional experience and fresh insight.

Editorial Team
www.fletc.gov 5

Editor’s Note: At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, Sheriff 

Hart skillfully moderated the panel on the Warrior and Guardian Mindsets. The 

purpose of the panel was to explore the concepts of the warrior and guardian 

mindsets in those charged with protecting the public. Sheriff Hart guided the 

panelists in discussing the importance of imparting on law enforcement officers 

and other public safety officials not only the tangible skills essential to their jobs, 

but also the foundational character traits necessary to succeed in the profession.

A year and a half ago I read the report issued by the President’s Task Force on 

21st Century Policing, which provided a number of specific recommendations 

that law enforcement agencies should implement to improve operations and 

strengthen trust between the police and communities. As I read the report, I 

realized that while my agency was doing many of the recommendations, there 

were several areas we could make adjustments and improvements that would 

lead to better outcomes. I began to assess what full implementation of the report’s recommendations would 

look like within my agency and I weighed the pros and cons of taking such measures. 

I suspected I would get resistance from some of the tenured deputies, who may not be as flexible as newer 

personnel. My office, like most law enforcement agencies, is steeped in tradition and it can be difficult to 

make even the smallest changes. I knew that making adjustments to our policing style would be met with 

a degree of internal skepticism, but I firmly believe that leaders must lead and change was necessary, so I 

directed my staff to create a plan to move ahead. 

I knew our community would embrace the conversation and welcome the kind of change the report 

suggested. Communities across our nation are asking, and in some cases demanding, police reform. The 

President’s report provided us the opportunity to make major system changes in a relatively short amount of 

time. 

In January, 2016, I held a public meeting and invited the community and the media to attend. At the 

meeting I made a public promise to adopt all of the recommendations in the President’s report that were 

specific to law enforcement and I affirmed our agency’s commitment to fair and impartial policing practices. 

I convened a group of 20 staff members from all ranks and job classifications and a group of 20 community 

members representing a broad cross-section of constituents. 

Sheriff Jim Hart’s 

Reflections on Leadership

Sheriff Jim Hart
6 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

Over an eight month period, these groups discussed and evaluated each recommendation and action item 

in the report and crafted a response and implementation plan that reflected community values and met the 

needs of our agency. This was a lengthy and sometimes arduous process, but the time and effort was needed 

to make system changes and culture shifts. I have seen other departments fashion written responses to the 

report without involving the deputies who must carry out those policies, and I am convinced there are no 

shortcuts to produce culture-change involving deputies. 

As the work groups proceeded, they developed consensus on the issues and we created new programs, 

modified our policies and practices, and posted our responses to our website (www.21stcenturypolicing.com) 

so that community members could track our progress. We also updated everyone in our agency with regular 

progress reports so that deputies who were not participating on the task force could keep up. After eight 

months the work groups completed their task and we published the Santa Cruz County Sheriff ’s Report on 

21st Century Policing, which can be viewed at www.scsheriff.com.

Upon completion of our report, I held a final community meeting where I outlined our findings and 

discussed plans to continue our efforts. Community members, elected officials, police union members, and 

representatives from groups including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and 

American Civil Liberties Union were present and spoke positively about the Sheriff ’s Office’s commitment 

to reform and our efforts to grow relationships with the communities we serve.

During this process we made a number of significant changes to our Operations Bureau. Some of the 

changes were simple and some were complex, but all were intended to reflect best practices in policing, build 

trust and legitimacy with the communities we serve, and ensure that we are policing in a fair and impartial 

manner.

The following is a partial list of some of the changes we made as a result of implementing 21st Century 

Policing.

Building Trust and Legitimacy

1. We collect all stop and use of force data and analyze this information monthly. We post our stop and 

use of force data on our website at www.scsheriff.com.

2. We conducted community satisfaction surveys of people who called the Sheriff ’s Office for assistance 

during a six month period to obtain feedback about our performance. 

3. We improved our minority recruitment with 37% of all new hires being female and 51% being bilingual.

Policy and Oversight

1. We established a use of force review committee to review all cases where force is used. Additionally, 

we established a critical incident peer review program where managers and supervisors are assigned to 

meet with their teams and discuss the use of force incident in a non-punitive setting to improve safety 

and outcomes. 

2. We established a Community Observer program where members of the community are invited to 

attend selected training sessions to view the content of our training and observe how we train.

Reflections on Leadership
www.fletc.gov 7

3. Within 72 hours following Sheriff ’s Office personnel involvement in a critical/lethal incident, I will 

hold a press conference and release body worn camera data, the involved deputy sheriff ’s name, and 

other relevant information regarding the case to the community and the media. This was demonstrated 

after an officer involved shooting that occurred in November 2016.

Technology and Social Media

1. We have transitioned to body worn cameras for all staff working enforcement assignments.

2. We have dramatically increased our social media outreach using a variety of platforms including 

Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor, and Pinterest.

3. We diversified the task of assessing new technologies through the use of an employee evaluation group. 

When analyzing new technology we will complete a Technology Impact Report to assess the impact of 

the technology on the community to protect privacy rights.

Community Policing and Crime Reduction

1. We are focused on and committed to positive police-youth interactions and now have a school resource 

officer in all of the public high schools in our jurisdiction along with a memorandum of understanding 

clarifying their role on campus. 

2. We offered a Youth Academy for high school juniors and seniors that was well attended and successful 

in establishing new relationships with young people. 

3. We revitalized our crime prevention efforts to include free home and business inspections to prevent 

burglary and theft and emphasized foot patrol and continuous patrols at our schools and parks.

Training and Education

1. Our deputies receive an average of 100 hours of in-service training annually. 

2. We have integrated de-escalation training into our use of force training. Points of emphasis include 

communication, the use of time, distance and cover, less lethal options, and rendering aid following a 

force-related event.

3. Many staff members will attend Crisis Intervention Training and Procedural Justice/Implicit Bias 

training in 2017.

Officer Wellness and Safety

1. We adopted a mandatory body armor policy for all staff working an enforcement assignment. 

2. All deputy sheriffs will be trained in tactical first aid and receive tactical first aid kits in 2017; ballistic 

plates and helmets are now in every patrol car.
8 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

3. We require all deputies to wear their seatbelts and are closely monitoring officer-involved vehicle 

accidents to improve officer safety.

I learned many valuable lessons leading my agency through this challenging but productive process and I 

offer these insights to my colleagues who are considering transformational change through 21st Century 

Policing:

• Select and involve as many officers and staff as you can effectively manage in work groups, committees, 

and community interfacing. The more staff you involve, the greater the likelihood real change will occur. 

• Keep staff and the community updated on your progress by providing real-time information as it 

becomes available to avoid the impression the process is secretive and to reduce staff anxiety. 

• Be prepared to respond to skepticism and doubt from staff and not lose sight of the end goal of 

implementing needed change.

• Most of the officers who expressed doubt will eventually accept change once they are convinced that 

agency leadership is fully committed to 21st Century Policing and will not allow resisters to stall 

progress.

• Include community members from all walks of life in this process and find ways for them to champion 

the cause. Share their perspectives with staff to put a face on the call for reform. Different perspectives 

and viewpoints will also help you balance your final report with genuine input from the community 

members. 

• Act quickly and decisively as soon as you identify and feel confident in what you want to achieve. 

Introducing one item or issue at a time will increase the opportunities available for detractors to fight 

you on trivial issues. View this process as your chance to implement a lot of change in a short period of 

time.

• Building trust, accountability, and transparency is an ongoing endeavor that doesn’t end when your final 

report is completed. Find ways to measure progress, report on desirable outcomes, and make plans to 

update the community on the results.

Change is not easy, but it is not impossible either. The old adage “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” does not work 

in a demanding profession, especially during times of upheaval. We must engage in continuous quality 

improvement to keep up with community expectations. Working from a sound plan that reflects best 

practices is an effective way to lead your agency forward in a positive direction your officers will ultimately 

support and take pride in. 

Reflections on Leadership

Sheriff Jim Hart has worked for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff ’s Office for 28 years. During his 

career he held every rank in the office and he was elected Sheriff-Coroner in June 2014. The Santa 

Cruz County Sheriff ’s Office has 285 uniformed staff and 80 civilian employees. Santa Cruz 

County is located on the central coast of California and has 270,000 full time residents. 
by Charles Huth

THE ROLE OF BOTH THE WARRIOR AND GUARDIAN MINDSETS IN EFFECTIVE POLICING

www.fletc.gov 9
10 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Editor’s Note: At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, Captain Huth participated in the panel discussion 

on the Warrior and Guardian Mindsets. He presented his perspective on the role of both the warrior and guardian 

mindsets in effective policing. 

Law enforcement agencies seem to be confronted with a more intense level of scrutiny and criticism than any 

other profession. According to recent surveys, the ensuing tension has negatively impacted officer morale, resulting 

in some officers candidly choosing to back away from proactive policing for fear of being judged unfairly. This 

apprehension and uncertainty has led to some officers withdrawing from legitimate law enforcement functions 

that substantially contribute to public safety. As the challenges confronting law enforcement continue to multiply, 

police officers are looking to law enforcement leaders and trainers for validation and reassurance. 

In light of the ambiguity confronting modern policing, police trainers and academicians have undertaken the 

task of reconstituting law enforcement’s collective identity. At the same time, leaders, trainers, and motivational 

speakers continue to search for words that appropriately capture the spirit and resolve of the law enforcement 

culture, sparking deliberation over the best way to characterize contemporary police officers. 

Many experts, responding to a perceived increase in violence against the police, encourage officers to adopt what 

they call a “warrior” mindset aimed to help them persevere in the face of mortal danger. Others, citing the need to 

build trust and stronger ties with the community, criticize the warrior label as inviting resistance and discord. They 

instead advocate the use of the term “guardian” to context the relationship between the police and the public.

The police trainers and leaders who promote the warrior and guardian labels do so with the best of intentions. 

They are genuinely struggling to make sense of an intricate operating environment where ambush style attacks on 

police officers appear more common, and the perception by some that the police are disconnected from the public 

and law enforcement’s basic mission pervades public discourse. In reality, law enforcement officers must be trained, 

equipped, and prepared to defend themselves and others against violent attacks. Equally important, these officers 

must be capable of being compassionate and empathic as they are called to respond to delicate and nuanced 

situations. 

The terms warrior and guardian have been adopted 

as part of a professional lexicon that seeks to equip 

police trainers with a language to help them better 

convey the multi-faceted nature of police work. The 

warrior identity is appealing because it is most often 

associated with strength, heroic acts, and selfless 

service. The word warrior can conjure an image of 

a formidable protector possessed of stoic bearing 

and indomitable martial skills. Alternatively, police 

trainers that prefer the word guardian often encourage 

officers to value strength of character and intellect 

instead of over-relying on physicality and force. The 

guardian label is generally intended to inspire officers 

to resist the urge to view interactions with members 

of the public as “us versus them” propositions. 

The ongoing debate over the most appropriate way 

to describe modern police officers stems, at least 

The guardian label is generally intended to inspire officers 

to resist the urge to view interactions with members of the 

public as “us versus them” propositions.

That Which We Call A Warrior
www.fletc.gov 11

in part, from the ways in which the terms have been traditionally used. For all practical purposes, the historical 

understanding of the terms warrior and guardian have been rendered irrelevant. While this might be perplexing 

to those with a deeper understanding of their origins, more important than the historical understanding of these 

metaphors is the manner in which individual police officers interpret them. Labels can deeply inform one’s 

self-image. Today’s police leaders must appreciate the increasing complexity of society and recognize that how 

police officers see themselves—especially in relationship to those they are sworn to serve—has never been more 

significant.

Police officers often come into contact with people at their worst. When the police are summoned to handle a 

situation, it is often because emotions are running hot and the ability of those involved to think rationally has 

been significantly compromised. Further, the police encounter people engaged in acts of neglect and cruelty that 

are difficult for the average person to comprehend. The police—like all people—are naturally predisposed to 

accusing attitudes and emotions. Following repeated exposure to humanity’s darker nature, it can be difficult for 

some police officers to exercise empathy. This tendency to disregard the personhood of others can compromise 

their tactical awareness and interpersonal effectiveness. 

Police officers who see the world in this way tend to focus exclusively on their own subjective goals, objectives, and 

perceptions. This single-mindedness can blind officers to alternatives. They can see themselves as having to make 

a fool’s choice between working to build trusting relationships and being tactically safe. Seeing others as objects 

cannot only dull an officer’s sense of empathy and compassion, but it can effectively blind them to environmental 

cues that often precede violent assaults. Additionally, people are highly adept at detecting an officer’s non-verbal 

signals of disdain and contempt, which can discourage cooperation and invite resentment. 

Despite the rhetoric surrounding the nobility of the law enforcement profession, and in spite of whether we call 

them warriors or guardians, police officers are not inherently noble or skilled because they take an oath and pin on 

a badge. Only by consistently disciplining their minds can officers develop core values like nobility, tactical skill, 

and character, all of which can be leveraged in unique ways to strengthen public trust. Labels do not define police 

officers; police officers are defined by their actions, and their actions are informed by the way they see and respond 

to situations and the people around them. 

