TNM - USA EDITION - CCUPCA

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRST RESPONDER
TACTICAL NEWS MAGAZINE
USA EDITION
SPECIAL EDITION
MARCO STRANO
“SPECIAL FORCES TRAINER”
SPRING CONFERENCE 2022
NEW PERSPECTIVES
FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL
TACTICAL TRAINING
SUICIDE'S
PREVENTION AMONG
POLICE FORCES
SPECIAL TOPICS ON
POLICE
PSYCHOLOGY

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ANNUAL 2022 SPRING CONFERENCE
APRIL 4 TH -6 TH AT THE LAKE TAHOE RESORT HOTEL (RENO, CALIFORNIA)
C.C.U.P.C.A. offers one of the most comprehensive
and informed networks of law enforcement leaders in
California. Representing private and public colleges &
universities, our Police Chiefs, Directors and Commandlevel
officers of our member-agencies along with our
partner organizations offer a wide array of resources.
The California College & University Police Chiefs
Association has rapidly become one of the most
influential voices in the California legislative process.
As public policy concerning public safety on campuses
of higher education evolves and adjusts to a changing
society, C.C.U.P.C.A. remains a highly-valued perspective
to our State Senate and State Assembly members.
Crime prevention, victim’s rights, technologies, and
the commitment to creating greater continuity in all
law enforcement legislation to make campuses and
communities safer are our key priorities. C.C.U.P.C.A.
offers excellent resources for ongoing professional
development through a catalog of learning opportunities.
In addition to our Annual Conference and General
Assembly that features many of the most skilled and
insightful experts in a variety of relevant fields, we also
offer our annual Executive Development Update Course,
certified by the California Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST). C.C.U.P.C.A. is also proud
to offer a truly unique member-executives program in
two forms: Peer Mentoring for newly-appointed Chiefs
and Directors, and our Peer Review Panel to provide
organizational assessments to assist our newest leaders
in these roles to more accurately and fully understand
agency assets, skills, needs and appropriate options for
achieving desired objectives. C.C.U.P.C.A. is proud to
recognize those individuals, units, teams and agencies
who have distinguished themselves in service to their
campuses, contributions to the mission of higher
education law enforcement, as well as those individual
acts of conspicuous courage and bravery.
C.C.U.P.C.A. offers biannual Conference – one in Spring
and one in Fall. We encourage all to join us for our
events. Members will be given discounted rates for
conferences and priority where seating is limited.
TNM 4

AGENDA C.C.U.P.C.A. 2022 SPRING CONFERENCE
4/04/21
0700-0800 Breakfast
0800-0810 Introduction by President
0810-0930 O.C. CA Sheriff Don Barnes Impact
New Legislation on California Law
Enforcement
0930-0940 Break
0940-1100 Captain Wilson Lau, Oakland PD –
Internal Affairs Trends and Issues in
California
4/05/21
0700-0800 Breakfast
0800-0810 Housekeeping by President
0810-0940 Sean Sheppard – Community Law
Enforcement Game Changer Focus
Group Program
0940-0945 Break
0945-1110 Marco Strano, Retired Colonel Italian
State Police and President of Italian
Thin Blue Line. - Police Psychology
Issues and trends in Italy and
Globally
1110-1115 Break
4/06/21
0700-0800 Breakfast
0800-0810 Housekeeping by President
0810-0930 Abi Montes, Retired Master Gunnery
Sergeant USMC – Combat/Leadership
Experiences and working as a Fire
Department Lieutenant in Florida
1100-1105 Break
1105-1215 Pete Bowen - Covenant Leadership
1215-1315 Lunch
1315-1615 Vendor Expo
1615-1730 Chief Leslie Ramirez, L.A. Unified School
PD – Police Reform Movements impact
on LAUSD PD and Law Enforcement in
the U.S.
1115-1230 Kevin Briggs, Retired CHP Sergeant –
His Experiences with Mental Health
While working the Golden Gate Bridge
1230-1330 Lunch
1330-1530 Mike Sugrue, former Sergeant Walnut
Creek PD – Police Mental Wellness and
Suicide Prevention
1530-1535 Break
1535-1735 Jason Lehman, Sergeant Long Beach
PD – “Why’d you Stop Me?” Community
Bridge Building Program
1830-2130 Awards Dinner Banquet – Keynote
Speaker Chief Bob Dunn, Fullerton PD
0930-0935 Break
0935-1100 Legislative Update – John Lovell,
CCUPA Legislative Rep
1100-1105 Break
1105-1200 Closing/Roundtable
The California College and University Police Chiefs Association represents institutions in higher education currently serving more than 3
million students, staff and faculty throughout the State of California. CCUPCA members are police chiefs, directors and command-level
officers from nearly 100 public and private colleges and universities in California.
CCUPCA BOARD
Joel Justice, President
Ventura County Community
College District
President@ccupca.com
Hampton Cantrell, Immediate
Past President
St Mary’s College Moraga
hamptoncantrell@gmail.com
Al Jackson, 1 st Vice President
San Bernardino Community
College District
info@ccupca.com (Attn: Alvin)
Ralph Webb, 2 nd Vice President
Rancho Santiago Community
College District
info@ccupca.com (Attn: Ralph)
Nina Jamsen
Treasurer
CSU San Bernardino
Treasurer@ccupca.com
Raymund Aguirre
CCUPCA Executive Director
Ret., CSU Fullerton
Gary Mejia, Interim Board
Advisor
State Center Community
College
info@ccupca.com (Attn: Gary)
John Lovell
Legislative Representative
TNM 5

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
THE ROLE
OF POLICE
PSYCHOLOGY
TNM 6
A
good psychological balance is a key factor
in order to effectively carry out every
complex human activity. A professional
who is currently working for the Police, Armed
Forces and private security needs a part from
a complex background of legal knowledge and
technical skills, the ability to apply sophisticated
psychological strategies too. A modern police
officer must Indeed be throughly familiar with
either operational techniques and laws and a good
physical preparation, but is also supposed to be
having a logical thinking, perception, attention,
memory, emotional control, ability to assess and
manage risk, planning skills for the achievement of
a purpose, motivation, interpersonal communication
skills, ability to work in a team. These psychological
dimensions represent the “functional personality” of
a good police officer. Since police activity implies the
need, at times, to react promptly, with determination
and effectiveness to an aggression, carrier out
by hostile elements, whether armed or not but
managing to keep anger and fear under control
at any stage. The functional psychological set-up
of a policeman must therefore include a series of
specific features (partly inborn but developable
through targeted training and the guidance of
an expert Psychologist). The improvement of
professional techniques taking place thanks to the
implementation of training and experience, should
be supported by increasing psychological resources
of to cope with engagement strict rules and
considerable di-stress. Another factor that a modern
cop should be able to identify and control is the distress.
Excessive stress is a condition that reduces
operational capabilities and can be contained,
within certain limits, with appropriate organizational
solutions and by inserting psychological training
activities into basic and advanced training.

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
THE DIFFICULT PSYCHOLOGICAL
SUPPORT OF POLICE OPERATOR
Modern Psychology has
very effective tools to
diagnose and reduce
the psychological distress of
individuals. Diagnostic techniques
and psychological support are
currently able to identify and correct
many critical situations. In order to
get an effective intervention of a
Psychologist, however two conditions
are necessary:
1. the ones who have been going
through an uneasy situation must
realize that they need help and
accept their condizioni of people in
need;
2. the individual must get in touch
with experienced professionals and
trust them.
The above mentioned conditions,
which for an ordinary individual may
seem fairly obvious, can instead turn
to be problematic when psychological
distress is experienced by a police
operator or a professional soldier.
A great deal of subjects members
of aforementioned professional
categories consider psychological
distress as a form of weakness and
inadequacy and are often ashamed of
asking for help. Moreover, behind the
organizations where individuals operate,
some kind of psychological discomfort,
even a mild or temporary on, is barely
tolerated and generally considered as a
“criticality” that could negatively affect
the reliability of the operator making
them “embarrassing” and “dangerous”
due to the fact that they are supplied
with weapons. This means the ones who
belong to professional organizations
of security and defense, usually tend
hide their psychological distress (even
if light and temporary) and consider the
Psychologist as a figure of assessment
and control instead of support and
help. The massive difficulty for the
Psychologist who would like to intervene
at professional level with police and
military operators making diagnoses
and offering support is precisely the
need to bypass the mistrust and the
fear felt by potential patients, who may
be considered inadequate to perform
tasks of security and defense. Indeed,
the role of the members of the police
and military corps evokes an image
of strength, stability and balance
and generally speaking of congenital
resilience (the ability to react positively
to the stress coming from the external
environment). Psychological distress,
even if innate in human nature, is
barely accepted if related to individuals
operating in the field of security and
defense (individual denial) and, above all,
is barely accepted by the organization
they belong and for whom they perform
their tasks (institutional denial). Indeed
very often, uncomfortable situations
whether particularly serious or nor and
capable of putting at risk the efficiency
of the individual during their police or
military tasks and still easily resolvable,
remain hidden and are not publicized,
worsening as time goes by thus
reaching high levels of criticality.
TNM 7

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
WHAT CAN A
PSYCHOLOGIST DO
WITHIN A POLICE
DEPARTMENT?
TNM 8

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
An experienced psychologist with profound
knowledge of Police dynamics is an important
resource for any Police Department because
the aforementioned subject can work at least on four
different professional fields. A Psychologist working
along with the Police Department can carry out “Work
Psychology” activities and be an important professional
figure giving any Department Chiefs advice on how
to improve organizational dynamics and personnel
management. Psychologists in the Police Department
can carry out “Clinical Psychology” activities and should
be always available to be videocalled via smartphone
by the policemen letting them know they can count on a
professional support whenever they are going through
hard psychological times. Psychologists working within
the Department can carry out “Investigative Psychology”
activities and offer an important contribution to
investigations, furthermore they can give detectives
useful information on suspects’ criminal profiles. A
Psychologist working in the Police Department can carry
out “Tactical Psychology” activities and work side by side
policemen in different tactical operations.
The following points
are a summary
of what the activity
of a psychologist should
be about:
POLICE WORK PSYCHOLOGY
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Provide occupational psychology consultancy in
order to organize the office in a functional way
softening the source of stress for the policemen.
Provide qualified consultation to design training
activities for policemen making them compatible
and suitable on a psychological level too.
Carry out (in first person) training activities for
police officers and working on psychological
issues of different types.
Carry out (in first person) training and awarenessraising
activities among the population on
awkward issues with psychological implications.
Give Department Chiefs consultation about
the strategies useful to get an effective
communication with their police officers during
briefings and one-on-one meetings.
Let the Chief of the Department be familiar with
effective information and carry out awareness
campaigns on public safety and crime prevention.
Carry out assessment on personality profile
and aptitudes of newly arrived officers at the
department and let the executives know which is
the best area to employ the new officers
When dealing with policemen up to particular
assignments such as working in special
S.W.A.T. teams, a psychological selection on the
candidates is needed.
TNM 9

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
POLICE CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
1
2
3
4
Diagnose psychological distress problems
developed by police officers and give them
support and clinical treatment if needed.
Intervene with diagnosis and psychological
treatment in case of psychopathology problems
due to the alcohol consumption and drug
addiction of police officers.
Give policemen support and good advice to
make them able to deal with their own family and
issues linked to the life of a couple.
Intervene with support activities and
psychotherapy if there Is the risk of the suicide of
a policeman.
In case of a critical incident during the service
such as a firefight, a car crash or after witnessing
particularly horryfying scenes, emergency
psychology activities have to be carried out (such
as refusing, debriefing or EMDR) quickly in order
to reduce the possibility of developing a P.T.S.D.
(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
TNM 10

