Archive for the ‘Police Psychology Theories’ Category

Police Psychology: Stop the Murder!

Posted: June 8, 2017 in Public Information Bureau
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Police Psychology:  Stop the Murder!

by Dr. Gary S. Aumiller

Enough is enough!  In fourteen days, there has been a wholesale killing of people in a concert in Manchester, at a tourist site in England, and a guy with a hammer attacking people in Paris, in the shadow of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  My wife said after the second attack that our 10-year old will never be able to visit Europe like we did without thinking about danger.  She’s at the age where she would be at an Ariana Grande concert and we would have taken her there.  And we certainly have been on the London Bridge when we were in London and at the Basilica when we were in Paris.  These sites are only about 200 miles apart.  It’s like 3 attacks from New York to Baltimore, or San Francisco to Fresno, or Miami to Orlando.  How do we Stop the Murder!

Obviously, allowing Sharia courts of law (the UK has at least 85) and setting up their own government is not going to help terrorism.  Allowing open borders doesn’t seem to help terrorism, circa 2017.  And constantly repeating statements like “we are all immigrants” does not help terrorism.  What is the secret, and where do we go from here?  I mean other groups have assimilated into American culture.  I can’t remember a story about an Amish person killing people or knocking down a building.  The European Jews, Chinese, French, and Italians seem to have assimilated well, sometimes even into their own separate neighborhoods.  As far as home grown, Mormon religions are non-violent, as are the Jehovah’s Witness.  They may be annoying proselytizers, but really we can shut a door on them without worrying about being blown up.   What is the difference and can police psychology help us understand how to handle this new terrorism better? (more…)

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Police Psychology | PTSD 4: Flashbacks

Posted: May 10, 2017 in Police Stress
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Police Psychology | PTSD 4:  Flashbacks

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.  ABPP

 

Of course, you are going to think I’ve lost it on this one, but it shows some merit.  And it makes some sense logically.  Researchers in England  say that flashbacks from traumatic events can be moderated through playing Tetris right after the event occurs.  That’s Tetris, the video game where you move puzzle pieces in all directions to make lines or blocks. etc. Makes you wonder if Candy Crush can be used for Ragin’ Anxiety and Donkey Kong and the Mario brothers could be used to sew up Open Heart Surgery!

So the thought is this: by playing a video game after a serious traumatic incident, you are stimulating your eye movement and concentration and that causes the brain to not be able to spend all its time to store long term memories, thus it doesn’t keep coming back into your head as much.  In fact, in the medical journal called Molecular Psychiatry in March of this year told of a study that gave people Tetris after a traumatic incident and others were given a placebo or basically nothing.  The Tetris group had 9 flashbacks the next week while the nothing groups had 23 flashback the next week.  Pretty significant!  Oxford University in England and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden said just 20 minutes of Tetris right after a traumatic incident was all that was needed to greatly reduce all PTSD effects.  Scientific America reported the same effect in their study.  In fact, case studies are cropping up all over saying that Tetris therapy is great at reducing flashbacks if given in the hospital after car accident, witnessing shootings and even rape.  Let me get this right, (doctor calls out to nurse):  scalpel…suture…bandage…Gameboy.  This doesn’t make sense to me, but let’s look at it a little closer… (more…)

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Police Psychology | Master Police Coaches: “Building A Better Cop”

Posted: May 3, 2017 in Public Information Bureau
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Police Psychology | Master Police Coaches:

“Building A Better Cop”

Marla Friedman, Police Psychologist

 

Born out of the academy, the Probationer is a blank slate. Mega assembly required running the gamut from appropriate deployment of de-escalation and tactical skills training, mental health and suicide prevention techniques, and development of a mentoring relationship, which transitions throughout their career and remains into retirement.  This cradle to grave approach (Badge of Life) supports the Officer at every stage and creates and sustains the safest working environment to consistently execute uncompromised law enforcement service delivery.

Many have asked, what is a Master Police Coach (MPC)? It is a Field Training Officer who has exceptional skills in the following areas:  interpersonal relationships, jurisdictional geography and orientation, motor vehicle operation and the use of emergency equipment.  These of course are some of the critical skills all officers need to know.  MPCs excel in these areas and others. (more…)

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Police Psychology | MS-13

Posted: April 20, 2017 in Motives and Opportunity
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Police Psychology | MS-13

by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.  ABPP

Last week four young men were murdered on Long Island, brutally murdered with machetes.  Rumors say their tongue were cut out and they were castrated.  It is obvious some sociopathic pleasure was derived from their mutilation.  Could it be an initiation for a gang, an attempt to leave a gang, or perhaps some kids who denied an invitation to join a gang?  It was a message killing.  You see, it was the MO of a few of gang killings in the last year when they hacked up a couple of teenage girls with machetes one town over, so they figured it was the same gang.  Long Island, home of the uppity Hamptons, the Gold Coast, the Great Gatsby and New York City’s billionaires.  And it is happening more than just on Long Island.

Yes, MS-13 is everywhere and lately in the news.  It is rumored that gang initiation means you must be beaten up by four or five gang members or you must brutally beat someone else, or kill them.  For girls, it means you must allow yourself to be gang raped by at least six members.  “Jumping in” is what undergoing the initiation is called, but some gang members are spared the dramatic beat downs.  All must have someone in the gang recommend them, unless they don’t.  The rules are just not clear from group to group.  Why would someone join such a gang? (more…)

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Police Psychology | Opioids and Opiates

Posted: April 12, 2017 in Public Information Bureau
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Police Psychology | Opioids and Opiates

by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.  ABPP

 

I live on Long Island, NY.  Last year 493 people died on Long Island from opioid and opiate overdose with Fentanyl being the worse drug for deaths.  That’s more than were killed in car accidents in one of the most heavily trafficked areas of the country.  More than gang related deaths, more than murders in general (although one could argue that a person selling opioids to another is actually committing murder).  Yes, 493 people died last year and the trend so far this year suggests we may actually be ready to beat that number.   So, I called Geisinger-Marworth Treatment Center, an awesome facility in the woods of Pennsylvania, that I refer almost any police officers from anywhere.  I asked them what is the deal with the opioid problem on Long Island and do I have anything to worry about with the nation’s cops.  Some of what I found out is a little disturbing.

Let get the vocabulary right first.  “Opiate” is a word that covers naturally occurring derivatives from the opium plant like Heroin, Morphine and Codeine.  They are the original addictive drugs and really what it was all about when the guys came back from Vietnam addicted to Heroin and Opium.  Opioids are synthetic versions of the opiates like Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Dilaudid, Percocet, Vicodin, Percodan, and Fentanyl.  Both sets are addictive, but the synthetic drugs have become a bigger problem recently and it’s not just what is being sold on the streets.  (more…)

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