Police leaders should not disinvest in training 

courses—regardless of the metaphors they use to 

describe police officers—that prepare officers to 

respond effectively to violent attacks. Rather, they 

should ensure that officers are prepared to effectively 

deal with extreme violence while doing so in ways 

that don’t set them up to respond poorly in more 

benign circumstances. Officers should be trained and 

encouraged to adopt a way of seeing themselves in 

relation to their job and those they serve that helps 

them work safely while recognizing every contact as a 

significant opportunity to build or destroy trust. 

The fact that police officers are confronted with a very 

wide range of human behavior emphasizes the need 

for tactical and interpersonal skills. Law enforcement 

The word warrior can conjure an image of a formidable 

protector possessed of stoic bearing and indomitable martial 

skills. 
12 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Charles Huth is a captain with the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, with 

26 years of law enforcement experience. He currently serves as a staff inspector 

assigned to the chief ’s office. He formerly led the Street Crimes Unit Tactical 

Enforcement Team and has planned, coordinated and executed over 2500 highrisk tactical operations. He is a licensed national defensive tactics trainer, a courtcertified expert witness in the field of police operations and reasonable force, and 

the state of Missouri’s defensive tactics subject matter expert. He has a bachelor’s 

degree in multi-disciplinary studies from Grantham University and an associate’s 

degree in police science from Park University. He is a senior consultant for The 

Arbinger Institute. He also serves as an adjunct professor for the University of 

Missouri—Kansas City, and an instructor at the Kansas City Missouri Police Leadership Academy. He 

has 35 years of experience in the martial arts, with a background in competitive judo and kickboxing. 

He is an accomplished author and co-wrote “Unleashing the Power of Unconditional RespectTransforming Law Enforcement and Police Training,” a text book used in promotional processes and 

graduate programs. A veteran of the United States Army, he resides in Kansas City, Missouri with his 

wife, Shelly, and can be reached at: Charles.huth@kcpd.org

officers must be capable of dealing with bad behavior 

without emphasizing unhelpful distinctions between 

themselves and those they serve. Police officers 

should not be made to fear that being compassionate 

and engaged will compromise their safety. They 

should work to cultivate patience and control while 

being very intentional in developing their capacity 

for virtuous violence. 

Finding effective ways to integrate and respect the 

roles of the “guardian” and the “warrior” is one of 

the most critical challenges facing police trainers 

and leaders. Each role supports the other, and only 

by being committed to aspects of both can officers 

achieve the highest level of effectiveness. The 

common thread linking the guardian and warrior 

archetypes is the obligation to humbly serve others 

in difficult circumstances. 

Today’s police officers operate in a world characterized by complexity and interconnectivity. Information travels 

rapidly and the impact of police action is no longer localized. Police trainers must continue to help officers develop 

technical competency while simultaneously helping them learn to be responsive to others. Police trainers must 

teach officers to see beyond themselves and abandon unhelpful distinctions that distort their relationships with 

the people they serve. Inspirational language and tactical training can take officers only so far. The way for police 

officers to be comprehensively safe is to resist the urge to react defensively to criticism and prejudice and focus on 

constantly improving their character and the quality of their thinking. 

That Which We Call A Warrior

Police officers are defined by their actions, and their actions are 

informed by the way they see and respond to situations and the 

people around them. 
www.fletc.gov 13
14 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

Editor’s Note: At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, Dr. Keeney participated in the panel 

discussion on Mental Health Issues Affecting Law Enforcement Responses. She described how law 

enforcement can prevent tragedies from occurring through welfare checks during which law enforcement 

looks for imminent risks and through Crisis Intervention Teams, which focus on de-escalation and 

connecting people in crisis to available community resources.

“Most people with mental health problems do not commit violent acts, and most violent acts are not 

committed by people with diagnosed mental disorders.” 1

Over the last several decades, the United States has experienced a decline in the number of available 

psychiatric beds while at the same time witnessing an increase in the prevalence of mental illness. 

These changing dynamics, among others, have contributed to increasing levels of contact between 

law enforcement personnel and individuals exhibiting symptoms of mental illness. Whether being 

called upon to deescalate a situation in a public park, responding to a residence to conduct a welfare 

check, or trying to determine whether an individual poses a risk of violence to the community, law 

enforcement are expected to quickly assess the situation, establish rapport with those involved, 

and make decisions about the best way to ensure safety. In response, departments and agencies are 

seeking cost effective ways to increase the competence of their personnel in working with persons 

with mental illness. 

The Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,2 released in 2015, recognized 

the growing mental health crisis in our country and discussed the role of Crisis Intervention 

Training (CIT) as an effective approach to enhancing officers’ abilities to interact with individuals 

in crisis and deescalate situations. CIT has become a core part of mental health training for law 

enforcement professionals, and combining it with other training will lead to improved safety of 

officers and community members, as well as improve the outcomes for those with mental health 

problems. Before creating a training program for your specific department or agency, consider the 

population with whom you interact, the various roles your personnel have and the training they need, 

and who will deliver the training. 

Know Your Community – Identify Commonly Occurring Symptoms and Disorders to Tailor 

Training

The American Psychiatric Association has identified approximately 300 mental disorders;3 however, 

most of these are not of concern to law enforcement. To narrow the focus of your training efforts, 

understanding the population that you serve is one of the most critical elements to consider. With 

this knowledge, your training program can be tailored to focus on recognizing the symptoms 

of mental illness that are observed most frequently among those in your community who have 

contact with law enforcement. In addition, the training program can outline ways to approach and 

1Sherry Glied and Richard G. Frank. Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons from the Evidence. American Journal of Public Health: February 2014, Vol. 104, No. 2, pp. e5-e6. 

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301710.

2President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing: Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services, 2015.

3American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association, 2013.

Demystifying Mental Health: The Role of Varied Approaches to Law Enforcement Training
www.fletc.gov 15

interview persons exhibiting these symptoms. 

As an example, our agency, the U.S. Secret 

Service, has done its own research into the 

types of symptoms our officers and agents see 

in individuals with whom we have contact. 

Through this research, we know that people 

who come to our attention are more likely to 

experience paranoia (i.e., pervasive feelings of 

distrust and suspiciousness), psychosis (e.g., 

delusions and hallucinations), and depression 

and suicidal thoughts. Having this information 

has allowed us to prioritize our training to focus 

more specifically on these symptoms, and then 

as resources and time allow, to build on this 

basic training.

At the local level, officers likely will interact 

with individuals experiencing a much broader 

array of symptoms and mental disorders. For 

example, they may come into more frequent 

contact with people diagnosed with autism 

spectrum disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, 

and dementia, among others. Taking time to 

gather some information about the symptoms 

and disorders commonly experienced by those 

with whom your department comes into contact 

is one way to narrow the focus of your training 

program and make it more manageable. You can 

also work with your local or state Department of 

Mental Health to gather additional perspectives 

on the difficulties experienced by those you 

serve. They may already have statistics on 

prevalence rates and therefore be able to help 

you narrow the focus of your training efforts. 

Understanding the communities they serve and recognizing the mental health disorders that are observed most frequently can help 

law enforcement agencies tailor their training to specific needs. 
16 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

Know the Responsibilities of Your Personnel 

– Supplement CIT and Identify Training 

Content by Role

Once you have a more nuanced understanding 

of the community that you serve, take some 

time to understand your own personnel and the 

overlapping and unique mental health training 

needs that exist by role. Many departments 

have implemented CIT, which is a collaborative 

approach between law enforcement, the mental 

health system and 

consumers, family 

advocates, and 

community services 

in responding to 

calls involving a 

person in crisis 

or a person with 

mental illness. 

These programs 

generally involve an 

initial 40 hours of 

instruction and then 

additional training 

on varied topics on 

an ongoing basis. 

The curriculum 

is focused on 

understanding 

mental illness, 

ways to establish 

rapport and deescalate situations, active listening 

skills, special populations (e.g., children, 

veterans), psychiatric medications, and available 

community resources. The courses also involve 

scenario-based role-plays and often include site 

visits into the community to encourage dialogue 

and understanding with individuals diagnosed 

with mental disorders.

CIT curricula are robust and quite 

comprehensive, however, there are additional 

ways to supplement this type of training. This 

may include offering basic training to personnel 

who come into contact with the public; 

training on threat assessment to promote more 

robust welfare checks by both CIT and nonCIT officers; and more in-depth training for 

detectives, analysts, and others who may be 

tasked with evaluating and managing a person’s 

risk to the community over the long-term.

Most of your personnel will benefit from a 

basic knowledge of the common symptoms 

and disorders that 

occur among those 

with whom you 

have contact. One 

of the goals of such 

training is for officers 

and civilian staff 

(e.g., dispatchers, 

community outreach 

specialists) to bring 

an awareness and 

understanding of 

mental health into 

every interaction. 

This involves 

recognizing if 

someone is exhibiting 

symptoms of mental 

illness, and learning 

how to ask questions 

to gather more 

information about how those symptoms are 

affecting the person’s thinking, emotions, and 

behavior. Training for non-CIT personnel is 

important because there is not always the time 

or the ability to contact a specially trained 

officer or unit when dealing with persons in 

acute distress or those exhibiting other behaviors 

of concern. This type of information can be 

delivered in shorter time blocks (e.g., 4- or 

8-hours).

In addition, to add another perspective to 

Law enforcement officers are often the first ones to respond during a mental 

health crisis.

Demystifying Mental Health: The Role of Varied Approaches to Law Enforcement Training
www.fletc.gov 17

welfare checks, CIT and non-CIT officers can 

benefit from threat assessment training. In 

threat assessment, we are not only interested in 

assessing whether the person poses an imminent 

risk of harm to self or others, but also exploring 

whether the individual may be of concern for 

committing an act of violence over the longterm. This type of training encourages law 

enforcement to take a more comprehensive 

view of the person, including talking to others 

familiar with the individual; checking social 

media for concerning statements, tweets, or 

videos that the person may have publicly posted; 

and when indicated, checking in with the person 

at a later date. In addition, threat assessment 

training encourages officers to ask questions 

that may uncover information that raises worries 

about future risk, even if there is no imminent 

concern. This includes exploring the individual’s 

mental health, recent stressors, and behavior 

changes, all of which can augment an officer’s 

evaluation during a welfare check or other 

investigation.

Finally, more advanced mental health training 

may be indicated for personnel (e.g., detectives, 

analysts) assigned to assessing whether an 

individual poses an ongoing risk of violence to 

the community. For these staff, training may 

include information on how to evaluate and 

manage risk, understanding personality traits 

and their impact on how a person interprets and 

views the world, assessing how an individual’s 

mental health symptoms interact to influence 

their behavior, and even how cognitive bias can 

impact their decision-making about a case.

Know What Training Resources Are Available 

– Identify Who Will Deliver the Training

After identifying the content of your training 

and evaluating the needs of your personnel, 

you can identify what resources are available 

to facilitate the training. Some departments 

have mental health professionals on staff who 

can develop and deliver the training, while 

others may have the ability to contract with 

professionals. In the latter situation, the 

information that you have outlined about the 

population with whom you work and the roles of 

your personnel will help frame your discussion 

with outside professionals. 

In addition, some agencies work with their 

local or state Department of Mental Health to 

identify personnel who can offer training at no 

cost. Other departments have sent personnel 

While police officers may not consider providing services to 

people with mental illness as a primary duty, they often respond 

to situations that ordinary citizens and social service agencies 

are not equipped to handle.
18 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

Dr. Michelle Keeney is currently 

the senior assessment and research 

advisor for the Protective Intelligence 

Division of the United States Secret 

Service (USSS). In her position, she 

consults on protective intelligence 

investigations, conducts psychological 

evaluations of persons of concern, 

and delivers mental health training to 

USSS personnel and others with public 

safety responsibilities. She previously 

served as the chief of the USSS National 

Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) from 2007 to 2016. During 

her tenure with NTAC, she oversaw the center’s research, 

training, and consultation activities. She attended a joint J.D./

Ph.D. program, earning her J.D. from Villanova University 

School of Law, and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from MCP 

Hahnemann University.

through an instructor program called Mental Health First Aid,4 which is sponsored by the National 

Council for Behavioral Health. This program offers specialized training for those in public safety. 

After the initial investment for the instructor’s training and certification, he or she can deliver the 

training to your staff and others. You can also explore sending personnel to courses that are offered 

through companies and organizations focused on the training of mental health professionals. If these 

options are not available to you, look into whether a nearby district sponsors CIT courses or other 

mental health training and whether they will allow you to send one or more individuals to attend. 

Also, the U.S. Secret Service offers an abbreviated training overview on threat assessment, as well as 

understanding the impact of psychiatric symptoms in that context. Requests for such training should 

be made to the local Secret Service office in your district. 

Finally, either as part of a formal training program or as an informal part of your department’s 

community outreach, consider coordinating visits with local mental health consumers who are willing 

to meet with you at a community center or club house, or discuss their experiences over coffee. 

Interacting with the population you serve is particularly important when there is not a crisis, and 

further reduces the stigma of those diagnosed with a mental illness.

Demystifying Mental Health: The Role of Varied Approaches to Law Enforcement Training

4 For more information, visit https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/cs/.
Editor’s Note: At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, District Commander Abdussabur participated 

in panel discussions on Biases Affecting the Law Enforcement Community and Effective Police Social Interactions. 

He provided an overview of the successful model of police/community relations implemented in New Haven, and 

discussed the importance of law enforcement building relationships with communities before incidents that might 

lead to unrest occur.