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
A Psychologist
working in the Police
Department can
carry out “Tactical
Psychology” activities
and work side by side
policemen in different
tactical operation
POLICE TACTICAL PSYCHOLOGY
1
Stand shoulder to shoulder the police in case of
operational intervention on aggressive people
suffering from psychopathologies or under the
influence of alcohol or drugs to help them manage
the situation and try to carry out a descalation.
POLICE INVESTIGATIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
1
Carry out criminal profiling activities to support
investigators in cases of unsolved crimes,
providing useful information to reduce the
number of possible suspects.
2
3
4
Intervene alongside policemen in public order
situations by providing advice on psychological
strategies which may help take the crowd under
control.
Teach police members relaxation techniques and
carry out autogenic training activities inside the
Department.
Monitor the stress levels of the S.W.A.T. operators
giving useful information to the Chiefs who are
managing the aforementioned operations.
2
3
Take part as an observer in interrogations of
suspects, victims and witnesses to identify
possible (psychological and neurophysiological)
signs of lies and consequently report them to
detectives.
Carry out interrogations of particularly
fragile victims such as women victims of
violence, children and people with memory
disorders (e.g. elderly suffering from dementia)
and let the detectives be familiar with the
information gathered on the field.
TNM 11

SUMMARY INDEX
6 The role of police psychology
8 What can a psychologist do within a police
department?
14 The knowledge and management of distress
for police officers
20 Post traumatic stress disorder in police officers
24 Burnout syndrome in police officers
28 Suicide’s prevention among police forces
34 Inadequate prevention strategy over policemen’s
suicide cases in europe
38 The role of the family of a police officer and soldiers
42 Psychological risks related to communication
of bad news
46 Two types of managers, which one are you?
50 The police officer and its relationship with the fear
58 The P.T.T.S. System: an innovative approach
to tactical training
66 Interwiew on police psychology to Joel Justice
chief of police at the Ventura county community
college district police department
68 Interwiew on police psychology to Raymund
Aguirre chief of police (ret) of California state
university police department
70 “Top professional” police psychologist.
Biography of marco strano, psychologist, special
forces trainer
TNM 12

EDITORIAL BOARD
Mirko GARGIULO
(Editor in Chief)
Marco Antonio GARAVENTA
(Managing Editor)
Paolo PALUMBO
(Senior editors)
Marco PEZZOLLA
(Public Relations Manager)
CONTRIBUTOR
Marco STRANO
Marianna CHESSA
Francesco CACCETTA
Federica PETRINI
Abiud MONTES
Edited by SubPremo SRL
Via Privata del Gonfalone n. 3
20123 Milano
www.subpremo.it
Tactical News Magazine Partners

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
THE KNOWLEDGE
AND MANAGEMENT OF
DISTRESS FOR
POLICE OFFICERS
By Marco STRANO
TNM 14

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
Stress is normally classified and subdivided
into eustress (normal stress to which the
individuals are subjected throughout their lives
and which is useful to stimulate their actions) and
distress, (excessive stress to which the individual fails
to cope and that can cause discomfort and psychophysical
damage, reducing the effectiveness of one’s
professional performance). The concept of distress
in Psychology is therefore linked to an excessive
emotional, physical, perceptual and cognitive burden
to which an individual is subjected that cannot be
coped with any resources. The foremost elements
contribute to be raising the level of chronic distress
of an individual, potentially leading to a situation of
crisis, despite being considered positive solicitations
(eg a pleasant emotion). Amusing but very exciting
recreational activities (e.g. doing competitive sport in
the free time) lead the individual with additional stress
and are therefore not recommended during periods of
emotional overload. The human body, therefore, reacts
losing progressively efficiency if exposed to different,
strong and prolonged forms of stress. The individual is
able to withstand a certain amount of stress, regardless
of their own origin, along with psycho-physical balance
“breaks down” causing a reduced performance capacity.
In other words, the body is a sort of container for
stressful stress of various origins that, when a certain
level Is reached, starts working in altered way. In the
world of work, “unavoidable” sources of stress are
identified (linked to fundamental operational needs)
and “deletable” sources of stress, due to organizational
pathologies and factors that can be corrected through
procedural changes or technological solutions.
The primary task of the Executives is to act on the
sources to get rid of distress while the Psychologist’s
function, through psychological support, is to help the
worker-policeman to accept and manage the forms
of unavoidable distress. The police operator must
therefore know that there are organizational solutions
to reduce the high stress that is part of the police work.
Reporting to your superiors of dynamic situations that
produce stress and that can be corrected is therefore
a fundamental element to improve the efficiency of
the organization. In the following table are being listed
some classic physical and psychological stressful
factors for a police operator, a military and a security
operator, partly unavoidable and partly eliminated with
training, organizational changes and good equipment.
PHYSICAL STRESSFUL FACTORS
• Outdoor temperature (hot / cold)
• Noise
• Equipment weight
• Physical pain (although light but prolonged over
time)
Annoying skin sensations (itching, insects)
• Thirst / hunger
• High beam sunlight
• Night job
PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSFUL FACTORS
• Emotions (fear of dying, anger, frustration, love, etc.)
even external the professional context
• High coefficient of unpredictability of the operating
context
• Contradictority of orders received
• Absence or ineffectiveness of tactical
communications
• Limiting and contradictory rules of engagement
• Lack of decision-making autonomy
• Critical interpersonal relationships with colleagues
• Poor task planning
• Personal external problems to the work context
(family conflicts, separations, problems with children,
etc.)
Knowing the symptomatology caused by excessive stress
is in our opinion a very useful competence for the workerpoliceman
who, noticing in advance abnormal reactions
(psychological, physiological and behavioral), can
TNM 15

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
Equipment weight is one of the more
PHYSICAL STRESSFUL FACTORS
implement personal strategies of dissipation or contact a
professional Psychologist to ask for advice and implement
countermeasures. The knowledge of symptoms related
to di-stress is also useful to recognize these signs in
coworkers, helping and supporting them. Moreover,
the indications from operators who are aware they are
facing excessive stressful conditions can be very useful
for their managers who must implement organizational
changes (if technically possible) to reduce the loads of
stress to which their men are subjected. Obviously, in
order to implement this kind of communication, a good
organizational climate and a relationship of mutual
trust between the basic operators and the managerial
level are necessary. The manifestations of stress
are diversified and “individualized” in the sense that
they can vary greatly from one subject to another. In
some people, stress overload causes quite important
physiological signs and sometimes even various forms
of organic disease. Typical in this sense are cardiac
and gastric / digestive diseases. Obviously, in order
to be able to attribute a physiological symptom to
stress, an organic cause other than stress must first
be excluded through suitable medical checks. Other
individuals show psychological / emotional signs such
as changeable mood and symptoms in the anxious
sphere. In some individuals, stress causes alterations
in the psychological / cognitive sphere. Eventually, in
other subjects, stress induces behavioral changes and
relationships with other people (for example causing
frequent disciplinary deficiencies). Diagnostic list of the
possible manifestations of stress, divided into the four
main channels (psychological-emotional, psychologicalcognitive,
physiological and behavioral):
MANIFESTATIONS OF STRESS THROUGH
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL-EMOTIONAL CHANNEL
• anxiety
• irritability
• depression
• hypochondria
• exaggerated feelings of guilt
• demotivation
• sense of frustration
• resentment
• sense of failure
• emotional flattening
• sadness
• unjustified euphoria
TNM 16

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
THE MANIFESTATIONS
OF STRESS ARE DIVERSIFIED
AND “INDIVIDUALIZED” IN THE
SENSE THAT THEY CAN VARY GREATLY
FROM ONE SUBJECT TO ANOTHER
TNM 17

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
In some individuals, stress causes
alterations in the psychological /
cognitive sphere.
MANIFESTATIONS OF STRESS THROUGH
THE BEHAVIORAL CHANNEL
• shots of anger towards family or colleagues
• crying crisis
• decrease in productivity
• absences from work
• alcohol abuse
• tobacco abuse
• abuse of psychotropic substances
• coffee abuse
• impulsive behaviors
• tendency to work and non-work accidents
• hysterical manifestations
• overeating
• hipoalimentation
• alterations in the sexual sphere
• high interpersonal conflict
• disciplinarily reprehensible behavior
MANIFESTATIONS OF STRESS THROUGH
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANNEL
• tiredness
• muscular pains
• backache
• headache
• sleep disorders
• dizziness
• palpitations
• hypertensive crisis
• intestinal disorders
• diarrhoea
• excessive sweating
• urinate frequently
• susceptibility to diseases of the respiratory system
• tremors
• tics
• abnormal feelings of heat / cold
• bruxism (clenching teeth)
• stomach ache
• dyspnoea (difficult breathing)
• menstrual irregularities
• nausea
• vomit
• increase in cholesterol
• increase in blood sugar
MANIFESTATIONS OF STRESS THROUGH
THE COGNITIVE CHANNEL
• inattention and difficulty in being focused
• memory disturbances especially for recent
information
• poor ability to learn new things
• blocking in making simple decisions and rigidity in
dealing with problems
However, frequently an individual subjected to an
excessive stress load shows tangible signs in all four
areas described. The reactions of a policeman or a
soldier to a load of excessive stress can be dramatic/
tragic. Inattentiveness in service can expose him/her to
situations of great danger. Closely related to stress can
be self-destructive behaviors top, ranging from the abuse
of alcohol and psychotropic drugs until unfortunately to
reach suicide.
TNM 18

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
TNM 19

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
TNM 20

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
By Marco STRANO
POST TRAUMATIC
STRESS DISORDER IN
POLICE OFFICERS
Police officers are continuously dealing with scenarios of violence, accidents
and disasters. After spending long hours constantly exposed to tragedies and
according to qualified scientific research the results on their bodies and minds are
alarming. The Police members are indeed a professional category statistically particularly
subject to problems of alcoholism, family crises, depression and suicide. Post-traumatic
stress disorder is a transient psychiatric disorder that can occur in people of any age
who have lived or who have witnessed a critical / traumatic event. The disorder, in the
police environment, can show up as a result of exposure to a situation that has caused
a dangerous situation to one’s own safety (such as a shooting or a car crash) or for that
of others or in particularly bloody scenarios with the presence of blood and corpses.
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder may occur after a variable period of time
from the time of the very trauma (even several months), and may be very different from
one person to another one. One of the primary symptoms is the so-called “re-experience of
trauma”, which consists of a set of intense and realistic memories and sensations to give
the subject the distinct sensation of living the “catastrophic” moment once again. In several
cases the traumatic event is relived throughout a real flashback, a kind of hallucination
during which the subject relives images and bodily sensations experienced at the time of
the critical event. Other typical symptoms of the disorder are significant alterations related
to the mood, the affective flattening (with loss of interest in things, people and situations),
a state of constant alert (characterized by tension, anxiety, hyper-reactivity to stimuli,
difficulty in concentration and insomnia), the systematic conduct of avoidance of stimuli
that may recall the trauma itself (places, objects, people, activities, etc.). The scientific
community has highlighted the need for a rapid (preventive) intervention immediately after
TNM 21

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder may occur
after a variable period of time from the time of the very
trauma (even several months), and may be very different
from one person to another one
TNM 22

