Newsletter December 2008
in this issue
The Role of Defense Mechanisms In Detecting Deception
Inundated With Rules
Facing the News Media in Times of Crisis
Top Ten

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In this issue we continue to bring you important training topics of current interest.

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John E. Reid and Associates

The act of committing a crime is always associated with an emotional state. Most criminals experience some level of shame, guilt or loss of self-esteem. Others primarily experience a fear of being caught. A very few (the psychopath) will experience excitement and thrill. Because shame, anxiety and fear are all undesirable emotional states, the mind will attempt to reduce these negative feelings by using defense mechanisms. A defense mechanism is a habitually employed adjustive reaction designed to reduce unwanted feelings by distorting or denying the truth.

We all use defense mechanisms to cope with everyday guilt and anxiety. If I am late in writing the monthly Web Tip, and consequently experienced guilt or shame, it would not sooth those feelings by acknowledging that I procrastinated and was poorly organized. To reduce my guilt and shame I may utilize any number of defense mechanisms. I may blame my boss for assigning me too many other tasks which did not leave me enough time to write the Web Tip. I may reduce guilt by contrasting what I did to something much worse, e.g., it was only a couple days late, not a whole month. I may forgive my tardiness by forming a belief that others engage in the same behaviors as I do and, therefore, I am no different than anyone else. There are many other possible defense mechanisms, but these illustrate the concept- they all reduce unwanted feelings and are habitually employed. A person does not consciously distort or deny the truth. The mind does it unconsciously.
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The Cure is Worse than the Disease

American law enforcement has evolved from a relatively simple job performed by relatively unskilled workers to a complex social enterprise performed by highly skilled professionals. In my view, that is the key to understanding the managerial approach required for sustained performance in our police agencies. Unfortunately, the culture of our profession is such that while we use management terminology consistent with overseeing the work of skilled professionals, in practice we all too often continue to manage in a fashion more suited to unskilled workers. The end result is that we try to govern rather than lead, strive to control the workforce rather than use its potential, and attempt to shape conduct by regulating behavior rather than by modeling and instilling values. In many of the law enforcement agencies with whom I've worked, the unsettling reality is that many of their problems exist not in spite of management's best efforts but because of their best efforts. The cures we use to try to address organizational problems often come full circle and are, in fact, the cause of the problems we wish to eliminate. In the medical field, they have a term for this: iatrogenic disease - physician induced disease. I would suggest that the law enforcement mindset encourages iatrogenic management that oftentimes creates the problems our actions seek to suppress. The police culture encourages a short-term orientation that focuses upon suppressing problems in the present then legislating to prevent them in the future. While the sense of this is seemingly clear, the evidence is that this approach, when the SOP of the organization, does more harm than good.

Let's look at why. Law enforcement agencies strive to avoid errors and public mistakes, particularly serious ones that smack of corruption, unprofessionalism, discrimination or any number of other serious ills. That makes good sense. But we need to ask how we best prevent these things from happening. It seems to me we need to begin by asking: "What does a person more easily violate: 1) a rule or procedure, or 2) the trust of someone the person respects"?  Clearly people do not want to lose the respect of someone they hold in high regard, particularly if a direct, meaningful relationship exists between them. In fact, most people simply won't do it because the personal loss is simply more than they will risk. On the other hand, rules and procedures - particularly when agencies have volumes of them - are rather easily violated for as little reason as personal convenience.  Yet the control mechanism most commonly used by law enforcement agencies is rules and procedures rather than trust and respect. This adds fuel to the fire rather than extinguishing it. Police managers are not the organizational firefighters they see themselves as...they are organizational arsonists.

By Russell Ruffin

Law Enforcement Media Training

As the Phoenix Police Public Information Officer prepared for his news briefing, he carefully reviewed the facts:  At 12:20 pm an explosion rocked the city's largest mall, five people are dead, a first responder died after being overcome by fumes upon arrival, more than a hundred people have been injured by flying shrapnel, another a hundred or so are showing signs of chemical poisoning, but even worse, a plume of deadly sarin gas has been released and many of those who were exposed to the fumes are now fleeing, heading to hospital emergency rooms, further spreading the contamination.

George Washington Elementary school with seven hundred students, is situated two blocks to the east of the blast site, while the business district and several residential areas are sprawled out on the north, south and west sides.

Every available resource of the police department has been completely depleted as law enforcement awaits the arrival of federal assistance and relief.  Within ten minutes of the blast the local news media interrupted programming for a series of unconfirmed reports that left everyone frightened and confused.  One radio station was carrying a LIVE telephone interview with a witness who called in to say he was walking toward the main dining area of the mall when the blast sent dozens of victims flying through the air.  The caller said the blast hurled him more than fifty feet outside through a set of double glass doors. 

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Top Ten Worst Ideas for Police Uniforms: 
  1. Spandex
  2. Anything in pink
  3. Sequins
  4. Leather Shirts and Pants
  5. Anything Crocheted
  6. Pant Suits
  7. Mid drift shirts
  8. See Through Mesh Pants
  9. Kevlar Man Bra
  10. Top Hats and Tails



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