Since the controversial shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, a national debate 

on police, race, and ethnicity has become the new norm of America (Chuck, 2014). Unlike the initial criminal 

justice reform debates that were fueled by over one hundred days of continual public protest that eventually 

erupted into riots and looting in Ferguson, the current wave of unrest emanating from Urban America has called 

for reforms in improving initial police contact with minority citizens.

Moving Towards Effective

Police Social Interactions

By District Police Commander Shafiq R. Fulcher Abdussabur

District Police Commander Shafiq R. Fulcher Abdussabur addresses a crowd of 400 about “Black Accountability” at a rally in New Haven, Connecticut.

www.fletc.gov 19
20 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Change Comes From the Top

The first step to improving police community 

relations is for law enforcement agency administrators 

and command staff to take responsibility to educate 

their officers and agents about why segments of the 

community distrust police and other law enforcement 

officials. Furthermore, law enforcement agencies 

cannot become obsessed with trying to critique the 

legitimacy of social movements such as Black Lives 

Matters, which has become its own lightening rod 

among police and law enforcement culture. As a 

21 year police veteran and now police commander, 

in the past three years I have sat down with Police 

Executive Research Forum officials, Federal Bureau 

of Investigation officials, Justice Department officials, 

Mayors, Congressmen, Senators, National Fraternal 

Order of Police members, National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People, the National 

Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, the 

National Organization of Black Law Enforcement 

Executives, and others who all are struggling to draft 

solutions that would attempt to calm the current 

racial climate between police and communities of 

color. Most all of, the dialogues have concluded that 

at this current stage of police and race relations many 

more challenges exist than initially thought. 

Often, many law enforcement administrators will 

act on their first respondent’s instincts and feverishly 

search for a quick fix to solution to “make it all 

go away.” Other immediate strategies often have 

included taking a closer look at minority hiring of 

candidates and the swift promotion of minority 

officers (for positions that were historically held by 

non-minority officers) as a neutralizer to community 

unrest. The most impulsive reaction is often to 

implement training on cultural sensitivity and bias 

reduction. Though all of these actions can potentially 

yield results, it is imperative that present day and 

future law enforcement agency administrators and 

command staff weigh their urgency to commit to a 

continued process of change and agency improvement. 

The most consistent and historical approach used 

nationwide has been a police department’s ability to 

maintain an open dialogue with members of the Black 

clergy. This by far will always be an effective tool in 

building and sustaining ongoing relationships with 

the Black community. However, in our current day 

not all Black people are Christian and not all Black 

people attend church. Therefore, departments must 

expand their partnership circle to include Muslims 

Imams, Nation of Islam Ministers, Black Lives Matter 

Representatives, and representatives from LGBTQ 

organizations. 

Many police officers and community members agree 

that the time to talk about race relations, religion, 

and gender orientation has been long overdue. The 

challenge in addressing race relations in America 

between the urban community and the police 

has always been finding the proper venue. Law 

enforcement agency administrators and command 

staff must create innovative post incident command 

Moving Towards Effective Police Social Interactions

New York City LGBTQ Pride Parade

Black Lives Matter March
www.fletc.gov 21

strategies that protect their police and community 

relationships from being destroyed by local and 

national catastrophic incidents between police and the 

urban community.

....The shooting of unarmed, Walter Scott on April 4, 

2015, in North Charleston, South Carolina, following 

a daytime traffic stop for a non-functioning brake light. 

Scott, a black man, was fatally shot eight times in the back 

by a white North Charleston police officer. In addition, 

the shooting of Walter Scott may go down as being one of 

the most provocative incidents that threatens the stability 

of American law enforcement and its ability to effectively 

police black Americans (Blinder,2015).

After such an incident, law enforcement agency 

administrators and command staff should mobilize 

community leaders, clergy, activists, select elected 

officials, youth representatives, and media to have 

intimate dialogue about the incident behind closed 

doors in efforts to preserve the achievements 

gained through their previous positive police social 

interactions. In most times of crisis, each department 

has one or two community negotiators. These 

should not be confused with hostage negotiators. 

Community negotiators are the few officers or 

command staff that have such a great rapport with the 

particular community in crisis that they are more than 

comfortable in engaging in heated discussions needed 

for the purpose of racial and cultural de-escalation.

Such community crisis engagement tactics and 

approaches unofficially exist in many departments 

and law enforcement agencies. However, they are 

not a part of the agency’s strategic plan and may not 

exist within their training divisions. Here is where 

the hardcore conversation begins. It is imperative 

that law enforcement agency administrators and 

command staff develop annual in-service training 

programs specifically directed at improving community 

engagement. In addition, new recruits must enter 

their academy training with an elaborate community 

engagement curriculum that will prepare them to be 

their departments’ front line community negotiators 

equipped with skillsets in racial and cultural deescalation. Workshops and curriculums for these skills 

must exceed Peace Officers Standards and Training 

(POST) standards and should take on an innovative 

out of the box approach. 

Scientific Approaches 

When asked about the best scientific approach, the 

response is often, “find the best practice.” From the 

current state of police and urban relations nationwide, 

previous alleged best practices regarding effective 

community engagement have not improved those 

poor relationships. Most POST standards only 

require entry level cadets to do four to eight hours of 

social programing. Many police and law enforcement 

agencies significantly lack diversity within their 

training staff, thus exacerbating stereotyping and biases 

on race, culture, and religion due to their direct lack of 

knowledge. 

The New Haven Police Department has taken an 

innovative step under Interim Police Chief Anthony 

Campbell. The police academy decided to certify 

department sworn staff (officers) to make up the 

majority of its police academy instructors. By doing so, 

the New Haven Police Department has been able to 

create a diverse pool of academy instructors who also 

are familiar with the issues impacting the department. 

A second unique feature is that the academy tasks 

cadets with community engagement projects that 

include working with the homeless population and 

working with community youth at events. Future plans 

are in place to have cadets acting as mentors paired New York City Police Department officers from the Transit Bureau meet and 

help commuters at MTA 42nd Street Station.
22 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

with urban youth during their six-month academy 

training. Like many urban departments, the New 

Haven Police Department is a predominately white 

male agency that police a majority Black and Hispanic 

urban city. However, these approaches have proven 

to maintain and increase good police and community 

relations. 

Getting Started

Moving an agency towards effective police social 

interactions begins with the agency’s commitment 

to “do better by its communities of color.” Mission 

statements must be reviewed and modified. Training 

instructors and command staff must be reflective of 

both the community that the department they serve 

and the content of the material being represented. 

Community partners cannot be called only during a 

crisis. A purposeful and intellectual discussion must 

be developed with the Muslim community, grassroots 

social movements, and the LGBTQ communities. In 

order to effectively embark upon that journey and be 

successful, police departments and law enforcement 

agencies will need to train their officers and agents 

to be their own first responders in addressing issues 

on race, religion, ethnicity, and gender within the 

communities they are sworn to protect and serve. 

References

Blinder, Alan, and Santora, Marc. April 8, 2015. Officer 

Who Killed Walter Scott Is Fired, and 

Police Chief Denounces Shooting. The New York Times 

Company. Retrieved on Friday 

January 13, 2017 from http://www.nytimes.

com/2015/04/09/us/walter-scott-shooting

video-stopped-case-from-being-swept-under-rug-familysays.html?_r=0 

Chuck, E., August 13, 2014, The Killing of an Unarmed 

Teen: What We Know About Brown’s Death. NBC. 

Retrieved on Friday January 13, 2017 from http://

www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/

killing-unarmed-teen-whatwe-know-about-brownsdeath-n178696 

Shafiq R. Fulcher Abdussabur is an author, public 

speaker, racial profiling consultant, entrepreneur, 

and urban based law enforcement officer (district 

commander). His unique views and approach to 

urban violence prevention, racial profiling prevention, 

and community based policing have been featured in 

the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, NPR-Where 

We Live, New Haven Independent, NPR-All Things 

Considered, WYBC-Electric Drum, New Haven 

Advocate, Russian Radio, BBC, PBS, New York 

Daily News, New Haven Register, Hartford Courant, 

and Al Jazeera America. Nationally, he is considered 

the foremost leading expert in racial profiling 

prevention and urban gun violence prevention due 

to his unique approach to community based policing 

as a key resource to urban violence prevention. The 

results of his “works in action” are best seen in the 

historical Dixwell Avenue area of New Haven. Mike 

Morand, deputy chief communications officer of Yale 

University, and that of State Affairs, coined him as the 

“Nike of urban development.” In 2012, he was elected 

as president of the National Association of Black Law 

Enforcement Officers, where he created a historical 

partnership with the Brady Campaign to Prevent 

Gun Violence. In 2014, he was listed as the 14th 

most Inspirational Black Muslim Men in America 

and the 2015 Man of the Year by the Connecticut 

African-American Affairs Commission.

Moving Towards Effective Police Social Interactions
Introduction

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) is preparing tomorrow’s law enforcement officers 

for the challenges they will face as they begin and move through their careers. While some law enforcement 

job tasks remain the same over time, emerging threats and changing social conditions create new training 

needs for both new and seasoned officers. As the Nation’s largest provider of law enforcement training, 

FLETC has a responsibility to ensure it continuously adapts to the environment in which law enforcement 

finds itself. 

FLETC brings together the diverse thoughts and expertise of more than 90 federal partner organizations, in 

addition to a broad spectrum of state, local, and international law enforcement stakeholders. The collective 

intellectual capital that exists at FLETC creates an ideal setting to debate, discuss, and explore the big issues 

law enforcement faces today. 

Leveraging this community of experts, FLETC hosted a Summit on Trending Issues in Policing September 

27-29, 2016, convening a wide cross-section of experts, stakeholders, practitioners, academics, and 

thought leaders to discuss, debate, and explore a selection of the most pressing issues in law enforcement. 

The Summit served as an educational forum for FLETC’s training community, and aimed to advance 

the national dialogue on issues of critical importance to the law enforcement profession. By proactively 

confronting difficult issues, FLETC’s intent was to help ensure that its trainers, partners, and stakeholders 

understand today’s challenges from all perspectives and that it ultimately provides the training our Nation’s 

law enforcement officers need to effectively do their jobs, remain safe, and protect our communities.

By Jennifer Tocco

TRENDING

FLETC SUMMIT ON

ISSUES

IN POLICING

www.fletc.gov 23
24 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Planning the Summit 

The Final Report of the President’s Task Force 

on 21st Century Policing provided a useful 

framework as FLETC began planning the 

Summit. Considering the topical areas the 

Task Force explored and other issues driving 

debate and change in the law enforcement 

profession, FLETC identified the following 

subjects for presentations and discussion at 

the Summit: Mental Health Issues Affecting 

Law Enforcement Responses, Mental Health 

Resilience for Law Enforcement Officers, Media 

and Community Relations, Biases Affecting 

the Law Enforcement Community, Body Worn 

Cameras, Effective Police Social Interactions, 

The Warrior and Guardian Mindsets, and Use of 

Force.

FLETC identified keynote speakers to kick off 

each day of the Summit. Retired Philadelphia 

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey set 

the stage for three-day event, opening the 

Summit with his perspective having chaired 

the President’s Task Force on 21st Century 

Policing. He described the six pillars the Task 

Force explored, including Building Trust and 

Legitimacy, Policy and Oversight, Technology 

and Social Media, Community Policing and 

Crime Reduction, Training and Education, and 

Officer Wellness and Safety. Commissioner 

Ramsey highlighted how challenging and 

noble the law enforcement profession is, and 

the significant responsibility FLETC has to 

train those entering it. On the second day of 

the Summit, Dr. Alonford J. Robinson, CEO 

of Symphonic Strategies, spoke about the 

challenges of disparate elements of a community 

coming together, and the gains to be made by 

partnering with and trusting one another. On the 

final day of the Summit, Executive Director of 

the Washington State Criminal Justice Training 

Commission Susan Rahr described her work 

in transforming police training in Washington 

State to a model based on critical thinking and 

decision making that incorporates the warrior as 

one dimension of the guardian.

Following each day’s keynote speaker, moderators 

facilitated panel presentations that included 

formal briefings followed by question and answer 

sessions. FLETC also facilitated smaller breakout 

sessions for particular subject areas during 

which FLETC curriculum developers had an 

opportunity to engage in detailed discussion with 

the panelists regarding potential modifications 

and enhancements to FLETC’s law enforcement 

training curriculum. 

Retired Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey opened the 

Summit with his perspective on having chaired the President’s Task Force on 

21st Century Policing.

Dr. Alonford J. Robinson, CEO of Symphonic Strategies, spoke about the 

challenges of disparate elements of a community coming together by partnering 

with and trusting one another. 
TRENDING FLETC SUMMIT ON

ISSUES IN POLICING

www.fletc.gov 25

Prior to panel presentations on the first day 

of the Summit, FLETC Deputy Assistant 

Director Ariana Roddini provided an overview 

of FLETC’s Working Group that explored the 

recommendations from the President’s Task 

Force on 21st Century Policing. FLETC staff 

reviewed the recommendations to explore ways 

FLETC might enhance, modify, or augment its 

training to help ensure it promotes public trust 

and law enforcement professionalism. Deputy 

Assistant Director Roddini specifically discussed 

actions FLETC is taking in the areas of 

leadership, communication, use of force, tactics, 

and officer wellness.