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
POLICE OFFICERS ARE CONTINUOUSLY
DEALING WITH SCENARIOS OF VIOLENCE,
ACCIDENTS AND DISASTERS
the occurrence of the critical event to massively reduce the
risks of the onset of the disorder.
The defusing and the debriefing, for example, are two
particularly effective “psychology of emergence” techniques
that if applied promptly immediately after the subject’s
exposure to the critical event have shown excellent results
in preventing the onset of the disorder. Adam Pasciak
a former sergeant of the Police Department of Redford
Township (Michigan) who after his retirement (following
a shooting) got a PhD in clinical psychology and currently
working within the US with law enforcement personnel.
He repeatedly wrote that an early intervention immediately
after the trauma is the key to successfully treating a PTSD
case. A preventive intervention of a specialist Psychologist
immediately after exposure to trauma is therefore the
most effective prevention system. Fundamental then to
“intercept” the symptoms of P.T.S.D., if this disorder has
taken place and then formulate a correct diagnosis, is
that the categories of operators at risk are subjected to
constant monitoring by a specialist Psychologist. As above
mentioned and underlined, members of the police are quite
reluctant to unveil their emotional problems to avoid being
considered “unfit” to carry out the service. However, there
are several effective tools to aid the clinical treatment of
post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychotherapy combined
with some drugs has provided excellent results. To manage
the classic symptoms of P.T.S.D. like the constant state of
alarm, anxiety, flashbacks, the re-experience of the trauma
and the tendency to avoid the situations that remind Them
cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy seems to give good
results. Another therapeutic technique that has proved
to be remarkably useful against post-traumatic stress
disorder is the so-called Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing (E.M.D.R.), which is a desensitization and reprocessing
of trauma through specific Ocular Movements.
After several sessions of E.M.D.R., the disturbing memories
undergo an alteration, the image changes in the contents
and the way in which it presents itself, the intrusive thoughts
Is softened, as well as the negative emotions and physical
sensations associated with them.
TNM 23

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
By Marianna CHESSA
BURNOUT SYNDROME
IN POLICE OFFICERS
Police officers are a professional category
particularly prone to stress and frustration due
to various factors, especially for the excessive
demands and the lack of sufficient recognition.
Policemen experience high frustration and a sense of
impotence when, for example, they see their investigative
work frustrated by an overly light court ruling or when
their department does not have sufficient resources
to enable them to carry out a job successfully. Daily
exposure to suffering, violence and danger to personal
safety are also very stressful elements that are often
related to the onset of burn-out syndrome. The term
burn-out comes from English and literally means
burned, burst, exhausted. It was first used in the world
of sport in 1930 to indicate an athlete’s inability, after
some achievements, to obtain further results and/or
maintain those acquired. Particularly in the professional
world to define a competitor who is no longer able to
compete and achieve competitive results. The same
term was then borrowed from the world of health care
and in particular in 1974 by Freudenberg who used it
to indicate a complex of symptoms such as attrition,
exhaustion and depression found in workers in social
and health care structures. Later, Maslach (1975) used
this term to define an emotional exhaustion syndrome,
of depersonalization and reduction of personal capacity,
the symptoms of which highlight a behavioural pathology
affecting all professions with a high degree of relational
involvement, including the police force. In other words,
burnout is a progressive loss of idealism, energy and
goals towards work, experienced by police officers as a
result of the conditions in which they work. The World
Health Organisation has officially recognised ‘burnout
syndrome’ as a medical disorder. The International
Classification of Diseases (ICD), which catalogues
diseases and disorders worldwide, defines burnout as
“a syndrome conceptualised as the result of chronic
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
stress in the workplace that has not been successfully
managed”. Often, formal environments such as a Police
Department are places where burn-out syndrome can
occur with some frequency, especially where a rigid
organisation prevails and the person feels he has less
freedom in the work he does. Obviously, the personality
features of the individual policeman can have an
influence. More exposed are the people who accuse
themselves and feel guilty for negative situations, with
low self-esteem and high aspirations, or very bossy
people who use work as the only dimension of their life.
These dynamics are the same as in the animal world.
Seligman’s early animal studies showed that when
animals were exposed to negative stimuli and were
unable to escape, at a certain point, they simply stopped
trying to avoid the “stimulus”, gave up and behaved
as if they were completely defenseless. This can also
happen to individuals who are afraid of not being able
to cope with difficult situations and therefore end up
surrendering. Burnout can also be related to the loss
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
BIOGRAPHY OF
MARIANNA CHESSA
of a sense of belonging to one’s department and more
generally to the police community. In fact, the relationship
of the police officer with the department he/she is part
of plays a priority role. Very often, police officers who are
exposed to physical and emotional overload and who
suffer from the accumulation of these stressful events
come to have problems with insomnia, depression and
substance abuse. The individual may experience nonspecific
symptoms such as fatigue, apathy, nervousness,
insomnia, headache, gastritis, cardiovascular disorders,
sexual difficulties, cynicism, anger, indifference,
depression, guilt, suspicion and paranoia, isolation, low
self-esteem and blaming colleagues. Burnout does not
happen suddenly but manifests itself in different stages,
through a gradual loss of interest in one’s work, apathy
and exhaustion to the point of energy depletion and other
physical and psychological problems. Burnout syndrome
can affect the health of the individual police officer but
also the effectiveness of the entire police department
to which one belongs and should always be diagnosed
and treated promptly by experienced psychologists.
The role of the Psychologist is crucial for the prevention
of burnout by advising on organisational changes to
reduce work-related stress and by offering support and
counselling to police officer with burn-out symptoms. It
is important to use preventive strategies and encourage
teamworks with experienced psychologists who can
intervene to correct risky situations. Asking for help
is, however, the first step to cope with what people are
experiencing and become aware of their condition.
Marianna Chessa is an italian Psychologist,
specialised in Psychotherapy and Forensic
Criminology. She is an expert therapist in the
E.M.D.R. technique and other techniques useful in
the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
She also deals with the treatment of burn-out
syndromes occurring in military and police
environments. She is a founding member and board
member of THE ITALIAN THIN BLUE LINE ONLUS
which is a psychological support community for
police officers and italian military.
She also runs training courses for police and
military personnel on psychological and technicalprofessional
issues. She has been carrying out
scientific researches on topics related to Police
Psychology for many years. She is the author of
scientific books and articles on psychology and
criminology.
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
TNM 27

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
By Marco STRANO
SUICIDE’S
PREVENTION
AMONG POLICE
FORCES
Suicidology is a scientific discipline that studies
suicide risk according to a clinical point of
view and dealing with prevention activities.
In this discipline’s clinical practice, the predisposing
factors (psychopathology, alcohol consumption, etc.)
are normally distinguished from the triggering ones
(diseases, economic cracks, mourning, shameful events,
etc.). According to experts, suicide is not a single and
unpredictable act but it is almost always a journey
beginning with suicidal ideation (the idea of ending
one’s life) and ends up by transitioning the act (selfdestructive
action).
The implementation of suicidal thoughts normally
depends on the intensity of the ideation and the time
of permanence of the intention in the victim’s mind.
Schematically, in every suicide the act is carried out in
3 phases throughout a journey of variable lenght (from
several years to few moments):
1
2
3
phase of conception / ideation
phase of the design
execution phase
Conception and execution of the suicidal idea can be
impulsive or self-injurious action planned over time.
The cases of “impulsive” suicide, although statistically
very rare, are the most difficult to analyze, define and
prevent because they can occur even in the absence
of a “pre-suicidal syndrome”, that is, of warning signs.
The presence of the first two functions (conception
and planning) does not necessarily lead to suicide
which also depends on the subject’s emotional and
affective state, the motivations that leads them to the
aforementioned ideation and the resources that male
the individuale able to ask and receive help and support.
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
There are people who fantasize about taking their own
lives very often but they never succeed in realizing their
intentions. Pre-suicidal syndrome is the psychological,
psychosocial, social and psychopathological framework,
responsible for the suicide risk (the substrate) that
normally considers/includes chronic situations
(depression, alcohol, etc.), events, general trends of the
last year of life and recente triggering factors.
This syndrome includes a set of identifiable and
diagnosable symptoms (often also by co-workers and
family members) in the period before the act that could
/ should activate a support intervention:
1. the narrowing of interpersonal relationships
(isolation)
2. the prevailing of a pessimistic view of reality;
3. standardized behavior and loss of spontaneity;
4 increase in self-directed aggression;
5 constant presence of suicidal fantasies.
Identifying pre-suicidal elements in any subject is
therefore a key element to implement an effective
prevention action thanks to the immediate support
of the people surrounding the subject (family and
co- workers) and the intervention of mental health
specialists. Depressive disorders are statistically the
most widespread psychopathological substratum linked
to suicidal risks. More than 90 percent of people who
commit suicide are depressed. The loss of interest in
life (which is the core of depression) is the primary
factor.
Deadly thoughts, suicidal ideation or suicide attempts
may frequently be present in the depressed. These
thoughts vary from the belief that others would be better
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
off if the person were dead, to transient but recurrent
thoughts of committing suicide, to actual plans to
commit suicide. The frequency, intensity and lethality of
these thoughts can be quite variable. The motivations
for suicide may include in the depressed a desire to give
up facing obstacles perceived as insurmountable or
an intense desire to put an end to an extremely painful
emotional state that is perceived by the subject as
interminable (italian Psychologist Paolo Casto on www.
depressione-italia.it).
THE MAIN SYMPTOMS OF THE DEPRESSIVE
DISORDER ARE THE FOLLOWING:
• Depressed mood for most of the day, as reported by
the personal report of the subject and observed by
others with marked decrease in interest and pleasure
for everything, or almost any activity;
• Significant weight loss or weight gain not due to
diets or decreased or increased appetite;
Scan QRCODE to see
italian Psychologist
Paolo Casto on
www.depressione-italia.it
• Insomnia or Hypersomnia;
• Agitation or psychomotor retardation almost every
day;
• Fatigue or lack of energy;
• Excessive or unmotivated feelings of devaluation or
guilt;
• Decreased ability to think or concentrate or
indecision;
• Frequent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal
intentions without a specific plan or suicide attempt
or devising a specific plan to commit suicide.
The diagnosis of a depressive disorder is therefore
always the first elementi for a clinical intervention related
to suicide risk. There are valid clinical tools to measure
depressive symptoms in a fairly objective way but
sometimes the disorder stands still and is not noticed
by the ones who surround the subject everyday. The
mourning, or rather the mourning reaction, is the major
risk factor for suicide and is an emotional-affective
(physiological) state of the individual, triggered by
events such as the loss of a loved one: first of all death,
but also abandonment, separation, divorce, transfer
etc. Grief is therefore an event that involves a loss of a
loved one, work, home, of a previous status, even of an
ideal or a project and is always a potentially depressive
factor. Depressant events that are highly risky (e.g.
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
the risk of suicide) are therefore the death of parents,
widowhood, retirement and dismissal, abandonment by
people significantly important according an affective
ed point of view, loss / destruction / confiscation of
the house, economic and / or image collapse and
much more. According to many psychologists, any
pain caused by unhappy experiences of different origin
has something in common with mourning. The word
mourning refers to that particular mental process that
allows the individual to make the mental pain associated
with loss tolerable and gradually overcome it. The way
to face and overcome mourning depends on several
factors: the psychological resources of the individual, in
particular the way to cope with stressful events (coping
strategies), the environmental resources, such as being
able to count on the psychological support of family
and friends, the social and cultural context in which they
live. Indeed a poor ability to process and overcome a
bereavement is often the element that can be considered
the starting point to commit suicide but people can be
helped to overcome this situation. Another important
factor in suicide cases is alcohol abuse. Alcoholism is
a pathological syndrome caused by acute or chronic
intake of large quantities of alcohol. It is characterized
by compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol,
usually to the detriment of the health of the drinker, his
relationships and his social position. As with other drug
addictions, alcoholism is considered a treatable disease.
Among the causes of suicide, alcoholism is second
only to mood disorders: among alcoholics the risk of
suicide in life is estimated in various researches around
10% to 40%. Alcohol predisposes to suicidal gestures,
either exacerbating a mood depression or reducing selfcontrol.
The abuse of alcohol, in fact, compromising the
ability of judgement it Is favourable to be disinhibited
and therefore leads to the impulsive act to commit
suicide, but it can also be used as means to soften the
discomfort associated with the act itself.
About 30% of those ones who attempt to commit
suicide have in fact taken alcohol before the attempt
and about half of these ones are intoxicated at the
time the action is taking place. Alcoholism, during
periods of abstinence, often generates a deep feeling
of remorse and alcoholics are therefore predisposed
to suicide even when they are sober. According to the
specialized scientific literature, the most significant
FATIGUE OR
LACK OF ENERGY
variables of the suicide phenomenon among police
forces are as follows: The living conditions the police
may be suffering are closely related to the risk of
suicide. Critical conditions of working on the road and
being exposed to violence which can be an important
factor of risk. Improving policemen’ life conditions
by adopting different strategies (training, spaces and
times dedicated to well-being, listening and support,
etc.), is therefore the main factor to be reducing suicide
risks. According to many investigations carried out
in the USA, there is a strong statistical correlation
between the suicide of policemen and the presence
of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For this reason,
reducing the incidence of P.T.S.D. by implenting a valid
clinical intervention that also indirectly reduces the
risk of suicide; The family tensions of police officers
are a factor of high suicide risk. Sometimes when the
police officers/cops go back home they find a family
atmosphere unable to remove the stress they have
been going through during the service. The condition
of loneliness and isolation linked to the frequent family
crises faced by policemen, the separations due to the
nature of their work activity, frequent transfers and
stress significantly affect the risk of suicide. Promoting
the cohesion and well-being of the families of policemen
and their involvement in a training and awarenessraising
plan is therefore an important element in order
to reduce suicide risk (www.policesuicidestudy.com).
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
There is a widespread trend among policemen not to
ask for help and show up depressive features and other
forms of psychological distress (for example PTSD
symptoms) is considered a negative issue because they
are afraid of being judged unfit to perform their job.
Psychologists working side by side the police should be
seen as predominantly helpers not as judges.
The availability of a weapon makes the suicide (actingout)
relatively easier, but on the above mentioned
element there are no effective prevention strategies
since weapons are essential work tools so limiting the
access to hold them appears almost impossible unless
a pre-suicidal syndrome has already occurred. Many
police officers erronously believe that only a specialist
(medical-doctor or psychologist) can be helpful in case
one of their coworkers is ill or use likely to commit
suicide. This is definitively wrong.In the prevention of
the suicidal phenomenon among the police forces,
along with the intervention of specialists the support
activity of colleagues, because of the nature of the
relationships of confidence and intimacy established
in the police
dept. and who have the
opportunity to identify any
situation of psychological
distress, may give valuable
help. Often the ones who
have the opportunity to
catch possible messages
of help coming
from depressed
subjects that could commit suicide are not specialists
(doctors and psychologists), they are just co-workers
who live side by side to them and therefore have the
opportunity to intervene, report the issue and provide
initial support. The knowledge among all the police
operators (through targeted training courses) of some
basic elements of suicidology is therefore essential to
identify subjects at risk within the workplace and try to
take immediate preventive actions.
For example, officers can identify in advance situations
of alcohol abuse and consequent psychological distress
in their colleagues with whom they are very close to and
consequently carry out very useful strategies of support
(with dialogue, affective closeness and no judging
attitude) but if necessary also report the situation to
mental health specialists. It is therefore essential to
activate internal awareness campaigns for the police
to spread awareness about the problem of alcoholism
to let everyone identify dangerous situations for their
co-workers. In the end it can be said depression is a
disorder strongly correlated to suicide risk.In order to
identify critical conditions of police officers, an annual
visit should be provided by a specialist to assess the
psychological conditions, examining their resilience,
their coping style, their family balance and the presence
of symptoms of mental illness but the ability to identify
a (generic) situation of uneasiness related to depression
of their colleagues should also be owned by all the
policemen who, without taking a “clinical” attitude, can
give an important contribution through support and
closeness.
TNM 32

RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
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TNM 33

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIR
by Francesco CACCETTA
INADEQUATE PREVENTION
STRATEGY OVER POLICEMEN’S
SUICIDE CASES IN EUROPE
UNARMA is an Union Association of the
Carabinieri Corps, the Italian Military Police
Department, dealing with Investigative and
Security tasks, besides many other functions. With a
great variety of duties, the Corps deploys approximately
100 thousand men and women of widely varying
ages. Now, UNARMA Union’s main role is to protect
its members and propose any organizational solution
that can improve their quality of life. Every year, in Italy,
more than 50 suicides affect Police Officers, and half of
these cases occur among the Carabinieri. This is very
often due to the trouble of coping with occupational
stress, given that specific and sometimes unavoidable
psychological pressures weigh on a Police Officer’s
work, although such stressing condition could be
limited by improving the human resource management
and getting some antiquated organizational aspects
renewed. Investigating the causes that lead to a Police
Officer’s suicide and provide any possible solution
in order to reduce the number of these tragic events
(indeed too many in Italy) is therefore a core task of the
UNARMA Trade Association. Currently, both in Italy as
in several other nations in Europe, the strategies that
aim to reduce the number of suicides, within the context
of the Police forces, are definitely inadequate. Suicide,
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IRST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
Carabinieri Corps is the Italian Military Police Department, dealing
with Investigative and Security tasks, besides many other functions.
in Italy, keeps on being the main cause of
death for a Policeman, which makes it even
more dangerous than crime or terrorism
itself. All Italian Police Departments,
civil or military, try to increase their own
Psychological Assistance Service, thanks
to the motivation of the Media and public
opinion, and yet nearly every attempt at
medical or psychological support has so far
proved pointless, if not actually “a sheer failure”.
No Policeman turns to the Assistance Centers within
the Administrations for help in case of psychological
distress, especially due to depression, which is the
worst condition leading to suicide. The reason of this
failure is quite simple to underline. When an Italian
Cop reports about any kind of psychological disorder
to his/her Headquarters, he gets immediately deemed
“Unstable” and “Unfit” for Police activity, even if the
problem may be mild and transient. The consequence
is being suspended from service, because of precise
provisions by each Administration, and in most cases
one is also expelled from the Corps, at the
end of a painful and distressing series of
psychiatric sessions.
It is quite obvious, then, why nobody allows
to make their awkward condition known
in the office, nor their need for support,
since no one wants to run the risk of being
isolated or losing their job. And that is exactly
why so many get into a loop that leads to despair
and eventually suicide. So that many of them get to the
point of committing suicide, not due to their depression,
rather because of their inability to ask for help. The ideal
solution, up to this point, is the one UNARMA adopted:
a new Military Psychology Department has now been
founded, with the task of studying the best Anti-suicide
strategy. For this purpose, an Agreement was signed
with the Italian Thin Blue Line Onlus (an external, private
organization) which offers a free and highly confidential
support service, specifically dedicated to the Police.
The service provided by Italian Thin Blue Line Onlus is
a creation of the famous Italian psychologist Marco
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIR
Gruppo di Intervento Speciale (GIS, in English
“Special Intervention Group”) is an elite
special operations counter-terrorism tactical
response unit inside the Italian Carabinieri
military police, first formed in 1978. In 2004
the GIS evolved into a special forces unit.
Strano, who has been serving in the Police for 40 years,
before turning to his new activity. In practice, it is a
private telephone line, operational 24 h a day, which the
Policeman can also contact anonymously, as well as a
video chat system for psychological support interviews.
Two years of experience with this particular type of
approach has shown that in the vast majority of cases
– a psychological support based on some preliminary
telephone contacts, managed by a trained specialist,
who deeply well knows the issues related to the job of
a Policeman – can drastically reduce the risk of suicide
and even get the Cop out of his critical condition,
helping him/her to regain his/her inner balance. An
effective Suicide Prevention campaign, among members
of the Police Departments, must – as first – begin
with a profound cultural shift within the Corps, which
(also basing on the American experience) should
start promoting new psychological support solutions,
both confidential and external, thus avoiding hasty
marginalization or even expulsion, in case of a slight
and solvable discomfort.
BIOGRAPHY OF
FRANCESCO
CACCETTA
Francesco Caccetta is an italian officer in the
Carabinieri Corps (Captain, operational section
Commander) and the Deputy Chairman of the
Military Trade Union Association “UNARMA”. He
has had approximately 30 years of investigative
experience in combating various forms of crime.
Together with his institutional operational activity,
Francesco Caccetta went through university studies
of Sociology, Psychology and Criminology. He
attended masters on some criminological issues
and is a member of prestigious international
criminology societies. He has a long experience in
urban security and has written several books on this
subject.
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TNM 37

