Police Psychology | Get Thee to a Conference

by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.  ABPP

My first experience with a professional conference came when I was 35 years old.  My partner and I had started a newsletter for mental health of police officers in the late 80’s.  In an attempt to get it out to the public, we had contacted Clint Van Sandt of the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit.  We went down to see him and we were ushered over to Dr. James Reese.  He was running a program inviting the top police psychologists to stay at the FBI Academy and he invited me to join. It opened up my world to about fifty police psychologists.  Fifty people doing what I did, but also something different.  That different was what I needed to know.  I remember I made a presentation that day about Keeping It Simple as a law enforcement officer.   I quoted some great persons in history like Aristotle, Einstein and Dante who all told you to simplify.  Then I said “we have to go with the modern greats” and I went around the room and quoted the psychologists who spoke before me.  Got everyone’s attention on that one, and it started my work with the FBI and many other departments since. (more…)