Police Burnout
A law enforcement officer (LEO) of about 15 years’ experience flat out asked me how I keep a good attitude after being in police work so long. He/she was asking if I ever experienced a period of burnout in my career. Most importantly I did not slough it off with a shrug and uninterested attitude. I know this is a very serious question for a LEO and can lead to depression, drinking, and bad attitudes.
Rather than to tell my compatriot what he should do, I told him what I did. The very first burnout I experienced came in my second year as a police and came about by being sued in Civil Court. To find out that there are people out there who would want a police officer fired and to give them thousands of dollars for doing their job just devastated me. I thought I was supposed to be the good guy. Not the defendant.
A summary of the incident is that I was dispatched to assist a neighboring PD with a bar fight. Finishing the bar fight I came out into the parking lot and found two officers of the other agency having trouble with a motorist. As we are trained to do, I stood by as back up. A mere traffic violation turned into an arrest for disorderly conduct and then resisting arrest.
The large subject had been a freedom fighter in his homeland and vowed no government would ever rule over him again. This man was a cardiovascular surgeon. After an internal investigation by both police departments, all officers involved in the arrest were cleared of any wrong doing. Witnesses on the scene testified that the police used great restraint and should have made a physical arrest much sooner.
The burnout came when as the law suit progressed; I became more and more worried about the possible consequences. The doctor who sued the three officers wanted us fired and wanted a million dollars. Then it was a public apology and half a million. On the day the trial began it was an apology in the judge’s chambers and attorney fees. We all felt we had done nothing wrong so we went to trial and won.
Prior to the trial though, I developed a serious burnout. I made no traffic stops, made no arrests and became very surly. It did help a little to talk with a lawyer who was a part time police officer and he told me a jury would see the truth and find in our favor. But that was his opinion. When the trial finished, I was elated that the system worked. I learned a lot about how the courts work. Slowly my attitude returned to normal and I was back arresting people.
Another period of burn out occurred after about 10 years at Tipp City. Becoming disillusioned with the attitude of some other officers, I again went into a funk. Realizing I was allowing the petty doings of others to influence me, I decided to re-dedicate myself.
With renewed enthusiasm I began making traffic stops for certain violations. Window tints, loud mufflers along with people running red lights became my focus of attention. I still wrote the usual speeding cites and so on, but told myself anytime I witnessed a certain violation, I would make a traffic stop.
I also began working really hard in both elementary school zones. Parents and grandparents who allowed their children to run across the street without using the crosswalk were stopped. Some parents would drive slowly down the street then suddenly stop and motion their child to run between parked cars and get in. Those would get citations. My motto became, “The safety of all the children is paramount to the convenience of your child.”
While working these school zones I would always have some children come out and run over to me to tell me the principle’s joke of the day. I still have some of those jokes written in my police notebook and tell the prisoners just to hear their groans.
Now I am not saying my Italian temper does not rise to the surface still to this day. I can be very mean when I have to. My attitude is now to enjoy life, enjoy work and work my way through any burnout periods.
When you sit and stew on what irritates you, time goes very slowly and nothing is solved. When you apply yourself to certain tasks, other opportunities will arise. A loud muffler stop may turn into a warrant arrest. Listening to a child’s joke may result in a hug that you will remember for a long time.
Treating an inmate like a normal human being in a bad situation may result in a serious thank you at a later time after they have had time to think through their own problems. A burnout is a self-inflicted wound that does not need to happen but when it does, only you can work your way out of it.