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
THE ROLE OF THE
FAMILY OF A POLICE
OFFICER AND
SOLDIERS
Family is an “emotional body”, whose primary
function is to give love and stability to their
members along with collaboration and economic
assistance and all the ones involved in the process
have to be correlated to its balance. The work of a
police officer is stressful, challenging and dangerous. A
police officer often sacrifices part of personal free time,
which instead could be devoted to their family, to keep
others people’s lives safe. Spouses, husbands, partners,
parents and children related to law enforcement play
a key role in the health, well-being and operational
efficiency of the previously mentioned professional
category. Happy marriages and relationships are
negatively affected by the policeman’s professional
life. Family work is statistically significant and takes
place when the demands are fulfilled by the work task,
interfering with family life’s needs and the other way
round (vice versa). Therefore, family work has a negative
impact on both family life and the work of the police
officer. According to an historical point of view Police
force’s category is particularly affected by family crises
and a massive number of divorces and separations. This
situation is an element of uncertainty and instability in
a policeman’s daily life that can influence their general
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
psychic balance. The reasons of this conflict are quite
well known in the policemen’s environment. An ordinary
family life is compromised by irregular work shifts,
excessively rigid working hours, and nervousness due to
stress. The work of policeman or professional military
influence a great deal the family in their choices, habits
and schedules. For example, the reliability of family
commitments is very critical, because often, due to
service reasons, policemen are forced (even with no
warning) to change life plans which lead to a serious
discomfort for the dear ones, family and / or buddies.
The core of many family conflicts is the unpredictability
of professional commitments of many policemen
engaged in operational service activities that often force
their family and friends to call off meetings or else at
the very last moment causing stress and conflict.
When the family is frequently called upon to handle
frequent sudden changes in their plans due to daytime
and nighttime shift work, missions of varying duration
away from home or frequent relocation due to work
reasons, its cohesive strength is severely tested and
an internal conflict is inevitably generated. Leisure
management is another critical issue. The weekends
for many members of the police force represent
ordinary working days which can massively influence
their families’ daily routine. Even during traditional
festivities like Christmas, policemen may be on duty
while their children are at home playing with presents.
Wedding anniversaries and birthdays can often not be
properly celebrated. A further problem is related to the
fact that the attitude of an off-duty policeman’s can
affect a professional task. According to their internal
regulations, the police are required to be irreproachable
and dignified even after their working shift when hang
around their neighborhood, or chill out with their family.
For the above mentioned reasons they never feel
completely free to express themselves the way they like
for example, if they want to post a polemical comment
on a social network or to be kidding and playing “dumb”
with their children, girlfriend wife or husbands. This
condition, if mismanaged according to a psychological
point of view, can generate within the family a kind
of tension, due to the “rigid” attitude of the latter and
their relationships with their spouse and children. The
policemen who deal with criminals for many hours
a day gradually change their character and begin to
have a different outlook of the world over the years.
Sometimes a suspicious attitude and a kind of hardness
of character can be involuntarily transferred even within
their own family life.
Moreover, the hands of a blacksmith or a mason are
covered with calluses that are felt even when they
caress their children. The pride of belonging to a police
body is for sure something that pervades a police
officer’s life even away from working hours and the
interests and thoughts related to their professional
status often ring out the whole day even when they
are with their own family. Families are therefore a
fundamental support system for all the members of
the police forces, but they are also structures subject
to considerable stress and for this reason they need
to be supported as well. It’s hard to be a cop, but it’s
even harder to be a member of a cop’s family. In many
cases, couples are not sufficiently ready or educated
about the psychological impact that police work could
have on them and the police departments should design
a sensitization journey and emotional involvement of
police families. Knowing the peculiarities of the work of
their family members is useful to accept their attitude
to life when they go back home at night or even the
following morning.
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIR
By Federica PETRINI
PSYCHOLOGICAL
RISKS RELATED TO
COMMUNICATION OF
BAD NEWS
Policemen often have to communicate bad news
to citizens. These can be of different kinds and
seriousness, such as informing a family of the
injury or death of a relative or inform a person that a
judicial order has been issued against him and that will
therefore end in prison. We are talking about events that
have different names, meanings and intensities they
can also have important consequences on the people
involved. Communicating bad news is a very stressful
activity from the psychological point of view both for the
receiver but also for the policeman who presents it. For
this reason, it must be carried out with professionalism
and using appropriate techniques so as to make the
impact, both on the citizen and on the policeman, less
heavy. The characteristics and behaviour of the person
who reports the “bad news”, the phrases and words
used, the context in which the communication takes
place must be chosen and planned because these
elements can make the message more or less painful.
A fundamental role therefore assumes the modality to
which a bad news is communicated.
This action can actually become a protective factor for
the development of psychological disorders related
to trauma. Specifically we are talking about anxiety
disorders, panic attacks, depression, and P.T.S.D. As
already mentioned, the communication of these events
does not have an impact exclusively on the life and
well-being of those who receive them but also on that
of the policeman who communicates them. This is
because exposure to traumatic events (such as example
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IRST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
Communicating bad news is a very stressful activity from
the psychological point of view both for the receiver but
also for the policeman who presents it.
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIR
to communicate a mother about the loss of her child),
even if not reported directly to us, leaves a mark on our
psyche; Moreover, if this exposure becomes constant,
as can happen to those who work in the forces of police,
(but also in the fire brigade or the operators of the
emergency room and of the ambulances) and adequate
psychological protection strategies are not adopted, can
bring very serious psychological consequences.
A guideline for a functional communication of bad news
by the police should consider the following aspects:
1
2
3
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In choosing the policeman who will carry out
the communication, it is necessary to carefully
evaluate who could be uncomfortable because
emotionally too involved, avoiding, for example,
an operator who has recently become a parent
who has to communicate bad news to parents
about their children;
The policeman who is instructed to bring the bad
news must be as informed as possible about the
incident and must carefully plan his intervention;
Whoever makes the communication must have
all the time necessary to be able to stay with the
people who receive the news;
4
5
6
I is not appropriate to send a single policeman to
report bad news. The minimum number of people
to communicate bad news is two operators.
It is not actually foreseeable what will be the
reaction of the people that the policemen will
find themselves in front of, and difficulties could
arise that need support (for example a suicide
attempt);
Communicating the bad news must be simple,
direct and complete, bearing in mind the fact
that most people focus exactly on the beginning
of the message, up to the bad news and on the
final part. Everything in between will in no way be
remembered (sandwich effect);
The person who receives the news is
experiencing acute stress which changes
the balance of his organism. We are talking
about acute distess that can prevent a correct
understanding of the facts and the impossibility
of returning to the present. It is therefore a good
thing for the policeman to learn how to help the
person return to being mentally present, including
by using relaxation techniques such as guided
breathing;

IRST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
A FUNDAMENTAL ROLE
THEREFORE ASSUMES THE
MODALITY TO WHICH A BAD
NEWS IS COMMUNICATED.
7
8
9
After communicating the bad news it is good
not to leave the person alone and help him/
her to contact a friend or family member who
can give support. Due to the sandwich effect
it is possible that people may have a thousand
doubts or questions in the following hours or
days. It is therefore a good idea to prepare even
just simple business cards through which you
can contact the policeman who reported the bad
news, or his headquarters, to receive assistance
or clarifications;
In the days following the communication of bad
news, the policeman should pay attention to
some of his reactions different from the usual,
such as being more aggressive or irritable,
using food or alcohol disproportionately and, if
necessary, asking for advice to a psychologist.
In fact, it cannot be excluded that the event may
have deeply affected the operator even if he has a
lot of experience behind him;
Assign a specialist emergency psychologist
to perform defusing and debriefing and other
techniques that allow policemen who report bad
news to rework the traumatic event and reduce
related psychophysical stress.
BIOGRAPHY OF
FEDERICA PETRINI
Federica Petrini is a psychologist expert in
emergency psychology. She had professional
experience in supporting rescue workers during
some earthquakes that occurred in Italy.
She also worked in the Emergency Medicine
Department of the “Policlinico Agostino Gemelli”
hospital in Rome, providing psychological support
to the medical and paramedical staff involved
in communicating bad news to the relatives of
deceased patients. She is one of the psychologists
of the “ItalianThin Blue Line Onlus” association
which offers psychological support to Italian
policemen.
In any case we must remember that all those involved at
different levels in traumatic events, even the policemen
who are in charge of informing family members, can be
subject to very serious psychological trauma. Acting
professionally and having the right training considerably
reduces the risk of the onset of psychological disorders
in policemen who report bad news. Finally, the presence
of an expert psychologist in each Police Department
who can intervene if necessary with emergency
psychology techniques represents an element of great
help for this kind of problem, reducing the risks of the
onset of P.T.S.D..
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
TWO TYPES OF
MANAGERS, WHICH
ONE ARE YOU?
BY ABIUD MONTES
Recently I was speaking to a group of top
managers about Leadership. I asked a simple
question. “When you walk into the office and
see your employees, are they happy and excited to see
you?” Immediately 1/3 of the room put their head down.
I shared a scenario with them about this question. All
of the managers attend a staff meeting on Monday
morning. At the meeting, they are notified that one
week from today their departments will be inspected
by an outside team to check on the effectiveness and
efficiency of all employees’ work.
The Red Manager: Characteristics: Negative, yells,
micromanages, talks down to people, “I got it” mindset,
autocratic and detached.
Upon hearing the news one manager is clearly upset
and very negative. This is demonstrated by entering the
office slamming doors and speaking out loud and using
foul language. All the employees can visually see and
hear that the manager is really upset after coming out
of the staff meeting. The manager gathers up the team
of ten employees that they are in charge of and begins
to explain that in one week they will be inspected. Every
other word that comes out of their mouth is negative
and very discouraging. By Friday every employee is
ready to go home and not looking to come to work on
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
Monday. Monday morning comes
and five out of the ten employees call
out sick. In turn, the five employees
that show up are very stressed out
and have to do their job and cover for
the employee that did not show up
to work. At the end of the inspection,
they fail miserably.
The Green Manager: Characteristics:
Positive, successful, honest,
accountable, empower people, loyal,
inspire, teachable spirit, integrity, and
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
BIOGRAPHY OF
ABIUD MONTES
trust. Upon hearing the news this manager is optimistic
and confident about the future of the inspection. This
is demonstrated by entering the office with a smile
and immediately calling all ten employees together.
All the employees can visually see that the manager
is really upbeat after coming out of the staff meeting.
The manager begins to explain that in one week they
will be inspected. Every other word that comes out
of their mouth is positive and very encouraging. They
say, “When the inspection team comes they will see
how our department is doing such a great job, that
they will benchmark what we are doing here as a team
and implement it in other departments through the
organization!” By Friday every employee is inspired and
looking forward to the inspection on Monday. Monday
morning comes and all ten employees show up and
exceed expectations. At the end of the inspection, unlike
the Red manager and their team, the Green manager
and their team pass with high marks in all areas, and the
entire team is successful.
Abiud Montes, Combat Veteran, MGySgt United
States Marine Corps Retired, is a motivational
speaker and has been speaking for over 28 years.
He is a sought out speaker and has been the Master
of Ceremonies for many events throughout the U.S.
He has been the guest of Honor for several Marine
Corps Birthday Balls. Also, a keynote speaker
and current topics are Leadership, Antiterrorism,
and “How to Handle a Bully.” He is currently the
President of the Navy League, Fort Lauderdale
Council. Montes is a two-time combat veteran of
Desert Storm & Iraqi Freedom and retired from the
United States Marine Corps after 30 years as an E-9
Master Gunnery Sergeant. Montes has a Master’s
of Professional Studies in Executive Management
from St. Thomas University.
Contact Abiud Montes at speaker.montes@gmail.
com for your next conference speaker to further
discuss this topic on Leadership.
“Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect,
human understanding, and moral character that
enables a person to Inspire and control a group of
people successfully”. (13th Commandant of the United
States Marines Major General John A. Lejeune). A few
years back I shared this same story with someone in a
management position. They immediately identified with
this story and said, “Oh my god I am RED, I am a RED
manager, no wonder everyone hates me!” I explained to
them that they too could become a Green manager.
TNM 48

