Reply #63: I think the greater risks/injuries to cops are psychological

[theHandpuppet]

I'm certain I couldn't handle seeing the types of things they deal with day in and day out -- my head would be totally messed up. What is really needed for people in law enforcement is regular psychological counseling but in many communities, such as mine, there simply isn't the money. Cops can suffer the same type of PTSDs as soldiers on a battlefield. You can start out with all the noblest intentions in the world but at some point you can find your mind getting sucked into a very dark place. I suspect there are actually very few cops who are psychologically fit to serve more than 10 years on the streets, nor should they. But there are only so many desk jobs, so these men and women stay out on the streets much longer than they rightfully should -- increasing the risk that one day they'll snap. Same thing with soldiers who serve too many tours in a war zone. All this probably increases the "circle the wagons" mentality among many cops.

There are good cops and bad as well as some good cops who turn bad. Perhaps at least part of the solution could be found in more stringent psychological testing in the hiring, and treating time on the beat like a tour of duty, i.e., you only serve so much time on the street. I think there also needs to be an wholesale re-examination of how local enforcement is funded. In many communities the pay is so crappy and the qualified applicants so few, communities can be slow to remove any rotten apples from the barrel.

It's time to start nationwide public discussions on how to fix our system of law enforcement, because it is truly broken. The kind of wholesale trashing of cops as I see here on DU is not a solution and it's not even a dialogue. For every thread I see concerning some cop who has engaged in some abhorrent act you can bet there are a thousand more out on the streets today who will be saving lives. The goal should be to recruit and retain the best.