It was obvious to the crowd of neighbors and in-laws that the young babysitter standing over the dead child was responsible for the toddler\u2019s death. The woman was rambling incoherently about bugs, snakes, spiders and smoking a cigarette. Her thin face was covered in scabs and pockmarks; some were bleeding. The porch was littered with empty beer bottles and the front window had been smashed, leaving broken glass to cover the pack-n-play.<\/span><\/p>\n From his squad car Jake could see a muscular man in a white tee shirt approaching the house with a baseball bat. His stride was purposeful, his shoulders hunched.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh here we go,\u201d thought Jake as he exited the vehicle, \u201cLet\u2019s not make this any worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0The man glared at the babysitter and skipped two stairs up the front porch toward her. From behind the man Jake grabbed the baseball bat just before it struck the bewildered babysitter. The small crowd of onlookers seemed to have the same idea as the man with the baseball bat. Jake was outnumbered. He grabbed the babysitter and whisked her away through the shouting, crying crowd to his squad car. He saw his back up arrive, followed by an irrelevant ambulance.<\/span><\/p>\n For days following the call, Jake had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach; the kind of guilty sickness he hadn\u2019t felt since he broke curfew as a kid the night his younger brother was badly beaten by some older boys. Jake reviewed his report over and over trying to remember any other detail he could add to it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Pedro the Peer Supporter noticed that Jake had not been joking around in the locker room as usual and was now quietly doodling during briefing. Pedro walked out of briefing behind Jake and asked him to meet up for lunch. \u201cYeah sure,\u201d Jake replied as if he had not heard Pedro at all.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0At the end of the shift, Pedro sought out Jake in the locker room. \u201cUp for a quick pick up game?\u201d Pedro asked tapping his basketball.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s been a long day,\u201d replied Jake.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCome on man, I can tell you are off your game today, and I don\u2019t mean basketball. What\u2019s up?\u201d Pedro sat down next to Jake who was changing his shoes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking maybe I\u2019m not right for this job.\u201d Jake sighed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cOh, one of those days. We all have them.\u201d Pedro bounced the basketball twice.<\/span><\/p>\n Jake looked surprised but then told Pedro about the dead toddler and having to protect the suspect from a \u201cmob of righteously angry family and friends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI get it Jake.\u201d Pedro nodded. \u201cIn this job we are the sheep dogs. We feel good about protecting the sheep from the wolves. But we can\u2019t always do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cNo you don\u2019t get it Pedro. It isn\u2019t like that. Never mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cGive me another shot at it then.\u201d Pedro tossed Jake the basketball.<\/span><\/p>\n Jake spun the ball in his hands. \u201cIf I was a good sheep dog, I would have protected the sheep not the wolf. I protected the suspect, not the victim, Pedro. I got it all wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cSo you think you are a bad cop because you put the suspect in the car instead of letting her be slaughtered out there?\u201d Pedro asked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Jake tossed the ball back to Pedro and his shoulders slumped. \u201cI was useless on that call. Didn\u2019t even interview the R.P. I can\u2019t shake this feeling in my stomach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd that means you aren\u2019t right for this job?\u201d Pedro asked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWant my opinion?\u201d Pedro asked, rolling the basketball toward Jake.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cSure coach.\u201d Jake stopped the ball with his foot.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cYou are a good cop Jake. You are a good person. A good sheep dog usually<\/em> protects the sheep from the wolves. But in this case you had to protect the wolf. Sometimes you have to do that and when the tables get turned it can feel pretty messed up. But it doesn\u2019t mean you aren\u2019t right for this job. It was the call that was messed up, not you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of uneasiness, which results from holding two conflicting beliefs. Leon Festinger proposed this theory in 1957. Everyone holds ideas about the world and themselves. When a belief and concept collide with reality, it is unpleasant so we want to make it consistent again, sometimes by adapting unhealthy or irrational beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n As a law enforcement officer, Jake wants to believe he is a good person. Jake\u2019s concept of a good law enforcement officer is someone who protects the prey from the predators, not the other way around.<\/span><\/p>\n Since Jake cannot change the reality of this call for service, he changes his belief, \u201cI\u2019m not a law enforcement officer, or I\u2019m not right for this job.\u201d Woulda coulda shoulda thinking enters the scenario as Jake goes over and over the report.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Jake may not realize it, but he is acting like he believes he is not a good law enforcement officer, or a good person. Pedro the Peer Supporter notices the change in his colleague and can help Jake by listening, and reflecting this belief back to him. Pedro points out that the healthier concept is \u201ca law enforcement officer usually<\/em> protects the sheep from the sheep dog,\u201d and shows Jake that the call for service was messed up, not Jake.