Overview of Presentations 

Law Enforcement Response to Persons with 

Mental Illness 

The intent of this first Summit panel was to 

explore the need for law enforcement officers 

and leaders to be trained in and capable of 

addressing challenges associated with responding 

to persons with mental illness. Laura Usher, 

Manager, Criminal Justice and Advocacy, 

National Alliance on Mental Illness, described 

how beneficial Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) 

training is in building trust between families 

and law enforcement. Taught by teams of 

law enforcement officers and mental health 

professionals, CIT training helps officers 

learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of 

mental illness and teaches verbal de-escalation 

skills. She discussed how critical it is to train 

law enforcement officers how to handle these 

complex situations, how to deescalate when they 

can, and how to respond appropriately to keep 

both themselves and others safe. Dr. Michelle 

Keeney, Chief of the U.S. Secret Service’s Threat 

Assessment Center, described her agency’s focus 

on preventing tragedies from occurring through 

welfare checks during which law enforcement 

looks for imminent risks. She discussed training 

law enforcement officers to conduct “mini threat 

assessments” during each contact, and the role 

of Crisis Intervention Teams in focusing on 

de-escalation and connecting people in crisis 

to available community resources. Lieutenant 

Sean Patterson, Training Coordinator for the 

New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) 

Emergency Service Unit provided an overview of 

the NYPD’s training and tactics for responding 

to persons in crisis. Special Agent John Delegan 

of the U.S. Capitol Police’s Threat Assessment 

Dr. Michelle Keeney, Chief of the U.S. Secret Service’s Threat Assessment 

Center, described her agency’s focus on preventing tragedies from occurring 

through welfare checks and “mini threat assessments.”

FLETC Deputy Assistant Director Ariana Roddini provided an overview 

of FLETC’s Working Group that explored the recommendations from the 

President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. 
26 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Section described how his agency teaches its 

recruit classes to ask the right questions to 

identify when someone needs help, as well as the 

importance of identifying other agencies that can 

collaborate on this issue. 

Mental Health Resilience for Law Enforcement 

Off icers 

The second panel of the Summit shifted 

focus to mental health issues affecting law 

enforcement officers, and specifically the 

need to increase acknowledgement of mental 

health issues and to reduce associated stigmas. 

Dr. Stephen Bishopp, Associate Director for 

Research, Caruth Police Institute, Dallas Police 

Department, described his research about the 

effects the law enforcement profession can 

have on officers’ mental health, and how they 

can build resilience by understanding negative 

emotions. John Marx, Executive Director 

of the Law Enforcement Survival Institute, 

discussed how policing is a “people business.” 

He described a model of comprehensive 

health, which includes both the mental and 

physical aspects, and noted the importance of 

officers being connected to the communities 

they serve. Mr. Marx explained how some 

departments address mental resiliency through 

short “roll call” training, and also observed how 

mentoring programs can support comprehensive 

health. Ms. Usher returned for this panel, and 

discussed actions agencies can take to increase 

resilience, such as offering officer peer support 

programs, encouraging dialogue among officers, 

facilitating collaboration between community 

staff and mental health professionals to identify 

the kinds of programs needed, reviewing 

policies that affect mental health, finding and 

cultivating mental health professionals who law 

enforcement officers can trust, and creating a 

culture of openness and mutual support.

Media and Community Relations

The purpose of this panel was to examine the 

importance of community outreach programs 

and the inclusion of community entities in 

policing efforts. Mr. Norton Bonaparte, City 

Manager for Sanford, Florida, described how 

his city experienced a breakdown between the 

police department and the community, and how 

they have bridged that gap through various 

community outreach programs. He also observed 

the importance of developing good partnerships 

between law enforcement and community 

organizations before an emergency or tragedy 

occurs. He discussed the importance of law 

John Marx, Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Survival 

Institute, discussed how policing is a “people business.” 

Norton Bonaparte, City Manager for Sanford, Florida, described the 

importance of developing good partnerships between law enforcement and 

community organizations before an emergency or tragedy occurs.
TRENDING FLETC SUMMIT ON

ISSUES IN POLICING

www.fletc.gov 27

enforcement officers sharing “who they are” with 

the communities they are working in, which has 

led to great success in building strong policecommunity relationships. Arthur Roderick, 

Law Enforcement Analyst for CNN and retired 

Assistant Director for Investigations for the 

U.S. Marshals Service, discussed challenges 

for law enforcement in communicating with 

the media, and spoke about instances in which 

good relations between law enforcement and 

the media have been helpful to both. Dr. Brian 

Williams, Associate Professor, University of 

Georgia, delivered a presentation on meaningful 

police and community dialogues, and how law 

enforcement can learn from past instances of 

unrest. He discussed the coproduction of public 

safety and public order, noting the value of 

being proactive in a coactive way, rather than 

reactive. Jennifer Elzea, Press Secretary for 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

observed that interacting with the media 

is part of her agency’s everyday reality, and 

therefore proactive media engagement can help 

ensure the accuracy of what the media reports. 

She described the role of professional public 

information officers in speaking on behalf of law 

enforcement, and discussed the value of media 

training so law enforcement understands the 

environment in which the media is operating. 

Biases Affecting Law Enforcement 

The purpose of this panel was to explore 

how cognitive and implicit biases affect law 

enforcement personnel, and specifically how 

awareness and training can mitigate negative 

biases. Dr. Lois James, Assistant Professor at 

Washington State University, presented her 

research on decisions to shoot, highlighting 

the difference between implicit and behavioral 

biases. Sergeant Renee Mitchell of the 

Sacramento Police Department discussed using 

evidence to drive what is done in policing, and 

observed how FLETC has an opportunity to 

create evidence about what works and does 

not work in training. Dr. Justin Nix of the 

University of Louisville described the need 

for more complete data in understanding bias, 

and the need for more research to evaluate the 

effectiveness of bias reduction training. Shafiq 

Abdussabur, Director Commander for the 

New Haven (Connecticut) Police Department, 

discussed the importance of law enforcement 

building relationships with communities before 

incidents that might lead to unrest occur.

Body Worn Cameras

This panel provided an overview of the 

advantages and challenges for law enforcement 

in using body worn cameras. Dr. Charles 

Katz, Professor and Director of the Center for 

Violence Prevention and Community Safety at 

Arizona State University, highlighted the various 

goals agencies have in implementing body worn 

cameras, including increased transparency, 

enhanced legitimacy and public safety, improved 

citizen and officer behavior, and opportunities 

to obtain better evidence. Seth Stoughton, 

Assistant Professor of Law at the University 

of South Carolina, discussed some of the 

practical limitations of and challenges with this 

technology, such as data storage concerns and 

District Police Commander Shafiq R. Fulcher Abdussabur, of New Haven, 

Connecticut, discussed the importance of law enforcement building relationships 

with communities before incidents that might lead to unrest occur.
28 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

their inability to always capture the complete 

picture. He also observed that there are lessons 

to be learned from the implementation of 

dashboard cameras in implementing body worn 

cameras. Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske of 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 

shared information about CBP’s body worn 

cameras feasibility study. He discussed the 

three phases of this study, which included 

implementation of the cameras in the training 

environment, limited voluntary field deployment, 

and review of the data and analysis of feedback 

from officers. Chief Matthew Doering of the 

Glynn County (Georgia) Police Department 

discussed implementation of body worn cameras 

in his county, and noted that he believes they are 

helping promote justice for crime victims in his 

department’s jurisdiction.

Effective Police Social Interactions

The purpose of this panel was to highlight the 

criticality of effective communication during 

police responses in establishing and maintaining 

community trust. Dr. Stephen James, Assistant 

Research Professor at Washington State 

University, discussed how to develop in law 

enforcement officers the skillset to understand 

the dynamics of communities in which they 

work. Shafiq Abdussabur, District Commander 

for the New Haven (Connecticut) Police 

Department, provided an overview of the 

successful model of police/community relations 

implemented in New Haven, which features 

bimonthly meetings between professional and 

law enforcement partners, a Crisis Response 

Team, and baseline community organizations 

and community advocates. He explained that 

this model has prevented escalation and discord 

when incidents occur because the community 

feels like it has a vested relationship with law 

enforcement and other officials. Osceola Red 

Shirt, Deputy Academy Director of the Indian 

Police Academy (IPA), Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA), discussed the dynamics of tribal and BIA 

law enforcement policing in the communities 

of which they are part, de-escalation training, 

and the IPA’s approach to training that focuses 

on coaching. Keith Calloway, Deputy Chief 

and Director of Training for the Chicago 

Police Department, provided an overview of 

his agency’s success in reaching out to diverse 

communities and discussed the importance of 

exposing recruits to the values the agency wants 

to see in its officers from the earliest days of 

their training. Chief Matthew Doering of the Glynn County (Georgia) Police Department 

discussed implementation of body worn cameras in his county. He believes they 

are helping promote justice for crime victims in his department’s jurisdiction.

Osceola Red Shirt, Deputy Director of the Indian Police Academy, discussed 

the dynamics of policing in the tribal communities.
TRENDING FLETC SUMMIT ON

ISSUES IN POLICING

www.fletc.gov 29

Warrior and Guardian Mindsets

The intent of this panel was to explore the 

concepts of the warrior and guardian mindsets 

in those charged with protecting the public. 

Commissioner William Evans of the Boston 

Police Department spoke about his agency’s 

commitment to engaging with Boston youth, 

embracing the city’s diverse community, and 

training officers in de-escalation while still 

focusing on officer safety. He discussed the 

importance of helping the community see law 

enforcement as a true partner, and observed 

that it is possible to stress the guardian mindset 

without giving up the warrior portion of the 

law enforcement mindset. Captain Charles 

Huth of the Kansas City (Missouri) Police 

Department explained his perspective on the 

need for balance. He observed that there is value 

to being tough, capable, and prepared, but that 

this mindset can lose value when it becomes 

about being ready to oppose. South Stoughton, 

Assistant Professor of Law at the University of 

South Carolina discussed the core principles 

of the law enforcement profession that harken 

back to Sir Robert Peel’s principles of law 

enforcement, which can help ascertain whether 

an officer’s actions were appropriate. He shared 

his perspective that warrior policing is a small 

part of guardian policing.

Use of Force Training and Policy 

The Summit culminated with panel 

discussions on use of force training and policy. 

Superintendent Kirk Kinnel of Police Scotland 

shared his country’s approach to use of force 

training, observing the importance of enhancing 

communication skills and officers seeing 

themselves as guardians of the people. Susan 

Rahr, Executive Director for Washington State 

Criminal Justice Training Commission, discussed 

the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) 

Guiding Principles on Use of Force. She also 

observed the need to connect de-escalation 

training with tactical training, the need for law 

enforcement to earn the trust of communities, 

and the potential value in standardized use of 

force reports to establish common data points. 

CBP Commissioner Kerlikowske described how 

the U.S. Border Patrol began training Use of 

Force Investigation Teams to evaluate incidents, 

and its expansion of use of force training in 

recent years.

In the second panel on Use of Force, Thomas 

Brandon, Deputy Director for the Bureau of 

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 

Commissioner William Evans of the Boston Police Department spoke about 

his agency’s commitment to engaging with Boston youth and embracing the 

city’s diverse community.

Executive Director Susan Rahr discussed the Police Executive Research 

Forum’s (PERF) Guiding Principles on Use of Force.
discussed agency changes to use of force policies, 

and specifically how some agencies have recently 

changed their policies for shooting at moving 

vehicles. Michael Ranalli, retired Chief of 

the Glenville (New York) Police Department 

discussed the PERF Guiding Principles on Use 

of Force, and the role of supervisors in promoting 

the right mindset in officers. Louis Quijas, 

former Assistant Secretary for the Department 

of Homeland Security and former Assistant 

Director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

discussed the importance of federal, state, and 

local law enforcement agencies reviewing one 

another’s policies, and the criticality of leadership 

in effective implementation of policies. 

Next Steps

The Summit on Trending Issues in Policing 

featured 30 guest speakers plus 9 panel 

moderators who addressed a broad spectrum of 

contemporary issues in law enforcement. During 

the Summit, FLETC facilitated smaller breakout 

sessions that featured in-depth discussion 

between panelists and FLETC instructional 

and curriculum development staff regarding 

training issues related to the panel topics. 

Following the Summit, FLETC formed working 

groups to further review these topical areas and 

recommend potential modifications to FLETC’s 

training curriculum to ensure it is incorporating 

current research and evidence. 

FLETC is continuing dialogue and work with 

researchers, practitioners, academics, and experts 

who participated in the Summit. Additionally, 

FLETC has prioritized a commitment to 

using research to help shape its curriculum and 

continue to ensure it addresses the most pressing 

issues facing the law enforcement profession. By 

bringing together leading voices in contemporary 

law enforcement issues at this Summit, FLETC 

aimed to advance the training community’s 

understanding of different perspectives, expose 

instructional staff to the training implications of 

current challenges and issues in the profession, 

and generate dialogue and debate about 

the important matters the law enforcement 

profession is confronting. FLETC looks forward 

to continued work with experts, academics, and 

practitioners throughout the profession to ensure 

it continues to reflect upon and train to the 

issues at the forefront of law enforcement.

30 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 17

Jennifer Tocco began 

her civil service 

career in 2008, and 

currently serves as 

the Strategic Planning 

Program Manager in 

the Director’s Office. 

She previously held 

positions in the Office 

of State and Local 

Training and the Rural 

Policing Institute. 