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TNM 49

MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
By Marco STRANO
THE POLICE
OFFICER
AND ITS
RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE FEAR
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
The correct attitude of the police operator towards fire” event takes place in conditions of strong psychological
fear is essential to keep it under control while stress from fear (usually only professional killers shoot
maintaining clarity of thoughts during the
without being threatened) that can also generate immediate
operational phase. Sometimes this emotion perceptive and mnemonic alterations and, at the same time,
is mistakenly considered a form of weakness among in an emotional trauma that can then result in the DPTS (Post
policemen. In reality, the denial of fear is often more
Traumatic Stress Disorder). The research by Seymour Epstein
dangerous than what has caused it and can represent (1994) and other scholars in the field also highlighted two
an element that increases the risk. The disregarded and distinctly different ways of processing information.
badly managed fear can expose the individual to a bad The first way, called “rational thought”, occurs in conditions
management of the critical event due to an underestimation of low emotional stimulation and affects mainly cortical
of his emotional reactions. Fear, if managed well, is an areas of the brain (cerebral cortex). Rational thinking is
emotion that activates a precious instinctive response to usually activated in situations in which the subject is not
survive, a primordial reaction (which can be very effective) subjected to situations of particular stress or sudden fear.
that we have in common with other species. Often, an intense The second way, called “empirical thought” (or emotional),
fear follows a “wholesome” psycho-physical reaction that usually occurs under conditions of particular stress or
male us ready to act, probably a residual capacity of the emotional tension, typically when the subject experiences a
archaic man who had to flee or fight with hands and feet to sudden and strong fear (for example during an aggression
survive. Currently those who fight use tools that need calm by an armed individual). In the emotional thinking phase
and good dexterity and must comply with strict rules of the brain areas involved are those of the limbic system
engagement based on precise legislation. The condition of and in particular of the amygdala which provides
acute stress that manifests itself in the course of a conflict in immediate and semi-conscious behavioral
fire often involves perceptual alterations (for example tunnel responses (bypassing the cerebral
vision, slowed vision, hypoacousia, etc.) and dependent cortex) as well as “disposing” a
on memory processes (for example anomaly of fixation general sensory condition (of hyper
and amnesia) which may have an obvious impact on the vigilance). Empirical or emotional
operator’s and target’s safety but also in the subsequent thinking, which facilitates
phase of a possible investigation / criminal proceeding
related to this event. For a police operator to know these
alterations is the first step to keep them under control and to
count them at least in part.
The hypothesis of an operative use of the weapons remains
for the police and security
operators a statistically quite
FEAR UNDER
rare event. Most of them spend
their entire career using firearms
exclusively in training. Some of
them are involved in shootings
and must use the weapon to
CONTROL
defend themselves or others. In
such circumstances, the armed
subject who suffers an attack
must take decisions in a fraction
of a second and choose the
appropriate responses to the
type of threat. The shootings
have the power to nearly always activate a nervous reaction
as the body’s response to acute stress. The “conflict on
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
rapid and automatic reactions (usually through the flee or
combat syndrome) presents, unlike rational thinking, specific
characteristics:
EMOTIONAL THINKING:
• is made up of fragmentary memories rather than an
entire story;
• is based on similar past experiences rather than
rational analysis
• it is instinctive and holistic rather than analytical and
logical;
• it is oriented towards immediate action rather than
weighting and delayed action;
• it causes a very efficient and rapid cognitive
processing in place of a slow and conscious
thought;
• it keeps the individual “prey for emotions” rather
than “in full control of his own thoughts”;
• it suggests “trying to believe” rather than
requiring justification through logic and evidence.
Epstein also points out that in most cases, the
automatic processing of the empirical system
is dominant compared to the rational
system because it is less demanding and
more effective and, consequently, is the
“default option” of the human mind in
cases of stress acute. The advent
of a phase of “empirical thought”
in the functioning of the human
mind can be related to a series
of perceptive and mnemonic
distortions due to the activation
of “emergency” perceptual
channels. For example, the
involuntary transition to
“emotional thinking” can
cause the subject to put
his finger on the trigger
even in a phase where the
rules of engagement and
training would suggest
him to keep him out
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
Fear, if managed well, is an emotion that activates a precious instinctive response to survive, a
primordial reaction (which can be very effective) that we have in common with other species
of the gun jumper (trigger guard) or the rifle for security
reasons. In other words, the mind can induce the individual
to seek a reassuring skin contact with the metallic surface
of the trigger to make sure he can press it in case of danger
for his safety. The “attack / flight syndrome” is a term that
describes the most extreme form of body-alarm reaction
towards a perceived threat in which the body prepares from
a physiological point of view to fight or flee to protect its
survival: high heart rate, high breathing rate and decrease in
hormonal production. In general, greater physical reactivity.
It is therefore a complex and almost instant physiological
response to a strong stress (such as the perception of a very
serious danger for one’s own safety). This response includes
vasoconstriction induced by adrenaline and cortisol that
compresses blood vessels and conveys blood flow from the
extremities to the main muscle groups and internal organs,
thus reducing dexterity and compromising the most complex
motor skills, as well as the production of epinephrine and
norepinephrine by the adrenal glands, which respectively
increase muscle strength and generate insensitivity to pain
to prepare the human organism (the body) to fight or escape
from danger.
Other aspects of body-alarm reaction include generalized
muscle tension, tooth grinding and clenching, a reduction
in analytical reasoning and decision making. The opposite
can also rarely occur, a condition of “freezing” (literally of
freezing) which leads the individual to stop and interrupt
any kind of action. Vasoconstriction is an event of tactical
relevance for the safe and effective use of a firearm
because, when it conveys blood flow from the extremities
towards the main groups of muscles and internal organs, it
causes deterioration both regarding skill / dexterity that of
the sense of touch, associated with the tremor / trembling
that frequently accompanies fear and nervousness. This
loss of dexterity in the upper limbs is also accompanied
by an increase in physical strength (especially the main
groups of muscles); the combination of these two factors
compromises the upper motor control, particularly in the
case of the trigger control where the flexor muscles (which
press the trigger of a firearm) are normally stronger than
the extensor muscles (which lift or hold far the finger
from the trigger). Also linked to a strong fear can occur an
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
involuntary muscle contraction in the hand that holds the
weapon that can be caused, as well as an inter-articular
response and movement factors (loss of balance or sudden
postural alteration), also from a “nice catch” linked precisely
to the hype production of specific biochemical products
secreted by the adrenal glands.
But under intense fear the mechanisms of perception
and cognitive processing are also compromised. Some
sensory stimuli (acoustic and visual) are amplified,
others are attenuated. The effects or aberrations of the
cortical perception or of the body-alarm reaction, able to
compromise the safe use of weapons during a reaction
to an aggression and to alter the memory (of the event) or
one’s own performance / reliability as a witness, are:
• Amaurosis fugax: A “white out”, a sort of white flash of
the visual field that (as well as the “black out”) causes
a temporary blindness probably caused by the mental /
psychological rejection of perceiving a terrible traumatic
event;
• Hearing exclusion / occlusion: This is a distortion of
auditory processes, such as the exclusion or reduction
of the perceptual threshold by means of which the
mind, focused on the threat, excludes all information
that has nothing to do with threat. Although the mind
is able to record all data (which could be re-evoked
with psychological recovery techniques), one’s auditory
memory may be distorted, inaccurate, incorrect;
• Rejection response & cognitive dissonance: The cortical
perception processes some traumatic events or details
outside conscious memory, causing the “rejection” of
certain events or details that conflict with what a person
wants to believe. This can cause a selective perception
and an imprecise and altered memory;
• Psychological splitting & dissociation: The experience
of looking at oneself reacting as if there were two of us
(an actor and a passive observer) or us (the observer)
and another person (the actor) is one of the sensations
described by the agents involved in a shooting. In this
perceptive scenario, the operator is reacting very quickly
under stress, but is perceived as moving in slow motion.
In fact, the “mind’s eye” is processing perceptions and
decisions at normal speed while the individual is reacting
immediately. This creates a feeling of dissociation
between his own thoughts and actions;
• Survival Euphoria: It can induce feelings, behaviors and
statements that may seem cynical and insensitive and
throw a “malevolent light” on the individual;
• T achypsychia: When we talk about the so-called “Speed
of the mind” or “speeding up the mind”, we are dealing
with a distortion of the perception of time, as if slowmotion
events were perceived;
• Tunnel vision: It is a selective and intense attention (for
example to a threat) that results in loss of peripheral
vision and often the distortion of the size (the objects
appear larger) and distance (which seems closer
together than it actually is).
Perceptive aberrations that on a strictly theoretical plane
could be functional from an adaptive point of view because
they intensify the processes of attention and the bodily
reactions to the perceived threat, often compromising the
accurate spatio-temporal perception and the mechanisms
of track fixation mnestic (in memory) and, consequently,
the ability to report the threatening event. A typical
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MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE | VETERANS | FIRS
The combatants learn how to use of “tactical breathing” that normally involves
this sequence of actions: inhale-breathebreathe-hold breath-fires
consequence is the inability to accurately count their
exploded shots (or not to remember to have shot) and
generally speaking to keep a mental trace of the sequence
of events in the exact order in which they took place.
Intuitively these factors ingest heavily on the reliability
in the testimonial phase of the police operator involved
in criminal proceedings (or in an investigation inside the
Police) connected to a me focused conflict. Since the mid
1980s a great deal of in researches, especially from the
United States, have been focused on the quantification and
percentage of onset perceptive and mnemonic distortions
that can occur on those who are in a condition of great
stress due to the fact of being the object of an aggression.
This condition is particularly interesting, especially when
the person suffering from such perceptual alterations, is
a policeman handling weapons and is therefore able to
use the latter to defend himself against any aggressions.
Some results coming up from a survey on the perceptive
alterations in the phase of acute stress suffered by armed
subjects (before and during a fire conflict), (Artwol, 1997)
have highlighted some typical distortions, some of which
are mutually opposed:
• 88%: reduced hearing;
• 81%: tubular vision (tunnel vision) represented by a
reduction in the peripheral visual field;
• 78%: sensation of “automatic pilot” in which the subject
feels guided in action without being able to oppose;
• 64%: slowed-down time perception;
• 66%: increased visual clarity and detection of
insignificant details;
• 63%: loss of memory for some parts of the event;
• 58%: loss of memory for some of their actions;
• 49%: dissociation, detachment;
• 34%: intrusive non-pertinent thoughts (for example, their
loved ones or other thoughts of personal matters);
• 21% mnemonic distortion (remember things that did not
actually happen);
• 15%: amplified sounds;
• 15%: accelerated time perception;
• 12%: temporary paralysis.
The current activities of psychological intervention on
the individual dealing with the use of firearms are usually
limited to the personnel selection phase which can lead,
for example, to the exclusion of an aspirant following the
diagnosis of conditions psychopathological or linked to
the abuse of psychoactive substances that can interact
significantly on such use. The development of the medical
and psychological sciences in recent years, however,
offers greater cognitive tools on the various dimensions of
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RST RESPONDER | MILITARY | LAW ENFORCEMENT | INTELLIGENCE
acute stress by armed aggression and can provide more
sophisticated intervention tools. These tools concern the
normal adaptive mechanisms of the human species and
can offer more sophisticated prevention strategies as
well as corrective strategies and improvements through
targeted tactical training interventions that also consider
human psychology as well as normal combat techniques.
In terms of the “post-event” intervention, there are medicalpsychological
specialists with experience in psychological
alterations, bio-mechanics and acute stress mnemonic
which can offer, if necessary, expert advice / assistance
during the procedural process for the operators involved
in fire conflicts. In particular, psychological techniques to
facilitate the recovery of memory can be of great help in
counteracting stress amnesia. Special police departments
already carry out targeted training to reduce perceptual
and biomechanical alterations. For example, training in
simulated stress conditions is one of the techniques
used by elite departments, to learn how to anticipate and
manage the “inconvenient” effects that the body-alarm
reaction can exercise towards a safe and effective use of a
weapon, tactical evaluation and other skills in dealing with
threats. Breathing, for example, is significantly related to the
effectiveness of shooting with short and long firearms. The
movement of the arms (which hold the weapon) is in fact
directly influenced by that of the rib cage. During intense
and sudden fear the respiratory rhythm normally increases
and with it the movement of the upper limbs (and therefore
the possibility of making a mistake in the shot, especially in
medium / long shooting distances.) The combatants learn
how to use of “tactical breathing” that normally involves this
sequence of actions: inhale-breathe-breathe-hold breathfires.
The ability to control breathing is therefore one of the
basics of training against acute combat stress. A training
technique for tunnel vision compensation (reduction of
the field of view) consists of performing a continuous side
scan of the operating area. The fighters moving their heads
alternately from the right to the left and continuing to keep
his eyes on the possible target “artificially” increases his
field of vision. Actually it makes better use of the central
vision space that is still effective. The use of special
holsters and the maintenance of safety conditions up to a
moment preceding the fire action represent some strategies
to counter the possibility of the occurrence of dangerous
biomechanical actions. The most basic countermeasures in
this sense is the maintenance of the finger out of the jumper
of the gun (trigger guard) during the phases of approach
to the target and predisposition to combat. This condition,
which should become an automatism, even if in theory it
reduces by a few fractions of a second the reaction in focus,
represents a very valid security system and it is adopted
by special departments all over the world. Obviously in
frantic situations of predisposition to combat, when the
armed police operator has perceived the concrete risks
for his safety, keeping the finger away from the trigger is
in fact an euphemism and reasonably an obstacle to carry
out immediate fire reaction. The chances of stumbling
into psychological alterations from acute stress in the
components of special departments is however a very rare
event. The “swat” operations are planned and conducted
in a team and with progressive approach to the target
and the capture operations within the criminal police are
carefully planned and conducted with individual protection
systems. Being “bewildered” by an intense and sudden
fearful solicitation is an event that statistically arises more
easily in policemen who serve in a department with reduced
operation (but who still run in uniform and armed) and
who suddenly find themselves catapulted into a scenario
“combat” unexpected. It would therefore be advisable to
widen the knowledge of perceptual alterations and the
specialized tactical training to all armed police and security
operators.
TNM 57