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Follow me (Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP on this blog fill in your email address and click at left of page at the top of the sidebar<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Please share this with other people on your social network from down below.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0For books by Dr. Gary S. Aumiller got to http:\/\/www.myherodad.com<\/a> or http:\/\/www.myheromom.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Join me on Facebook or Linkedin (see sidebar).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 If you enjoyed this blog, sign up to receive updates for more posts on the latest in police psychology.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police Psychology:\u00a0 When A Child Dies \u00a0 Anne Bisek, Psy.D. is our first guest blogger. She is a police psychologist in Freemont California. Her specialty is calls for service involving the death of a child. For more information on this topic visit www.whenachiddies.com. It was obvious to the crowd of neighbors and in-laws that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17168803,17168802,17168797],"class_list":["post-417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories","tag-police","tag-police-officer","tag-police-psychology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":554,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=554","url_meta":{"origin":417,"position":0},"title":"Police Psychology | Locked Away in Your Cell","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"August 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Locked Away in Your Cell Police psychology has had a new enemy these days, and it's not typical ol' police stress. The Cell Phone. You ever hold your cell phone up at a concert to demand an encore? That means you are cool! Scan a document into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Emotions"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Emotions","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17165629"},"img":{"alt_text":"Police Psychology cell phone 1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Police-Psychology-cell-phone-1-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":630,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=630","url_meta":{"origin":417,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | What You Can Learn from a 2-Year Old","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"August 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | What You Can Learn from a 2-Year Old \u00a0 In police psychology, I find a lot of officers who just can\u2019t do it. There are very few things that toddlers know how to do better than adults. For instance, although sometimes when I\u2019m driving I encounter cars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Effort"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Effort","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168880"},"img":{"alt_text":"Police Stress, women saying no","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/woman-no-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":949,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=949","url_meta":{"origin":417,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology | How Policing Can Be Improved with Science","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | How Policing Can Be Improved with Science \u00a0Marcus Clarke is the author of psysci.co a psychology blog that examines the latest research and explains findings in simple terms. Police forces around the world face increasing pressure, from cuts to funding to new forms of crime, so ensuring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Rank and Leadership"","block_context":{"text":"Rank and Leadership","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168887"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":455,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=455","url_meta":{"origin":417,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology | Officers Disproportionally Killing Black Men: Another False Narrative","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Officers Disproportionally Killing Black Men:\u00a0 Another False Narrative Guest Blogger Ron Martinelli, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned forensic criminologist and police expert directing the nation\u2019s only multidisciplinary Forensic Death Investigations and Independent Review Team at www.martinelliandassoc.com.\u00a0 His perspanl website is at www.drronmartinelli.com \u00a0 Among several prominent false\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Public Information Bureau"","block_context":{"text":"Public Information Bureau","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168888"},"img":{"alt_text":"martinelli image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/martinelli-image-300x172.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5092,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5092","url_meta":{"origin":417,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Thoughts","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168878"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4552,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=4552","url_meta":{"origin":417,"position":5},"title":"Police Psychology | Emotional Pinball","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"October 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Emotional Pinball by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Emotions"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Emotions","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17165629"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p60sbO-6J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=417"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":430,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions\/430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bisek](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Bisek-1.jpg?resize=357%2C169\")
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