Prior to moving to Georgia, Ms. Tocco worked in 

the nonprofit and academic sectors. 

While completing her graduate studies, Tocco 

served as a research fellow at the Rutgers 

Graduate School of Education’s Center for 

Educational Policy Analysis. She holds a 

Bachelor of Arts with a double major in political 

science and history from Drew University, a 

Master of Education degree with a focus on 

educational policy and qualitative research 

methods from Rutgers University, and a Master 

of Public Administration degree from Valdosta 

State University. She also completed all doctoral 

coursework in educational policy while at Rutgers.
Editor’s Note: At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, Dr. James participated in the panel discussion 

on Biases Affecting Law Enforcement. She presented her research on decisions to shoot, highlighting the difference 

between implicit and behavioral biases.

Since the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the policing profession has experienced a turbulent 

couple of years. Allegations of racially motivated policing abound, and many have called for widespread police 

reform (PERF, 2015). Implicit racial bias and police use of deadly force are at the forefront of the national 

conversation regarding reform. Yet, despite assumptions that implicit bias motivates police deadly force 

judgment and decision making, a great deal of uncertainty exists concerning how bias motivates officers and how 

police training should be crafted to overcome implicit bias. Some studies assert that regardless of circumstances 

officers are more likely to shoot black suspects than white suspects (the “implicit bias” effect). Other studies find 

no evidence of bias in police shootings (the “threat” effect). Emerging research suggests officers may be more 

hesitant to shoot black suspects than white suspects (the “counter bias” effect). This article summarizes these 

lines of research, discusses their implications for police training, and introduces a simulation-based implicit bias 

training program designed from the research evidence to date. 

The Impact of Implicit Racial 

Bias on Police Decisions to 

Shoot: Research Findings and 

Training Implications

By Dr. Lois James

www.fletc.gov 31
32 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

The Implicit Bias Effect

Some researchers strongly assert that police 

are racially motivated in their decisions to 

shoot. This idea was enshrined in Takagi’s 

(1974, p. 30) famous statement that “the 

police have one trigger finger for whites 

and another for blacks,” and both field and 

laboratory studies have produced evidence 

to support it. For example, researchers have 

found patterns in officer-involved shooting 

data suggesting that officers are more likely 

to use deadly force against black suspects 

than non-black suspects when controlling 

for situational variables (Fachner & Carter, 

2015; Jacobs & O’Brien, 1998; Sorensen, 

Marquart, & Brock, 1993). Research from 

laboratories using seated “shoot/don’t shoot” 

button pressing designs have also found 

that, on average, officers tend to be quickest 

to press “shoot” when presented with armed 

black suspects (Correll et al., 2007; Correll, 

Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2002; Correll, 

Urland, & Ito, 2006; Correll & Keesee, 

2009; Sadler, Correll, Park, & Judd, 2012). 

Furthermore, in 2015 the Washington Post 

published a national data base on fatal 

officer-involved shootings which found 

that officers were more likely to shoot black 

suspects than white suspects, even when 

controlling for the dangerousness of the 

situation (Kindy, Fisher, Tate, & Jenkins, 

2015).

The Threat Effect

A second line of research claims that 

officers do not respond to suspect race, 

but to objective and legal indicators of 

dangerousness and threat. Some field 

studies have found that the influence of 

suspect race and ethnicity on police use 

of deadly force is insignificant in the face 

of community-level violent crime rates 

and the dangerousness of the suspect’s 

underlying offense (Brown & Langan, 2001; 

Fyfe, 1978, 1982; MacDonald, Kaminski, 

Alpert, & Tennenbaum, 2001; Mulvey & 

White, 2014; White, 2002). Additional 

support for the threat effect hypothesis 

comes from laboratory-based studies that 

found—despite quicker reaction times to 

press a “shoot” button in response to armed 

black suspects—police officers were not 

biased in their shooting decisions (Correll 

et al., 2007). In other words, officers did 

not disproportionately make the mistake of 

pressing “shoot” for unarmed black suspects, 

or pressing “don’t shoot” for armed white 

The Impact of Implicit Racial Bias on Police Decisions to Shoot: 

Research Findings and Training Implications

A white male suspect in a domestic disturbance scenario
www.fletc.gov 33

suspects. They responded accurately to the 

objective level of threat.

The Counter Bias Effect

A third perspective suggests that officers 

in recent years may be more hesitant to 

shoot black suspects than white suspects 

out of concern for the consequences of 

shooting a racial minority. For example, 

Dr. Roland Fryer of Harvard University 

found that officers from the Houston Police 

Department were 23.8% less likely to shoot 

black than white suspects (Fryer, 2016). 

Furthermore, experimental studies testing 

officers in deadly force judgment and 

decision-making training simulators have 

found that on average officers take longer to 

shoot black suspects than white suspects and 

are less likely to erroneously shoot unarmed 

black suspects than unarmed white suspects 

( James, Vila, & Daratha, 2013) despite 

evidence of implicit racial bias among the 

participants ( James, James, & Vila, 2016). 

A separate study of police involved in 

deadly force encounters provides a possible 

explanation for this hesitation – officers 

reported that, in the moment, they had 

been wary about using deadly force against 

a black suspect for fear of how it would 

be publically perceived and the associated 

consequences (Klinger, 2004). Evidence 

from these studies raises the possibility that 

officers’ concerns about the social and legal 

consequences of shooting a minority suspect 

may lead them to hesitate before using 

deadly force in real threat situations, thereby 

putting themselves at an increased risk of 

being injured or killed.

Implications for Police Training

Three very different sets of findings have 

emerged regarding the relationship between 

implicit racial bias and police decisions to 

shoot. Those supporting the threat effect 

are clearly the most encouraging—it is 

desirable for officers to make decisions to 

shoot based on objective levels of threat 

and not suspect race. The two bias effects 

(implicit and counter bias) are more 

concerning. On one hand, officers should 

not let implicit associations between race 

and threat influence their decision making 

process. Neither, however, should officers let 

the atmosphere surrounding police use of 

force against racial minority suspects cause 

them to hesitate in the face of real danger. 

Fortunately, in each case the training 

implications are the same. 

Highly volatile vehicle stop scenarios featuring white and black suspects 
34 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Police departments need to train officers 

to improve accuracy in detecting objective 

threats and in subsequent use of force 

decision making, using high-quality, 

scenario-based deadly force judgment 

and decision making simulators. Officers 

can become conditioned to ignore suspect 

demographics if they are consistently 

unrelated to the scenario outcome. Careful 

manipulation of scenarios within this type 

of training has the potential to reduce 

officer biases by exposing them to “counter 

stereotypes” 

(for example 

an armed white 

female). Effective 

programs feature 

threatening 

suspects that are 

equally as often 

black, white, or 

Hispanic, male or 

female, young or 

old, rich or poor, 

intoxicated or 

sober, and so on. 

Furthermore, this 

form of counter 

conditioning 

will also improve 

accuracy if an 

officer tends to 

be more hesitant 

to act based on suspect race, because the 

training improves overall decision-making 

based solely on objective threat indicators.

Counter Bias Training Simulation 

(CBTsim)

One example of scenario-based training 

intended to reveal and overcome biases in 

shooting decisions is Counter Bias Training 

Simulation, a 4-hour long simulationbased training program grounded in 

the experimental work from James and 

colleagues at Washington State University 

( James & James, 2016). Officers train in 

teams of five, each responding to different 

evidence-based, highly realistic “shoot/don’t 

shoot” video scenarios depicting a range of 

suspect demographics (race, gender, age, 

socio-economic status, level of intoxication, 

mental illness, etc.). Following each scenario, 

the responding officer is asked to self-reflect 

on his or her performance and identify 

what factors in the video he or she cued off. 

Team members 

are then asked to 

comment on what 

they may have 

done in the same 

situation. Finally, 

the instructor 

solicits additional 

reflection if he 

or she feels the 

trainees have 

not adequately 

identified 

motivating 

factors in their 

decisions to shoot 

or not shoot. 

The goal of the 

training is to get 

officers to make 

decisions to shoot 

based solely on the level of threat, while 

disregarding suspect characteristics. Two 

evidence-based processes fuel this goal: 

counter-conditioning (the idea that repeated 

exposure to scenarios in which suspect 

demographics are not predictably related to 

scenario outcomes dampens any stereotyping 

trainees may rely on) and self-reflection (in 

which any implicit biases can come to light 

in a non-threatening way).

Conclusion

An officer engaged in a deadly force judgement and decision making scenario 

at Washington State’s simulation lab

The Impact of Implicit Racial Bias on Police Decisions to Shoot: 

Research Findings and Training Implications
www.fletc.gov 35

References

Brown, J. M., & Langan, P. A. (2001). Policing and homicide, 1976-98: Justifiable homicide by police, police officers 

murdered by felons. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Correll, J., & Keesee, T. (2009). Racial bias in the decision to shoot? The Police Chief, 76(5), 54–57.

Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., & Wittenbrink, B. (2002). The police officer’s dilemma: Using ethnicity to 

disambiguate potentially threatening individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1314–1329.

Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., Wittenbrink, B., Sadler, M. S., & Keesee, T. (2007). Across the thin blue line: Police 

officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1006.

Correll, J., Urland, G. R., & Ito, T. A. (2006). Event-related potentials and the decision to shoot: The role of threat 

perception and cognitive control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42(1), 120–128.

Fachner, G., & Carter, S. (2015). An assessment of deadly force in the Philadelphia Police Department (Collaborative 

Reform Initiative). Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice.

Fryer, R. G. (2016). An empirical analysis of racial differences in police use of force (No. Working Paper No. 22399). 

The National Bureau of Economic Research.

Fyfe, J. J. (1978). Shots fired: An examination of New York City police firearms discharges. Journal of Political Science 

Administration, 9, 367–382.

Fyfe, J. J. (1982). Blind justice: Police shootings in Memphis. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 707–722.

Jacobs, D., & O’Brien, R. M. (1998). The determinants of deadly force: A structural analysis of police violence. The 

American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 837–862.

James, L., & James, S. M. (2016). Counter bias training simulation. Retrieved November 6, 2016, from cbtsim.com

James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. J. (2016). The reverse racism effect: Are cops more hesitant to shoot black than white 

suspects? Criminology & Public Policy.

The national debate regarding racial bias and police use of deadly force can be 

heated, fueled by disparate agendas, and lead to confusion and blame. The research 

waters surrounding the influence of implicit racial bias on officer decisions to 

shoot are murky. Much is unknown despite a large body of research dedicated to 

this critical and controversial topic. Fortunately, contradictory research findings 

point down the same path forward, with a clear training implication—high-quality, 

scenario-based training that teaches officers to focus on objective threat indicators 

and not suspect characteristics in their decisions to shoot. 
36 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Lois James, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Washington State 

University College of Nursing. Dr. James’s research on the impact of 

suspect race on police decisions to shoot has significantly advanced 

what is known about bias and use of force. She is the founding 

director of Counter Bias Training Simulation, a reality-based police 

training program, grounded in rigorous experimental research and 

designed to help officers identify and overcome implicit biases. She 

is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police 

Research Advisory Committee and has received several honors and 

awards for her work, including the Best Violence Research Award 

by the American Psychological Association in 2013.

James, L., Vila, B., & Daratha, K. (2013). Results from experimental trials testing participant responses to White, 

Hispanic and Black suspects in high-fidelity deadly force judgment and decision-making simulations. Journal of 

Experimental Criminology, 9(2), 189–212.

Kindy, K., Fisher, M., Tate, J., & Jenkins, J. (2015). More than 900 people have been fatally shot by police officers in 

2015. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/policeshootings/

Klinger, D. (2004). Into the kill zone: A cop’s eye view of deadly force. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

MacDonald, J. M., Kaminski, R. J., Alpert, G. P., & Tennenbaum, A. N. (2001). The temporal relationship between 

police killings of civilians and criminal homicide: A refined version of the danger-perception theory. Crime & 

Delinquency, 47(2), 155–172.

Mulvey, P., & White, M. (2014). The potential for violence in arrests of persons with mental illness. Policing: An 

International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 37(2), 404–419. PERF. (2015). Re-engineering training 

on police use of force (Critical Issues in Policing). Police Executive Research Forum.

Sadler, M. S., Correll, J., Park, B., & Judd, C. M. (2012). The world is not Black and White: Racial bias in the decision 

to shoot in a multiethnic context. Journal of Social Issues, 68(2), 286–313.

Sorensen, J. R., Marquart, J. W., & Brock, D. E. (1993). Factors related to killings of felons by police officers: A test of 

the community violence and conflict hypotheses. Justice Quarterly, 10(3), 417–440.

Takagi, P. (1974). A Garrison State in “Democratic” society. Crime and Social Justice, (1), 27–33.

White, M. D. (2002). Identifying situational predictors of police shootings using multivariate analysis. Policing: An 

International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25(4), 726–751.

The Impact of Implicit Racial Bias on Police Decisions to Shoot: 

Research Findings and Training Implications
www.fletc.gov 37

At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, Laura Usher participated in panel discussions 

regarding Mental Health Issues Affecting Law Enforcement Responses and Mental Health 

Resilience for Law Enforcement Officers. She shared information on Crisis Intervention Training 

and discussed actions agencies can take to increase mental health resilience for law enforcement. 