THE P.T.T.S.
SYSTEM:
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH
TO TACTICAL TRAINING
TNM 58

TNM 59

Traditional tactical training
systems linked to the Armed
Forces and Police still tend
to privilege a fast execution and
precision by repeating exhausting
exercises in order to learn reflexes
(reflex movements) and reduce
more and more latency times
between the perception of danger
and the execution of a combat
reaction. The function of conscious
assessment and analysis of the
situation, normally performed by
the cerebral neo-cortex, is then
progressively displaced (with
training) on semiconscious activity,
controlled and commanded by
more archaic and instinctive
and therefore more rapid
sections of the
brain. These
approaches,
which are
certainly
effective
in sports
environments and (within certain
limits) war scenarios, appear
extremely dangerous if applied
to Urban Police modern tactical
scenarios where the rules of
engagement are increasingly
restrictive and the chances of
a “false danger stimulus” are
always very high. In a Police
tactical context, there is always the
possibilitày of injuring or killing an
individual who is not dangerous and
that’s why it’s likely for the police
operator to be submitted to legal
consequences in case of a massive
error (psychological). The elements
that, based on international cases,
have often led to the occurrence of
accidents of this nature are very
often the stress, fear and
excitement of the
very moment
which leads
the police
operator
to make
incorrect
assessments and perform
disfunctional actions, carrying out
the firing phase before realizing the
real situation.
A typical case related to the above
mentioned process is linked to the
recent murder of a suspect, Duante
Wright killed by Derek Chauvin, a
north of Minneapolis Police officer
who during a car check, due to
excitement of the moment used
the gun convinced that he had
instead pulled out the taser. This
event demonstrates that being
alert during operational situations
is a key element which may not be
always in place during the police
training. This is not the first time at
worldide level that a police officer
has mistakenly pulled a gun out
instead of a taser and it is not the
first time a police officer has been
on trial and convicted for the same
reason. Personally speaking I think
the main reason for these incidents
is that guns and taser training is
still conducted in comfortable
and reassuring shooting ranges,
with optimal lighting
conditions,
silence and
IN A POLICE TACTICAL CONTEXT,
THERE IS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY OF
INJURING OR KILLING AN INDIVIDUAL
WHO IS NOT DANGEROUS
TNM 60

A large number of stories have shown over the
years that these are training methods are not
good enough to make a police officer ready to
act positively in a real urban combat scenario.
lack of noise thanks to the use of
headphones, and without stressful
and distracting perceptual stimuli
which can normally take place
during a real combat situation.
This “illusion” of being ready to
tackle critical situations, as time
goes by, has as consequence less
tactically trained police officers
on the streets who are potentially
dangerous. Indeed there are already
training models that try to partially
come up with the aforementioned
problem coping with physical stress
during the training (exercises) and
the introduction of discernment
“friend/foe,”variables (with different
shapes) during the fire exercise
scenario. A large number of stories
have shown over the years that
these are training methods are
not good enough to make a police
officer ready to act positively in a
real urban combat scenario.
The P.T.T.S. is an innovative training
protocol, designed for tactical
SWAT fighting against terrorism and
criminal organizations, but also very
useful for any police officer who has
to be ready to deal with threatening
actions carried out by armed and
dangerous individuals within a
urban environment. The goal is to
progressively desensitize operators
from possible perceptive disturbing
stimulations (acoustic, visual
and olfactory ones) they could be
dealing with during the tactical
phases and that could negatively
affect their operational efficiency.
The P.T.T.S. system, conceived in
2016, is aimed at solving the above
mentioned problem introducing,
during the firearms training, a
series of perceptual stimulation
variables that can reproduce very
precisely a real combat scenario
and therefore is primarily able to
record (and progressively correct)
the psychological reactions often
occuring in the above mentioned
situations when the subject is under
TNM 61

stress. The P.T.T.S. is definitively
able to artificially reproduce the
psychological fearful effects and
what happens on a perceptual level
(lighting, noises, smells) which
takes normally place during real
tactical situations. The primary
goal is to allow the trainers to
be familiar with operational and
combat techniques to work within
a urban environment carrying out
an effective training system to get
the students ready to deal with
stressful psychological conditions
usually occuring in high risk tactical
scenarios. Important benefits
can also be achieved by trainers
who teach civilian subjects, the
very ones who use firearms for
self-defense and want to improve
their level of preparation in case
of a critical event (the need of
a defensive reaction) as well as
shooter trainers who are planning
to improve their performance during
fairly stressful competions. For
this reason, it is also expected a
specific protocol related to the use
of the P.T.T.S. system within civilian
environments.
The primary goal of the system
is to progressively learn how to
TNM 62

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE SYSTEM IS
TO PROGRESSIVELY LEARN HOW TO MAINTAIN
LUCIDITY OF MIND AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION
DURING THE OPERATIONAL PHASE EVEN WHEN
SUBJECTED TO HIGH PERCEPTUAL STRESS
maintain lucidity of mind and
sustained attention during the
operational phase even when
subjected to high perceptual stress.
During the training the operator
is simultaneously subjected to a
series of disturbing perceptual
stimulations (acoustic, visual and
olfactory) and stressful conditions
generally found in real fighting
situations. Specifically, assuming
that the operator may be carrying
out a tactical intervention at that
very moment (a real scenario)
with dazzling lights, deafening
noises (e.g. screams of frightened
people) and unoleasant smell
(e.g. the smoke caused by plastic
materials on fire or the smell of
blood and corpses), his ability
to maintain a high mental clarity
and concentration (fundamental
factors for the tactical-operational
efficiency of a modern police
operator) is being evaluated while
annoying perceptive stimulations
are artificially administered
(simultaneously). The stimuli that
have been used (visual, auditory
and olfactory) are obviously neither
harmful nor toxic and do not in
any way jeopardize the psychophysical
safety of the operator
during the training phase. There are
7 scenarios currently developed and
used by the P.T.T.S. two of which
are individual and 5 are collective,
for standardized smal S.W.A.T.
teams, consisting of four operators.
However, the system is modular
and allows the insertion of infinite
numbers of additional scenarios.
The P.T.T.S. can both include the use
of conventional weapons and that
of airsoft or electronic weapons in
augmented reality tools. The factors
that can be evaluated by the P.T.T.S.
(and progressively improved) are
the followining:
1) a detailed dexterity and
concentration: through various
tests of instinctive and targeted
shooting with numerical score
(defined number of gunshots
and distance);
2) generic lucidity: ability to
properly perform predetermined
techniques of tactical movement
linked to the operational
scenario (execution of orders,
movements, positions, coverage
TNM 63

angles, complex actions,
communications, etc.).
3) Operational memory: during the
training the operator is given
the opportunity to look at a
sequence of 5 geometric shapes
and a sequence of 5 numbers
that must remembered at the
end of the training session.
The training system is aimed
at confirming the main tactical
efficiency of the individual in
each scenario to evaluate their
ability to remain focused
and produce complex
thoughts in a “perceptual
restful” conditions and then
repeat the training in the
same scenario but while
subjected to disturbing
perceptual stimulations.
The comparative
scores,
useful
to assess improvements during
the training, are collected special
datasheets to forsee different
sessions for each scenario where
an initial one has no perceptual
overstimulation and the session
with the administration of stimuli.
So far the experiments have shown
that within training scenarios, as
the operators are being trained
under a condition of perceptual
overstimulation, their
performance
progressively improves and their
scores under stress are getting
closer and closer to those obtained
in a situation of stillness. This is
how the operator learns how to
manage stress and become more
and more clear headed during
the tactical phase. Normally for
special police departments some
training techniques are being
being used already (although
quite primitive) tend to cause
a certain level of physical and
cognitive stress in the subjects
before performing a focused
exercise. The administration of
perceptual stress (subject of this
training protocol) should therefore
initially be separated from other
forms of stress (physical and
cognitive) to highlight the real
influence on the operators’ lucidity
and, subsequently, also It Is to be
joined to the other two forms of
stress which are introduced
to globally assess the
resilience of the

subjects. It Is also known, the
ability to manage stress is a global
mental activity. The human mind
accumulates and manages a certain
amount of stimulations coming
simultaneously from the three
fundamental channels (physical,
cognitive and perceptive) and each
person’s sensitivity is different
according to each of the three
aforementioned channels.
The P.T.T.S. (Psychological Tactical
Training System) is aimed at
developing a police tactical training
in critical situations and selecting
a staff presenting compatible
features with specific operational
activities. Talking about the training,
the P.T.T.S.is aimed at keeping
the police operator focused on
problem solving skills and being
alert while operating within
high-risk tactical scenarios. The
perceptual alterations are induced
in the subject during the training
(and selection) phase by using
a special helmet called T.H.P.S.
(Tactical Helmet for Perceptual
Stimuli) designed by a team
working with the Italian Thin Blue
Line Onlus Association and italian
company “Subprema”. At this
stage two different T.H.P.S helmets
have been made: the T.H.P.S.1
helmet supplied with systems for
managing perceptual stimulations
through manual controls placed
on the helmet and the T.H.P.S. 2
(technologically more advanced)
which allows the activation of
different stimulations by using a
radio system and therefore also
throughout the training course.
The choice of the combination and
intensity of different perceptual
stimulations instilled to the subjects
during the training (or selective)
phase while using the THPS
helmet, is the result of a long and
complex research activity that
has preliminarily collected and
analyzed practical experiences
after working with Italian and US
police officers involved in firefights
and subsequently carrying out
practical experiments at military
and civilian shooting ranges for
about 4 years. The development of
the P.T.T.S. system, started in 2016,
is currently being performed by a
THE FIRST PROTOTYPE MADE BY THE
ITALIAN COMPANY SUBPREMO. THE NEXT
STEP WILL BE THE COMPLETE
ENGINEERING OF THE PTTS SYSTEM.
multidisciplinary team made up of
psychologists, engineers, military
and police tactics experts who work
in partnerships with the Italian Thin
Blue Line Onlus Association, and
are being supported by Subprema
company. This training system
is relatively not expensive and in
my opinion apart from improving
the performances and reducing
operator risks, it will be restricting
the organizational liability reducing
the time required to develop
functional tactical skills.
TNM 65

INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | I
INTERWIEW ON POLICE PSYCHOLOGY TO
JOEL
JUSTICE
CHIEF OF POLICE AT THE VENTURA
COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DISTRICT POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Working for the safety of university campuses is a very
complex task and the protection of children is a fundamental
thing. Do you think the cops who work in this sector have
high levels of stress?
JOEL JUSTICE: I do believe that our officers have a high
level of stress. It is because generally the law enforcement
agencies are a little more short handed and our officers do
not have as much back up as they should.
This concern causes stress when they know that they have
an incredible responsibility of keeping these kids and young
adults safe.
American history has taught us that several mass murders
have taken place on university campuses. Have you
activated specific prevention paths to reduce the risk?
JOEL JUSTICE: I have. I have increased the response
training for our officers so that they are well prepared should
we experience one of these tragic events. In addition,
we continue to prepare the faculty, staff and students to
recognize the behavior issues that many of the students
with mental health experience and how to report those
issues. Lastly, we prepare our faculty, staff and students
how to respond should one of these unfortunate events
happen.
You preside over a prestigious association of police
officers who deal with college campuses. And your
association also organizes training initiatives for its
members. Do you think it would also be useful to include
training on psychological issues?
JOEL JUSTICE: We have had training for our membership
on psychological issues. We the board believe that this
is an issue that certainly needs to be addressed and we
will continue to have presentations and training on this
important topic.
Are there any programs for the prevention of alcoholism in
university police departments?
JOEL JUSTICE: Most colleges have programs available to
assist students with alcoholism. For instance, at my colleges,
we continually have visible tents on campus with brochures
and literature on alcoholism. Additionally, we display goggles
for the students to put on that make them feel as if they are
impaired to show the affects of being under the influence.
Lastly, each year we have a staged collision where the fire
department has to cut a student out of a car to show reality
these types of collisions.
TNM 66

| INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW
Are there any police suicide prevention
programs in university police
departments?
JOEL JUSTICE: Yes, each college does
have suicide prevention programs as well
as programs to address mental health
issues. We also have programs to identify
early behavior factors that other students,
faculty and staff can report to assist us
with preventing suicide and mental health
issues.
Can you tell us your professional experiences and how you
became a police chief in California?
JOEL JUSTICE: I have 37 years in law enforcement. I was
with the Los Angeles Police Department for over 29 years
where I rose to the rank of Captain. I had several commands
as a Captain, West Valley, Real-Time Analysis and Critical
Response Division, Communications and
Topanga. Real-Time Analysis and Critical
Response Division, was an assignment
where I was responsible for the Department’s
Operations Center and new technology.
Communications was our 9-1-1 dispatch
center where we handled over 3 million calls a
year and had just under 600 employees within
two centers and was the largest command
for a Captain on the LAPD. I obtained my
bachelor’s degree in Business Management
and Master’s in Homeland Defense and Security from the
Naval Postgraduate School. I believe I was selected as the
Chief of Police at the Ventura County Community College
District Police Department because of my professional
experience with the LAPD and my advanced degree in
Homeland Security.
TNM 67

INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW |
INTERWIEW ON POLICE PSYCHOLOGY TO
RAYMUND
AGUIRRE
CHIEF OF POLICE (RET) OF CALIFORNIA
STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Can you tell us about your professional experiences and how
you became a Police Chief in California?
I started my law enforcement career in California with the
Palo Alto Police Department as a patrol officer. After years
in patrol and then being promoted as Sergeant for patrol
and then becoming an investigator handling sex crimes,
exposed me to a different realm of police work, one that I
thoroughly enjoyed. Many of my cases ranged from domestic
violence, to rape and child pornography. I also was assigned
to internal affairs, background investigations, and was a
firearms instructor/rangemaster. I then became a Police
Chief for 2 College Police Departments, and 1 university
Police Department in California. Being a Police Chief was
definitely not without stress. But it was rewarding in many
ways especially when you were able to influence policies and
programs to improve the work conditions of your employees,
but more especially to provide for better Police services for
the community you’re entrusted to protect.
Having a good relationship with the population of the area
where you work is essential for a Police district. What kind
of initiatives did you undertake in Fullerton during your
command?
Policing in America has evolved from the neighborhood
patrol “foot beat” officer from the 40s and 50s to the tacticaloriented
policing as a response to organized criminal
syndicates and violent street gangs in the 80s to the present
day. The pendulum has swung back where American society
demand more from Police organizations that can identify
with the needs and issues of their local communities. This
resulted in Police departments organizing community-based
engagement efforts to reestablish that relationship with
the community, where trust had eroded over decades of
vigorous law enforcement action against criminals imbedded
in local neighborhoods. Oftentimes and unfortunately, many
innocent people were caught in the middle of these Police
actions. While at Cal State Fullerton Police, I worked on many
community-based initiatives so that the campus community
could strengthen their ties with the Police department and
vice versa. We engaged in formal dialogs that resulted in
frank and open discussions between the community and lawenforcement
in order to break down stereotypes and myths.
We coordinated very effectively with the Division of Student
Affairs to ensure that we were accessible to the student
community as well as to the rest of the campus population.
We assigned liaison officers from the Police department to
different student organizations so they would have direct,
TNM 68

| INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW | INTERWIEW
consistent, and personal contact with members of the Police
department. And we returned to the concept of the “foot
beat Officer” so that members of the campus could regularly
see and talk to our officers while they were on patrol and not
be intimidated by their presence. This gave the community
a greater sense of security seeing officers on patrol and
engaging with the population on a daily basis.
Dispatchers are the first point of contact with people who
go to the Police. What indications did they have for having a
good relationship with citizens?
We’re very fortunate in California that Police dispatchers
are mandated as first responders equal to those of Police
officers. That means dispatchers are identified to undergo
the same stressors that front line patrol officers experience
and should be provided the same level of benefits and
support as there counterparts in the field. Dispatchers as
we all know undergo immense pressure and psychological
stress taking initial calls from citizens with a wide range of
issues and problems seeking police assistance. Dispatchers
who excel in calming callers and obtaining as much critical
information from them to pass on to officers are clearly
those who are very well suited for the job. These skills are
derived from regular training on call-taking and computer
C.A.D. (computer-aided dispatch) entry and the host of other
multitasking responsibilities that are inherent in the job.
We’ve all heard audios of dispatchers on the news on TV very
calmly speaking with callers and then dispatching officers
to oftentimes very dangerous and violent calls. These are
the dispatchers that are both applauded by the community
and no less by their colleagues and counterparts in the
profession.
Being the head of a department as important as CSU
Fullerton’s is a challenging and complex task. Do you think
a police chief needs to have an update on psychological
matters to manage his men well?
I honestly believe that the importance of mental health and
mental wellness for police officers and first responders is
growing in the US among Police chiefs and the public. I know
while I was at Cal State Fullerton, I made sure that officers
received mental health counseling and resources after
every traumatic event they were exposed to. Whether they
were psychological debriefings or one on one counseling
sessions, Police chiefs recognize that healthy officers in
the mind produce healthy officers out in the field dealing
with the various situations they’re exposed to. Suicide rates
among Police officers are extremely high in the US and it is
because of this that Police executives understand the need
to provide as many resources as possible to officers to avoid
a deterioration of their mental health while working as Police
officers. Before I left as Chief and Cal State Fullerton, I had
arranged for a service to be provided to police officers to
access direct 24 hour counseling online for any issues they
were experiencing whether professional or personal.
How does a RAD course for prevention of violence against
women work?
Rape Agression Defense training or RAD, is one of many
programs available to the community, especially women,
as a means of empowering them to resist sexual violence
and sexual assault. Federal law in the US requires college
and university campuses to report all allegations and acts of
sexual assault and sexual violence to include stalking and
dating violence. While the law enforcement component of
these crimes are investigated by college or university police
departments, the campus administration initiates a parallel
civilian investigation that examines student conduct. Criminal
investigations may lead to criminal charges filed against the
offender, and the civilian investigation may lead to student
discipline or expulsion. The RAD program is very effective in
providing a sense of confidence and empowerment to mostly
female students on our college campuses. This program is
usually two weekends long and involves rigorous physical
defense
TNM 69

BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | B
“TOP PROFESSIONAL”
POLICE PSYCHOLOGIST
BIOGRAPHY OF MARCO STRANO, PSYCHOLOGIST, SPECIAL FORCES TRAINER
Marco Strano, 62 years, certified Psychologist and
Criminologist, is considered one of the top experts
in psychology related to police activity. He began his
professional activity with the Italian Police Forces in 1981 as
a Military Officer (Lieutenant) in the Carabinieri Corps (Special
Unit Division), commanding a special anti-terrorism group,
investigation and surveillance unit in a top security prison
(SHUs) in Calabria but also taking part in many operations to
fight criminal organizations in the above mentioned area.
After few years, he joined the Special Operations Unit of the
Anti-Mafia High Commisioner Office in Palermo, managing
tactical intelligence operations for 7 years and subsequently
obtaining the internal qualification of “shooting instructor and
armament dept. officer”.
In 1989 he joined the French National Police Anti-drug
Department in Marseille carrying out investigations for
about a year and working with the French Judge Jean-
François Sampieri to tackle Italian criminal organizations
estabilished within the above mentioned territory. Following
the dissolution of the Anti Mafia High Commissioner office
in 1991, he worked for 10 years as an Operational Agent in
Italy and abroad as a member of the Intelligence Service
(S.I.S.DE) special units working for the Italian Prime Minister
and would fight against criminal organizations, getting hugely
experienced in the field of HUM.INTand tactical operational
activity in both urban environment and rural areas in Italy and
abroad. As time went by, he was tributed commendatione for
his contribution to dismantle a dangerous mafia (Mob)-like
organization operating between Lombardy and Sicily having
identified in the following years the den where a hostage
TNM 70

| BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY | BIOGRAPHY
had been kept prisoner in Calabria; all the kidnappers were
eventually arrested. At that stage he successfully carried out
risky investigations regarding an organization of drug dealers
operating in Colombia, Spain and Italy that was eventually
dismantled. In 2001, after obtaining the qualification of
Psychologist, he moved to the Italian State Police as Chief
Psychologist Technical Director (the military equivalent
of Lieutenant Colonel) where he had managed the U.A.C.I
(Cybercrime Analysis Unit) of the Communications Police
for about four years. obtaining brilliant results fighting child
pornography. After his request (2005) for transfer he started
working for the Italian State Police health Dept. where in
2018 he got the managerial qualification (Superior Technical
Director working for the Interregional Command of the State
Police (Lazio-Abruzzo-Sardinia) dealing with Psychology
applied to police activity. While performing his duty, he also
took up to teach Psichlogy of Combat to the members of
other Armed Forces giving technical workshops for soldiers
involved in military missions abroad.
From 2017 to 2019 he travelled extensively to the US several
times for international collaborations with the Californian
police and giving workshops in San Diego and Fullerton (Los
Angeles) on topics related to Combat Psychology.
In September 2019 he quit the Italian State Police starting
a collaboration with the C.S.U. Fullerton (Los Angeles)
Police Department, organizing joint training experiences
between Italian and US police officers and doing research
and training projects on police officers’psychological traits
when involved in armed conflicts and criminal profiling
of cold cases (unsolved homicides.) Together with his
institutional operational activity, Marco Strano went through
university studies of Sociology of Organization, Psychology
and Criminology teaching in several universities and carrying
out some pioneering scientific publications. President of the
Study Center for Legality, Security and Justice
(www.criminologia.org) an association that has been
studying innovative techniques of investigation and
psychological problems of police officers and military
operators since 1999.
Since 2019 he has been the President of Italian Thin Blue
Line Onlus (www.thinblueline.it), “Italian chapter” of the
Integral biography
marcostrano.wordpress.com/
biography-english-version/
international association that deals with the prevention of
suicide among police officers and military men and women.
Since 2021 he’s been the director of the Department of
Military Psychology and Police of the “UNARMA” Carabinieri
Syndicate where he’s been working on how to prevent
suicides among police officers. He is the author of many
books about criminological-investigative issues, a dozen
of technical manuals for internal use and more than 100
scientific articles about psychological and criminological
subjects.
In 2004 he was the lecturer at the workshop “The Nature
and Influence of Intuition in Law Enforcement: integration
of Theory and Practice”, organized by the Behavioral
Science Unit of the FBI in Quantico (Virginia) patronized
by the American Psychological Association, presenting a
pioneering study on how to apply artificial intelligence to
criminal profiling. In 2017 he presented one of his books
“S.W.A.T. Combat Psychology (English version) in San Diego,
California meeting up with Police Chiefs and then giving
out e-book format texts to thousands of US Police special
units members. In 2019 the above mentioned manual was
also distributed to the members of the German G.S.G.9.
special units and the Austrian Cobra to whom he addressed
his workshops based on the psychology of special units. In
2020, the manual was also presented and distributed to the
Spanish special Police units (Barcelona).
Since 2021 he has been working with some companies
developing a training system based on RA (increased reality)
technology in which combat simulations are carried out for
special units within the main antiterrorism tactical scenarios.
TNM 71

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