Police resilience

Thailand: Royal Thai police face daunting job to reform national agency

Michael Sefton, Ph.D. Health Psychology, Human Behavior, Police officer behavior, psychological relevence ,

“Police suicides and police apathy are two of many issues highlighting a dire need for constructive police reforms within the Royal Thai Police for some time.” Bangkok Post October 14, 2019 The Thai National Police (TNP) are mired in politics and age-old tradition which has contributed to significant tension within the TNP ranks.

As recently as early February, 2020, an embittered Thai police officer went on a rampage in the northern province in Thailand. Over 20 persons were killed in an extremely rare display of public rage and terminal violence. The perpetrator ultimately took his own like as members of the Thai Special Forces moved in.

Dr Ronald Allanach and Dr Michael Sefton are pictured with the Northern Police District Administrator during a meeting 2 weeks before the rampage. There was no sense among the officers we met that tension and despair underlie this outwardly professional police agency. The officers we interviewed were all happy and content with their assignments. There was no sign of the frustration and vulnerability identified in the Bangkok Post report.

Dr. Ronald Allanach (left) pictured with Northern Sector Thai National police administrator and Dr. Michael Sefton in January 2020

Police reform is a problem across America and the world. In Thailand, a centralized police force is overseen by the country’s prime minister who is responsible for naming the chief general who leads the Thai National Police. This is no easy task. Some believe there are complex issues that contribute to the distress felt by police across Thailand. The investigation into the February 2020 rampage is in its early stages but links to conflict between the officer and a higher ranking administrator are being floated. A psychological autopsy would provide added facts to the “red flags” that may have lead up to the terminal event and offer substantive interventions that can reduce the growing problem in The TNP.

These include officers who are sent to distant police assignments leaving them without the normal emotional and agency supports they need. The pay is low and the trust felt by the TNP from its citizenry is inauspicious at best.

In a 2018 published paper in the Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences by Police Major Thitiwat Yachaima, similar factors affect the levels of stress in Thai police officers as that impacting cops in the United States. This includes work environment, relationship to superior officers and peers, specific work and hours of weekly service, support from family

“Today police morale and emotional health have hit rock bottom, he said, because of a number of factors, including botched policy-making when it comes to their career path that doesn’t take into consideration the officer’s needs and desires.”

Bangkok Post December, 2019

The Bangkok Post published an article about police suicide in Thailand. According to the Bangkok Post, “four police officers – based in Chumphon, Chiang Mai, Sing Buri and Kamphaeng Phet – were overwhelmed by stress and took their own lives after being transferred from their home provinces to investigation units in the other provinces.” 

More recently, police officers in Thailand have been able to request transfer to their home provinces in an effort to reduce the stress experienced by newly deployed officers and other specialists. There are over five thousand unfilled positions in the investigation units for the Thai National Police. As a result of this shortage, it requires that officers be shared among divisions across the country adding to the stress officers’ experience.

Overall, Thai police are defensive about the underpinnings of officer suicide citing “physical health and personal problems” as a primary source of the problem – not simply job assignment. National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda has recently come under attack from subordinates for making what appeared to be abrupt, politically motivated transfers for those who challenged his authority as he nears retirement age.

What factors need to be examined when looking to reduce police stress in general and to understand factors that are shared among law enforcement officers across societies? A study conducted in 2011 in the Journal of Nursing Science suggested that officers who have self-efficacy and respect from the communities they serve as among the factors that yield the greatest health-related behaviors and personal hardiness.

Police Training: Revisiting Resilience

Michael Sefton, Ph.D. CIT, crisis intervention, Human Behavior, Police officer behavior, psychological relevence, use of force continuum , , , , ,
What is resilience in police work?  Emotional resilience is defined as the the capacity to integrate the breadth of police training and experience with healthy, adaptive coping, optimism, mental flexibility and healthy resolution of the traumatic events. In general, resilient people are self-reliant and have positive role models from whom they have learned to handle the stressful events all police officers encounter.  In the best of circumstances officers are encouraged to share stressful events and debrief with peer supports that are a regular component of the police service.  Unfortunately, in spite of the availability of peer support many officers are hesitant to utilize and call upon their peers to help with difficult even traumatic calls like suicide and severe child or elder abuse.  One reason for this is a culture of internalizing stress until it whittles away career satisfaction and job performance.  The underpinning of police officer burn-out is the collapse of resilience and onset of maladaptive coping.
How many mid-career officers have reduced productivity and elevated stress that leads to increased use of alcohol, drugs, gambling, abuse of sick leave, and job-related injuries?  According to Leo Polizoti, Ph.D. resilience refers to professional hardiness that is protective against such career burnout and raises both professionalism and job satisfaction. Many believe that hardiness and resilience can be built and polished as the officer grows into his career.
Police training tends to be repetitive and often boring.  Officers train to attain a level of automaticity so that when field encounters become threatening they are quick to utilize tactical behavior in the use of force continuum.  Sadly, police departments everywhere have trained in the active shooter protocol so that when the call goes out every officer knows exactly what is expected of him or her.  By doing so the motor programs and cognitive maps coalesce into a tactical advantage for law enforcement.  Training also helps to reduce autonomic arousal and helps regulate internal levels of stress so that officers can function at optimal levels when needed most.
Just as it is difficult to identify mental illness in a civilian population until the person is off the rails, so too is it difficult to pinpoint a law enforcement officer who is struggling with the long-term effects of the high stress calls police answer on a daily basis. “Stress and grief are problems that are not easily detected or easily resolved. Severe depression, heart attacks, and the high rates of divorce, addiction, and suicide in the fire and EMS services proves this” according to Peggy Rainone who provides seminars in grief and surviving in EMS (Sefton, 2013).
High levels of stress are known to slowly erode emotional coping skill leaving a psychologically vulnerable person at higher risk of acting out in many ways including with violence.  The 2013 case of domestic violence homicide in Arlington, Massachusetts raises the specter of domestic violence homicide in police and first responders. In this case, a decorated paramedic allegedly killed his twin children, his wife and then himself. Outwardly, he and his family seemed happy. What might trigger such an emotional breakdown and deadly maelstrom?
“Although resilience — the ability to cope during and recover from stressful situations — is a common term, used in many contexts, we found that no research had been done to scientifically understand what resilience is among police. Police officers have a unique role among first responders. They face repeated stress, work in unpredictable and time-sensitive situations, and must act according to the specific departmental policies. ” Andersen et al. 2017
The career success they have may be directly related to the application of resiliency training to build and maintain physical and emotional hardiness that lasts a lifetime according to Leo Polizoti, 2018. Before this can happen the stigma associated with reaching out must be reduced.
Reduced stigma will afford officers the chance to express themselves, lower stress and tension, and seek peer or professional help when situations evoke or release the ghosts of cases past – often the underpinning of PTSD. This openness has not yet found its way into the law enforcement culture and while physical fitness has taken hold for career satisfaction – mindfulness has not become fully embraced.
REFERENCES
Andersen et al. (2017) Performing under stress: Evidence-based training for police resilience
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Gazette Magazine Vol. 79 No 1.
Polizoti, L. (2017) Psychological Resilience: From Surviving to Thriving in a Law Enforcement Career. Presentation. Direct Decision Institute, Worcester, MA
Polizotti, LF (2018) Psychological Resilience : From surviving to thriving in a law enforcement career. Personal Correspondence. Taken 4-21-2018

Rainone, P. (2013) Emergency workers at risk. (website) http://www.emsvilliage.com/articles/article.cfm?ID=176. Taken 12-1-2013