Michael Kehoe, retired Chief of the Newtown (Connecticut) Police Department led his department’s 

response to and served in the aftermath of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

By Chief Michael Kehoe and Laura Usher

Safeguarding Officer Mental Health

Before and After Mass Casualty Incidents
38 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Introduction: Why Officer Mental Wellness Matters

Police officers are carefully recruited and well-trained to 

deal with threats and ensure their safety and the safety 

of their communities. As a result, many people would 

assume that officers are more resilient than the average 

citizen – and they may be. However, working in law 

enforcement exposes officers to far more abuse, injury 

and death than the average citizen. As a result, far too 

many officers struggle with alcoholism, post-traumatic 

stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. In fact, almost 

1 in 4 officers has thoughts of suicide at some point in 

their life.1 And in the smallest departments, the suicide 

rate of officers is almost four times the national average.2

Between 7 and 19% of police officers have symptoms 

of posttraumatic stress disorder. 4,5 By comparison, only 

3.5% of the general population experiences PTSD.

Most telling, more police officers die by suicide than by 

homicide: the number of police suicides is 2.3 times that 

of homicides.6 The high numbers of officers with mental 

health conditions has nothing to do with weakness, 

and everything to do with the experience of trauma. 

Psychological trauma is a person’s emotional response to 

an extremely negative experience, such as suffering lifethreatening danger, injury, or abuse; witnessing the death 

or abuse of others; or losing a colleague in the line of duty. 

In the moment, trauma leads to an involuntary physical 

reaction: tunnel vision, tunnel hearing, shaking hands, 

knots in the stomach, and sometimes short-term amnesia. 

Most people who go through a traumatic incident 

recover, but over the long term some can develop serious 

conditions like PTSD and depression. Below are some 

descriptions of the aftermath of trauma, before the officers 

got treatment. 

When I got back to work after two months of medical 

leave, the chief called me into his office. The chief was a 

World War II vet, and his whole office was a memorial to 

World War II. He said, “I always like to talk to someone 

who has tasted a bit of the lead. You hear about these 

doctors, but you don’t need doctors. You just need to suck it 

up.”

So I did. I sucked it up for about two years. I was 

paranoid on calls. I was hypersensitive. It got so bad 

that once an elderly man asked me to unlock his car for 

him, and I made him stand 50 feet away. I couldn’t 

sleep. Once, my wife moved in her sleep, and I jumped 

up on top of her and grabbed her by the throat. When a 

new chief came in, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. I 

told him I needed help, that I had to go see someone. He 

took my gun and badge away for seven months. --John 

Edwards, Chief of Police, Oak Creek, WI, describing 

how he coped with undiagnosed PTSD after being shot 

in the line of duty 

I started feeling worthless. I had lots of nightmares, 

waking up in cold sweats. I started thinking about the 

baby that died, and all the other stuff came up too: the 

horrible crashes I’ve seen, the victims of sexual abuse, the 

victims of robbery, the bad guys, the friends who died 

in the line of duty. I thought, “I don’t want to be a cop 

anymore because this line of work sucks.” One night, it hit 

me: This job is not for me; I’m failing really fast. I tried 

to fight the thoughts, but I felt like I was drowning. I 

attempted suicide twice that night. --Sgt. Mark DiBona 

Trauma can affect people secondhand – like cops or 

health care workers who work with victims of violence. 

Trauma can even affect spouses of law enforcement 

officers, who know that their loved ones experienced 

life-threatening danger, or who learn about the details of 

violence: 

A year after the shooting, I was mentally and emotionally 

not functioning, almost to the point of not getting out 

1 Violanti, JM, Fekedulegn D, Charles LE, Andrew ME, Hartley TA, Mnatsakanova A, Burchfield CM (2009). Suicide in Police Work: Exploring Potential Contributing Influences. American 

Journal of Criminal Justice, 34, 41-53.

2 Violanti JM, Mnatsakanova A, Burchfield CM, Hartley TA, Andrew ME (2012). Police suicide in small departments: a comparative analysis. International Journal of Emergency Mental 

Health,14(3):157-62.

3 Violanti JM (2010). Police suicide: A national comparison with fire-fighter and military personnel. International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 33, 270-286. DOI 

10.1108/13639511011044885.

4 Carlier IV, Lamberts RD and Gersons BP. (1997). Risk factors for posttraumatic stress symptomology in police officers: A prospective analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 185, 

498-506.

5 Gersons BP. (1989). Patterns of PTSD among police officers following shooting incidents: A two-dimensional model and treatment implications. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2, 247-257

6 Ibid. 

Safeguarding Officer Mental Health Before and After Mass Casualty Incidents
www.fletc.gov 39

of bed. And even though I’m a nurse, I didn’t know 

about trauma—I didn’t know what trauma could do 

to a person or that there was such a thing as PTSD by 

association. I was so angry. I was mad at everyone and 

everything. I was depressed beyond belief, alone, and 

isolated. The first anniversary was a turning point. The 

media stayed away, and I realized it was going to start 

simmering down. I realized it was not my job to take 

care of Mike any longer. So I went online and googled 

“law enforcement spouses and trauma.” -- Lori Kehoe, 

describing her experience with PTSD and depression 

after her husband, Chief Michael Kehoe, responded to 

the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Fortunately, all of these individuals received appropriate 

treatment and support and subsequently returned to their 

normal lives. Most people who are diagnosed and receive 

appropriate treatment for a mental health condition can 

improve and recover. There is still a lot to learn about how 

mental health conditions affect law enforcement officers, 

but it’s clear that this issue urgently needs the attention of 

law enforcement executives and officers. 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness’s (NAMI) 

Project on Safeguarding Officer Mental Health Before 

and After Mass Casualty Incidents

A new guide released in 2016 moves the conversation 

about officer mental health forward. Preparing for the 

Unimaginable: How chiefs can safeguard officer mental 

health before and after mass casualty events, released 

by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) 

with support from the Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services (COPS Office) describes the challenges 

facing chiefs managing these events. The guide was 

developed after the COPS Office approached NAMI to 

provide assistance to the Newtown Police Department 

in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary 

School shooting. Newtown police chief Michael Kehoe 

identified the urgent need for a lessons learned guide – a 

playbook for chiefs on managing mass casualty incidents 

with particular emphasis on protecting and supporting 

officer mental health. 

Together, Chief Kehoe and NAMI hosted an expert 

advisory group meeting, bringing together chiefs who 

had experienced high-profile mass casualty incidents, 

as well as mental health clinicians that had supported 

them through these incidents. The meeting included 

Chief Kehoe; Chief Marc Montminy from Manchester, 

Connecticut, who managed the response to the Hartford 

Distributors workplace shooting in 2010; Chief John 

Edwards of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, who managed the 

response to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin shooting; 

and Chief Daniel Oates of Miami Beach, Florida, 

formerly the chief in Aurora, Colorado, during the 

Aurora Century 16 movie theater shooting. The chiefs 

were joined by John Nicoletti, PhD, a police psychologist 

who supported the Aurora Police Department after 

the theater shooting, and has consulted on numerous 

other mass casualty incidents, and Jim Rascati, LCSW, 

who provided mental health support after the Hartford 

Distributors shooting and the Sandy Hook shooting. This 

was the first such meeting to focus on lessons learned 

about officer mental health during these incidents. 

NAMI also worked closely with the International 

Association for Chiefs of Police’s (IACP) Center for 

A mass casualty event can impact the entire community, not just victims 

and their families. 
40 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

Officer Safety and Wellness for advice on best practices 

in officer mental health, and consulted with numerous 

law enforcement officers, leaders, experts in mental health, 

trauma, and media relationship. NAMI received feedback 

on the work in progress from IACP’s Police Psychologists 

and from the American Psychological Association’s 

Division 18 Section for Police and Public Safety. 

Lessons Learned From Chiefs Who Experienced Mass 

Casualty Incidents

The most important lesson learned about officer mental 

health after a mass casualty incident is that there are 

things chiefs can do now to strengthen their agencies, 

build resiliency, and prepare for an incident. Building 

resilience will benefit any agency --whether or not it is 

ever involved in a mass casualty incident. The chiefs said 

that the first step was raising awareness of the array of 

challenges associated with a mass casualty incident, and 

how those impact officer mental health.

The scope of the impact is larger than expected.

A mass casualty event can impact the entire community, 

not just victims and their families. It affects all agency 

personnel, including officers who were not on the 

scene and civilian employees. Officers whose lives were 

endangered, who witnessed death and injury and who 

processed the scene may have the most trauma exposure. 

But, chiefs were surprised at the impact on dispatchers, 

victim advocates, officers who assisted the families of 

victims, and even officers who were on vacation. Those 

who were not at the scene may have feared for the safety of 

their colleagues, been overwhelmed by picking up the slack 

on other calls, felt guilty that their contribution was not 

enough, or been reminded of a previous critical incident in 

which they were more directly involved.

In the aftermath of an event, there may be dozens or 

hundreds of offers to provide psychological support to 

survivors, families, and first responders. Chiefs often could 

not sift through these offers to identify those that would 

meet the needs of officers and the community, leaving 

them unable to quickly provide mental health supports 

to officers, despite the array of resources. For this and 

many other reasons, they advised that law enforcement 

agencies assign a mental health incident commander. This 

individual prepares for the psychological impact of a mass 

casualty incident, and serves as the point person before and 

after the incident. 

Beyond the psychological impact, the impact on the 

community is pervasive. VIPs might visit to support 

grieving families, media representatives will come to 

report, and well-wishers and self-deployed responders will 

come, but often have little to offer in the way of practical 

assistance. Makeshift memorials, candlelight vigils, and 

later commemorations, will become a regular occurrence. 

The community’s sense of safety will be disrupted, 

especially if the event occurred in a school, church, or other 

community center. All of this upheaval makes it difficult 

for officers to recover – there is not enough time, and there 

are constant reminders of the tragedy. 

The duration of the aftermath is larger than expected.

The duration of the aftermath was also unexpected. Media 

representatives might be in a community for days or weeks. 

Out of town visitors might come to grieve and provide 

support, leaving the city with weeks of clean-up. Gifts 

and mail arrive for weeks or months afterwards, leaving 

the community with a massive job of sorting donations, 

ensuring families receive letters of condolence, and 

screening out threats. In some communities, threats against 

chiefs, officers, survivors, and others in the community 

continue for years after the event.

Working in law enforcement exposes officers to far more abuse, 

injury and death than the average citizen. As a result, many officers 

struggle with alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 

depression.

Safeguarding Officer Mental Health Before and After Mass Casualty Incidents
www.fletc.gov 41

Steps Chiefs Can Take Today to Build a More Resilient Agency

Law enforcement leaders can take proactive steps to build a more resilient agency in order to help prevent mental health 

problems and address those that occur more effectively.

1. Take a personal interest in officer wellness: Chiefs do not need to become experts in mental health, but they can show that 

officer wellness is a priority by taking a personal interest. Simple actions like checking in with officers in-person after a critical 

incident, keeping an open door policy, and instructing command staff and supervisors to look after officers’ wellbeing can make 

a big difference. Also, by speaking openly about mental well-being, chiefs set an example and empower their officers to support 

each other. 

2. Form a workgroup on officer wellness. Working with command staff, supervisors, union leadership, and mental health 

providers, chiefs can decide what sorts of wellness supports officers need, such as education and training or an annual wellness 

check. While it may seem more expedient to implement an array of effective programs, it is important to start a dialogue and 

listen carefully to officers’ concerns. 

3. Support the creation of an officer peer support program. Many officers are more comfortable talking to a fellow officer than 

with a mental health professional about stressful or traumatic situations. By supporting the creation of an officer peer support 

program, chiefs can help ensure that officers get support quickly from someone they trust. And, by working with a mental 

health professional, peer support officers can help identify and refer an officer who needs more intensive services. 

4. Find the right mental health service providers to support your officers. Work with your employee assistance provider or 

community mental health providers to find professionals who understand law enforcement culture and are familiar with 

trauma. It is absolutely key that these professionals gain officers’ trust, so ensure that there are clear guidelines about how 

information from mental health professionals affiliated with your city or your department will be shared. To build trust and 

give officers more easy access, integrate these professionals into your agency’s day-to-day operations through officer training, 

wellness education programs, ride-alongs, and other events.

5. Review your policy and procedure around psychological services. Policies should ensure that a mental health professional, peer 

support officer, or supervisor checks on the mental wellbeing of any officer involved in a critical incident. Support should be 

available at any time, not just in the immediate aftermath of a critical incident, and agency policy should encourage officers to 

take advantage of natural supports (e.g. family and friends) and coping strategies (e.g., rest, healthy diet and exercise). Avoid 

using rigidly-scripted, mandatory group meetings that might require officers to relive a traumatic incident if they are not 

ready. 

Specifically, to prepare for a mass casualty event, chiefs can:

1. Assign a mental health incident commander: This person will help implement mental wellness programs, evaluate policies 

related to psychological services and serve as your mental health incident commander in a critical incident.

2. Build close partnerships with first responder agencies and other leaders in your community. Build close ties with community 

leaders, first responder agencies, faith groups, local media, schools, and major employers. Working together effectively will 

be the key to resilience for your entire community in case a rare, but catastrophic, incident occurs—such as a natural disaster 

or mass shooting. In the absence of a pre-existing agreement and relationship, multiple agencies responding to an incident 

can work at odds to each other, causing added stress and potentially endangering victims. Chiefs from neighboring law 

enforcement agencies can also make agreements about how to support each other personally, so that they can bring command 

and control to an incident with their presence. 

