NCJ Number
102695
Editor(s)
J L Ryerson
Date Published
1985
Length
0 pages
Annotation
A police officer's problems in coping with his shooting of a young, armed burglar provides the basis for a discussion of feelings commonly experienced in postshooting trauma and a plea for officers involved in shootings to talk about their emotions as soon as possible to avoid long-term psychological damage.
Abstract
Police officers who have killed suspects feel helplessness and fear, but transform these emotions into anger when problems involving the shooting arise. Officers may feel that the investigation questions their judgment, and they are torn between the department's requests for details and the lawyer's advice to say as little as possible. After shooting someone, officers may fear violence, develop phobias about carrying a weapon off duty, and be confused about their reactions to coworker's gestures of admiration. Symptoms of postshooting/trauma are recurrent flashbacks of the incident, irritability, withdrawal from normal social activities and relationships, and numbing of all emotional responses. Headaches and stomach disorders are common 7 to 10 days after the event. The videotape emphasizes that the first 3 days following a shooting are crucial to dealing with the emotional reaction and urges officers to talk to officers who have lived through the same experience or to a mental health professional.