3. Make a regional or statewide plan to coordinate officer mental health services. Most law enforcement agencies do not have 

adequate mental health services or peer support officers to manage the aftermath of a mass casualty incident. Chiefs can 

work with neighboring first responder agencies to identify a large agency with a police psychologist on staff, or a peer support 

program, and make agreements about how those resources might be shared in the event of a mass casualty incident. 
42 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

The mental health impact also stretches across years. 

People are often diagnosed with PTSD years after a 

traumatic event, and officers are no exception. In the 

meantime, alcohol abuse, marital, and depression can have 

an impact on officers who are struggling without needed 

assistance. 

Officers can be traumatized and stressed many times over.

The stress that officers experience after an incident is 

not just from the traumatic event. It is also from the 

overwhelming workload, the constant reminders of the 

event, and the feeling that sometimes the things that 

they are doing are not important, such as providing 

security for a visiting VIP or managing crowd control at 

a charity run. Many officers felt such a commitment to 

serving the community that they worked overtime and 

would not take time off—leaving them with little time to 

decompress.

Stress can also come from the perception—real or not—

that fellow officers and command staff don’t have their 

backs. Officers might hear a supervisor say, “you’ve got 

to forget about it” or “just suck it up” and conclude that 

they are weak, or that they will be dismissed if they are 

struggling with a mental health issue.

Conflict and tension are common.

Within the agency, or among first responder agencies, 

conflict is very common. A shared traumatic event 

doesn’t necessarily unite an agency – to the contrary, it can 

exacerbate any pre-existing tensions. Some officers may 

feel like they deserve special thanks or recognition for their 

involvement in the incident, and resent if others share the 

praise. Officers may criticize one another for taking time 

off, suggesting that some officers are taking advantage of 

the situation. Agencies can be flooded with food, money, 

baseball tickets and other gifts, leaving officers resentful if 

someone gets more than their perceived fair share. Anger 

and resentment flare up towards the chief and command 

staff for heavy workloads and overtime. 

Also, pre-existing rivalries or lack of coordination during 

the incident response can lead to lasting anger between 

first responder agencies. One agency’s response may be 

considered lacking, or the cause of additional danger to 

victims or officers. 

The “hero” label is unwelcome. 

Officers expect and deserve thanks for their work in 

responding to a mass casualty incident; however, they often 

don’t want to be labeled as heroes. They may feel guilty or 

unworthy because they felt they made a mistake, or there 

were others who died. Being honored in a flashy, highprofile ceremony only makes those feelings worse. There is 

no one-size-fits-all approach that works for every agency 

or every officer, but chiefs cautioned against making a 

quick decision that is driven by the community’s need for 

heroes, rather than the officer’s best interests. 

The impact of media cannot be overstated.

Incidents vary, and the ones highlighted in this guide are 

particularly high-profile, but one lesson chiefs emphasized 

is that the incident rewrote the rules of engagement with 

the media. Media interest may come from national or 

international outlets, and can be pervasive. Chiefs spoke 

of misbehavior and misinformation from representatives 

of the media, of streets so blocked with media trucks that 

residents couldn’t get through their own community, and of 

requests for interviews on national television within hours 

of the event. 

Agencies were flooded with an overwhelming number of 

Freedom of Information Act Requests. Media scrutiny 

put agencies and sometimes individual officers under a 

Media scrutiny put agencies and sometimes individual officers under 

a microscope, and news reports were constant reminders of the trauma 

that officers have experienced.

Safeguarding Officer Mental Health Before and After Mass Casualty Incidents
www.fletc.gov 43

microscope, and news reports were constant reminders of 

the trauma that officers have experienced. The survivors, 

families of victims, and officers would become frustrated 

when new reports would cite “sources within the police 

department” for incomplete or inaccurate information. 

Officers came to dread the return of the media storm 

when the anniversary or trial brought the event back to the 

public’s attention. The presence of media can make it hard 

for the community and the officers to recover.

To deal with this challenge, chiefs can put in place a 

media plan in advance, with a blanket statement, a single 

point of contact, and a designated media briefing area. 

Most importantly, chiefs can deal proactively, rather than 

reactively, with the media – providing frequent updates, 

even if there’s nothing new to share, developing their 

own talking points and asking for the media’s assistance 

in getting out important information. By managing 

the media, rather than reacting, chiefs can help insulate 

their communities from misbehavior and mitigate the 

impact on officers. In addition, to support the community, 

agencies can notify survivors, families of victims, and 

officers when relevant information will be released to the 

media. 

Chiefs face a leadership challenge.

For chiefs, a mass casualty incident may be the most 

challenging event of their career. Managing the volume 

of responsibilities can be overwhelming and require 

significant support and delegation. In addition to 

managing the investigation, agencies may be responsible 

for increased security in public places, traffic and crowd 

control, the logistics of funerals, security for visiting 

dignitaries, support to families of victims, and numerous 

other responsibilities. 

Chiefs may become the focus of anger or resentment 

when the overwhelming demands on the agency mean 

that officers have to work overtime. And chiefs will be 

in the unenviable position of mediating conflicts with 

other agencies, or among officers. All the while, they may 

be concerned for the well-being of officers but unsure of 

how to connect officers to the right kind of mental health 

support. 

How to Assist a Fellow Officer After a 

Critical Incident

A mental health professional, supervisor, or fellow 

officer should check in as soon as possible with 

any officer who has been involved in a traumatic 

incident. This conversation can be brief and doesn’t 

require any specialized training—just common sense 

and genuine concern. Here are some steps to take 

include:

1. Ensure the officer’s safety. Make sure that the officer is 

safe and uninjured. If the immediate threat has passed, 

this may be obvious, but it is generally best to ask if he 

or she needs medical care and to provide reassurance of 

safety.

2. Provide practical assistance. The officer may need food, 

water, a ride home, or a call to a family member.

3. Offer to talk. Let the officer know you are available to 

listen. For example, say, “That was an awful situation. 

I’m sorry you had to go through it. Do you want 

to talk?” If he or she does not want to talk, don’t be 

surprised and don’t push it.

4. Listen attentively. Some people will want to talk 

through what they experienced and others will not. Do 

not worry about fixing the problem, and do not feel like 

you need to ask detailed follow-up questions. 

5. Reassure. If the officer seems upset, reassure him or her 

that whatever reaction they are having is normal. You 

can also offer a hug. If they feel fine, that’s also okay. 

For example, you could say, “There’s nothing wrong 

with you. You are having a normal reaction to an 

abnormal situation.” 

6. Make sure the officer gets home safely and leave a 

number to call. Before you leave, give the officer your 

phone number or the number of a 24-hour helpline—

somewhere they can call day or night. 

Chiefs are not immune to the experience of trauma, and 

just like officers, may experience a variety of reactions. 

In the face of media scrutiny and with an increased 

workload, chiefs are under pressure to maintain control. 

In these situations, it is vitally important that chiefs get 

support from their neighboring agencies, and get personal 
44 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

support from family, friends, or other chiefs. Chiefs said, 

of all the self-deployed responders, fellow chiefs were 

the most helpful. They could trust a fellow chief to take 

control of tasks, provide personal support, and provide a 

voice of leadership when the chief is not the room.

Conclusion

The experience of chiefs who have endured mass casualty 

events emphasizes the need for careful planning to 

address officer mental health concerns. All officers face 

some trauma and mental health impact in the course of 

their day-to-day work, so it is important to be proactive 

about wellness supports, whether or not an agency 

anticipates ever experiencing a mass casualty incident.

To learn more about this important work, and to read the 

guide, visit www.nami.org/lawenforcement.

• Listen carefully.

• Be patient and sit 

with him or her for a 

few minutes.

• Encourage him or her 

to go home, get some 

sleep, eat, or call a 

friend.

• Leave if asked to, 

but make sure to 

leave behind a phone 

number in case they 

want to talk later.

• Tell him or her to 

suck it up and get 

back to work.

• Ask for details of the 

incident to satisfy 

your curiosity.

• Get side-tracked 

telling a story about 

your own experience.

Dos and Don’ts

for Supporting a Fellow Officer

DO DON’T

Laura Usher is the senior manager, criminal justice and advocacy with the National Alliance on Mental Illness 

(NAMI). She leads NAMI’s initiative promoting engagement in mental health services and advocates for 

NAMI’s criminal justice priorities, including reforms to policing, jails and reentry to better serve people with 

mental illness involved in the justice system. Previously, she served for eight years as NAMI’s program manager 

for crisis intervention teams, assisting law enforcement agencies nationwide in improving responses to people in 

the community experiencing mental health crises. She is the co-author of several reports, including Engagement: 

A New Standard for Mental Health Care; Responding to Youth with Mental Health Needs: A CIT for Youth 

Implementation Manual; Grading the States 2009: A Report on America’s Health Care System for Adults with 

Serious Mental Illness, and State Mental Health Cuts: The Continuing Crisis.

Michael Kehoe retired as chief of police from the Newtown, CT Police in 2016. He is best known for managing 

the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He joined the department in 1978 and 

was named chief in 2001. He has served as president of the Fairfield County’s Chiefs of Police Association and 

served on the board of directors of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association as vice president. He held positions 

as board co-chair of the Newtown Prevention Council and member of the supervisory board of the Multidisciplinary Investigation Team of Greater Danbury, which coordinates the activities of agencies involved in 

the investigation of criminal-level child abuse cases. He also served as chairman of the Statewide Narcotics Task 

Force Policy Board and is a member of the Connecticut Coalition for Drug Endangered Children. He holds 

a master’s degree in business administration from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor’s degree in 

criminal justice administration from Western Connecticut State University. Additionally, he graduated from 

the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Program and from the IACP National Law Enforcement 

Leadership Institute on Violence Against Women.

Safeguarding Officer Mental Health Before and After Mass Casualty Incidents
www.fletc.gov 45

Editor’s Note: At FLETC’s Summit on Trending Issues in Policing, Dr. Williams delivered a presentation on meaningful police 

and community dialogues, and how law enforcement can learn from past instances of unrest. He discussed the coproduction of 

public safety and public order, noting the value of being proactive in a coactive way, rather than reactive.

Introduction

Recent Gallup data paint a contrasting picture that is in “black” and “white.” This public portrait of contemporary 

American society highlights that police-community relations in the United States is in a precarious state. As a result of 

high profile incidents of negative police-citizen encounters, many law enforcement agencies across the nation are dealing 

with a “blue suit generalization phenomenon,” an occurrence when segments of the public paint the profession of policing 

and police officers with dark, brooding strokes (Williams, 1998). These local encounters, which have resulted in the deaths 

of unarmed citizens as well as police officers, have often been captured and transmitted nationally and globally by the 

technology of our information society, thus impacting public trust and public confidence. 

In many minority and historically marginalized communities, these incidents are reminders of the dark, desolate, and 

discriminatory days of old. As a consequence, the historical narrative of the coercive “power-over” approach to public safety 

and public order seems to be the modus operandi and contradicts the co-active or “power-with” approach to community 

well-being that the public now expects (Follett, 1918). These perceptual realities are counterproductive to current efforts to 

utilize the public as partners, co-creators, co-designers, co-deliverers, or collaborators in the co-production of public safety 

and public order (Thomas, 2012; Williams, Kang and Johnson, 2016).

Blue & You

By Dr. Brian N. Williams

Youth - Led Police -Community Forum:

“An Overview of a Community Conversation”
46 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

National Total

Non-Hispanic Whites

Blacks

Hispanic

% Very Fairly % Fairly % Unfairly

June 15 - July 10, 2015

23

29

8

15

50

49

44

56

20

16

33

23

GALLUP

Public Perception of Police Treatment 

of Racial Minorities

Fair and Unfair Treatment by the Police

How would you say local police in your area treat racial minorities including blacks --

very fairly, fairly, unfairly (or) very unfairly?

% Very Unfairly

5

3

15

6

Total

Live in Urban Area

Live in Non-Urban Area

% % % %

2006 - 2014 aggregated data

57

54

58

61

62

60

34

26

38

57

54

59

GALLUP

Confidence in Police by Race and Place

Confidence in Police by Race and Place of Residence

Figures are percentages saying they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in 

the police.

Non-Hispanic

Whites

Non-Hispanic

Blacks Hispanic All

Americans
www.fletc.gov 47

Co-Production of Public Services to Address Wicked 

and Super Wicked Problems

Co-production refers to the active involvement of 

citizens (or users), non-governmental organizations, 

and institutions with public sector agencies and 

professionals in the design or creation and delivery 

of services. This approach is more co-active in nature, 

and less dependent on the reactive and proactive 

tendencies that have dominated the public service 

delivery landscape, in general, and the delivery 

of police services, in particular. As a cooperative, 

coordinated and collaborative approach, coproduction reflects an alternative arrangement to 

enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of producing 

and distributing needed services. This arrangement 

encourages an expanded role for non-profits, private 

firms, informal communal organizations, and citizens 

to play in assisting public sector organizations and 

their professionals in the design and delivery of 

public services. Yet, the challenges, impediments, and 

obstacles described in the preceding paragraphs limit 

the effectiveness of law enforcement in attracting and 

assembling the needed partners or co-creators and codelivers of public services – individuals, communities, 

institutions, and organizations - to understand and 

address wicked and super wicked problems that they 

face on a local to global scale. 

Law enforcement agencies and their agents have 

order maintenance and social regulation functions 

to enforce laws that suppress offensive behavior. 

These functions are extremely challenging in today’s 

“wicked” and “super wicked” problem environment 

of law enforcement. Wicked problems reflect those 

issues that defy clear resolutions due to the immensity 

of interdependencies, complexities, and uncertainties, 

as well as the increasing and often inherent conflicts 

among stakeholders (Rittel and Webber, 1973). On 

the local level, a wicked problem like combating 

opioid addiction is difficult for law enforcement to 

completely understand and address. When a problem 

advances in scale and scope and goes from local to 

global – like sex trafficking – this issue becomes a 

‘super wicked problem’ and is exponentially more 

difficult to appreciate and mitigate (Lazarus, 2010). 

The capability of law enforcement agencies to fully 

understand much less solve local wicked problems 

as well as global super wicked ones on their own has 

proven to be overwhelming and is a mission that 

is impossible without the support and assistance of 

others in the co-production of public safety and public 

order.

From this backdrop, the Blue & You, Youth-Led 

Police-Community Forum was conceived, codesigned, and co-delivered. The paragraphs below 

provide a synopsis of the co-creative and co-productive 

aspects of the Forum. 

The Blue & You Police-Community Forum

The Background

In light of the high profile negative incidents between 

unarmed citizens and police, an opportunity was 

present to leverage the national conversation on 

the current state of police-community relations to 

identify opportunities to enhance the local relationship 

between the public and the police. An asset-based 

approach to community development (Cunningham 

& Mathie, 2002) was used to identify assets – those 

local public and non-profit organizations who could 

assist in co-creating and co-delivering a meaningful 

dialogue or community conversation. Four local 

non-profit organizations, all who serve minority 

youth, agreed to participate as co-convening youth 

development organizations: the Boys & Girls Club 

of Athens, Chess and Community, Delta Psi Boulé of 

Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and Flanigan’s Portrait 

Studio. These non-profit organizations were joined by 

four local law enforcement agencies: Athens-Clarke 

County Police Department, Clarke County Sheriffs 

Office, Clarke School District Police Department, 

and the University of Georgia Police Department. 

These co-convening organizations and agencies 

were supplemented by three additional facilitating 

organizations or institutions: the University of 

Georgia’s J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership 

Development – a unit of a state agency; Community 

Connections of Northeast Georgia – a regional non-
48 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18

With these populations in mind, the convening and facilitating organizations developed and agreed upon 

the following goal: “To enhance understanding, improve communications, and encourage a better working 

relationship between youth and teens of our community with local law enforcement agencies” in an effort “to 

humanize the other.” 

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA School of Public & International Affairs

Department of Public Administration & Policy

Blue & You Forum: Purposeful Populations

At-Promise

Focal

Impact

• NEGA Youth/Teens

• NEGA Parents/Caretakers

• A-CC Youth/Teens

• A-CC Parents/Caretakers

• A-CC Youth/Teens with 

negative experiences with 

law enforcement

• A-CC Parents/Caretakers

profit; and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity’s Grand Commission on Young African-American Males – a commission 

within a national, fraternal/philanthropic organization.

These organizations and institutions reached consensus on targeting three “purposeful populations:”

• The “at–promise” population of (as opposed to what is commonly viewed as “at-risk”) youth, teens, their 

parents/guardians, and caretakers from the Northeast region of the state of Georgia;

• The “focal” population of youth, teens, their parents/guardians, and caretakers from Athens-Clarke 

County, Georgia; and 

• The “impact” population of youth and teens, their parents/guardian, and caretakers who have had 

negative encounters with the police.
www.fletc.gov 49

 Perspective Taking

A primary source of conflict in terms of policecommunity relations is the innate inability for 

a person to see and appreciate things from the 

perspectives of others. The Blue & You Forum was 

developed to leverage perspective taking as a strategy 

to improve empathy and lessen social conflict, 

thereby strengthening relationships between the 

public and the police. In particular, it utilized the 

reflective structured dialogue approach to surface and 

thereby appreciate the countervailing pressures and 

realities when considering the perspective of self, the 

perspective of others, and the perspective of a neutral, 

third party. 

Reflective Structured Dialogue

The relationshipcentered, reflective 

structured 

dialogue approach 

to community 

conversations was 

utilized to enable 

participants – 

both members 

of the public 

and local law 

enforcement - 

to share their 

perspectives and 

experiences and to 

explore clarifying 

questions 

regarding their perspectives and the perspectives 

of others. As a constructive approach to conflict 

understanding and resolution, this technique was used 

as a cornerstone to build, sustain, and/or restore trust 

between the police and the community to improve 

collaborative efforts and actions (Herzig & Chasin, 

2006). Based upon the assessment of data found in 

the Forum’s after action report, this approach proved 

to be effective in appreciating the perspectives of, and 

hence humanizing the other. 

Conclusion

Sir Robert Peel in 1829 noted, “The police at all times 

should maintain a relationship with the public that 

gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are 

the public and the public are the police...” (Emsley, 

2014). These words of yesterday ring ever true today. 

Law enforcement in America faces many challenges, 

including public perception of excessive use of force, 

concerns related to transparency and accountability, 

and fiscal stress and budgetary constraints. These 

impediments are much more complex when 

considering the historical legacy of some demographic 

populations in our country who continue to be 

affected by the haunting specter, real or imagined, 

of racial inequality within the United States that 

some view is supported and sustained by the criminal 

justice system, in 

general, and law 

enforcement, in 

particular. This 

article provides an 

example of how 

to leverage the 

moment to bridge 

the gap between 

segments of our 

community with 

law enforcement. 

It offers a 

blueprint of how 

to be proactive, 

in a coactive 

way instead 

of being reactive in addressing the current divide 

that negatively impacts the co-production of public 

safety and public order. By utilizing the perspective 

taking approach to reflective structured dialogues, 

meaningful community conversations are possible that 

allows all participants the opportunity to learn from 

the past its impact on the present in order to plan 

for a brighter future in terms of police-community 

relations. From out of the darkness, light does shine 

when the other has been humanized. 

Chief Scott Freeman of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department participates with students as 

part of the Blue & You opening reception and forum held last Spring in Athens, Georgia.
50 FLETCJ Spring - Summer 2017 Volume 18 

References

Cunningham, G., & Mathie, A. (2002). Asset-Based Community Development: An Overview. Coady International 

Institute. Retrieved February, 4, 2009.

Emsley, C. (2014). Peel’s Principles, Police Principles. In The Future of Policing, Judith Brown, Ed. New York: 

Routledge. Pp. 11-22.

Follett, M.P. (1918). The New State: Group Organization the Solution of Popular Government. University Park, PA: 

Pennsylvania State University Press.

Herzig, M. & Chasin, L. (2006). Fostering Dialogue Across Divides: A Nuts and Bolts Guide form the Public 

Conversations Project. Watertown, MA: Public Conversations Project.

Lazarus, R.J. (2008). “Super wicked problems and climate change: Restraining the present to liberate the future.” 

Cornell L. Rev., 94, p.1153.

Rittel, H. and Webber, M. (1973). “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning.” Policy Sciences 4:155-169.

Thomas, J. C. (2012). Citizen, Customer, Partner: Engaging the Public in Public Management. Armonk, NY: M.E. 

Sharpe.

Williams, B. N. (1998). Citizen Perspectives on Community Policing: A Case Study in Athens, Georgia. Albany, NY: 

State University of New York Press.

Williams, B. N., Kang, S. & Johnson, J. (2016). “(Co)-Contamination as the Dark Side of Co-Production: Public 

Value Failures in Co-production Processes.” Public Management Review 18(5), 692-717. 

Brian N. Williams is an associate professor of public administration 

& policy in the School of Public & International Affairs at The 

University of Georgia, after previous faculty appointments at Florida 

State University and Vanderbilt University. His research centers on 

issues related to demographic diversity, local law enforcement, and 

public governance, with special attention devoted to the co-production 

of public safety and public order, inclusive of how the experiences 

and perceptions of individuals affect the formation and functioning 

of working partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and 

community residents.

He has served as a trainer, consultant and subject matter expert with police departments or public 

safety related agencies and other governmental and non-governmental entities. He has published in 

leading journals in public administration, community psychology, education, and police studies and 

is the author of Citizen Perspectives on Community Policing: A Case Study in Athens, GA (State 

University of New York Press). He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Public 

Management & Social Policy and has served on the editorial board of Police Quarterly, and as a 

reviewer for other academic journals and university and commercial presses.
FLETC Holds Annual Awards Ceremony

On March 8th, 2017, FLETC hosted its third Annual Awards Ceremony, recognizing FLETC staff members who 

exhibited superior performance and significant achievements in four general categories during calendar year 2016: 

Instruction, Support, Leadership, and Teamwork.

Instructor of the Year Award

A highlight of this year’s awards ceremony was the official dedication of the Instructor of the Year award as the “Greg 

King Instructor of the Year Award,” in memory of Greg King (see back cover), the recipient of the award in 2015 and 

an instructor who exemplified the qualities the award recognizes: extraordinary innovation, productivity, and creativity in 

delivery of FLETC’s training mission. FLETC Director Connie Patrick commemorated the honor by presenting Shelly 

S. King, Greg King’s widow, with a framed copy of the awards ceremony program featuring a dedication to Greg and 

detailing the mindset behind naming the Instructor of the Year Award in his honor. 

This year Matthew Basenback from FLETC’s Physical Techniques Division received the award for his leadership and 

dedication to the development and delivery of training in support of the White House Initiative on Active Threat Response 

and Tactical Medical Training. Basenback displayed professionalism, initiative, and tireless work ethic as he coordinated 

with numerous Partner Organizations and training divisions to successfully implement programs that supported FLETC 

and Department of Homeland Security priorities.

Support Staff Member of the Year Award

The FLETC Training Support Staff Member of the Year Award seeks to recognize a non-instructor employee who has 

demonstrated extraordinary innovation, productivity, and creativity in support of FLETC’s training mission. This year, 

Director Patrick presented this award to Gerald E. Kinnett, a Maintenance Mechanic Supervisor in FLETC’s Mission and 

Readiness Support Directorate. Kinnett was honored for his commitment to providing outstanding service and support to 

FLETC’s training mission. 

Leadership Award

The FLETC Leadership Award is bestowed upon an employee, regardless of grade or position, who most exemplifies or 

demonstrates leadership and exhibits the FLETC values of respect, integrity, service, and excellence. The 2016 recipient of 

this award was Deputy Assistant Director Bryan R. Lemons of the Mission and Readiness Support Directorate. Lemons 

distinguished himself by leading several support elements when the increased demand for training in 2016 substantially 

escalated the requirements for housing, dining, and transportation services on FLETC-Glynco. 

Team of the Year Award

The FLETC Team of the Year Award honors the team that successfully accomplishes a significant project or assignment 

requiring extraordinary effort, collaboration, coordination, and support. The 2016 recipient of this award was the Blue 

Courage Team, made up of Glynco Training Directorate staff members Mark C. LaShell, James M. Lashley, David H. 

Lau, and William E. Newbauer; Centralized Training Management Directorate staff member Susan U. McIntyre; and 

Regional and International Training Directorate staff members Esther M. Mulligan-VanSickle, James W. Nix, Ronald V. 

Trujillo, Shawn M. Walker, and Yvette L. White. Together, this team instilled transformational “Blue Courage” principles 

and philosophy into FLETC’s training. Because of the team’s innovation and effort, 98% of all FLETC instructors have 

been exposed to the Blue Courage principles. 

www.fletc.gov 51
Training Excellence Through Partnerships

Homeland

Security

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

U. S. Department of Homeland Security

1131 Chapel Crossing Road

Glynco, Georgia 31524

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Every one of us can point to that special teacher or person 

who positively impacted us throughout our lives. Greg King 

was one of those individuals for many law enforcement 

officers. Dedicating the Federal Law Enforcement Training 

Centers’ Instructor of the Year Award to him is an appropriate 

honor. (See article on page 51.) 

Greg passed away on January 2, 2017, after a short battle with 

cancer. He served 10 years at FLETC, as a senior instructor 

and subject-matter-expert in the Financial Fraud and 

Investigative Analysis Branch in the Investigative Operations 

Division. Throughout his time at FLETC, he was truly the 

consummate professional and a true subject matter expert. 

He was the program coordinator for the Case Organization 

and Presentation Training Program, as well as the Internet Investigations Training Program. 

He also assisted with the coordination of the Intelligence Analyst Training Program. Prior to 

joining FLETC, Greg served 27 years with the Cleveland Police Department, working patrol, 

narcotics, financial crimes, homicides, and intelligence. The diversity of his 37 years in law 

enforcement served him well, as he was able to relate to students from any organization. 

His talent, skill, initiative, and contributions to the FLETC family and the countless students 

he influenced was unparalleled. Everyone fortunate enough to have been touched by Greg 

was a better person because of him. With his death, FLETC lost an outstanding colleague, a 

selfless servant, and a loyal friend. Greg will always be remembered.

FLETC Dedicates Instructor of the Year Award

Greg King pictured with FLETC 

Director Connie Patrick.