By John Madonna, Ed.D.
The tragedy of the loss of life in encounters with police cannot be overstated. But such events as occurred in Ferguson, Staten Island, and Cleveland are complex events, the responsibility for which extends beyond the immediate participants. They are events which ought not to be reduced only to issues of mutual racial prejudice, or attributed primarily to the disrespect of authority by defiant young men, or that of rampant police brutality. Certainly these may be factors depending on the particular circumstances. Of course, the naïve, the political opportunists and the hate mongers on both sides push to have these encounters seen and responded to according to their particular orientations.
What is truly tragic is that young men are killed and police officers are susceptible to killing them. And since it seems to happen too frequently, taking a comprehensive look at this issue is imperative. It is imperative for the young men and their families, the officers and theirs, as well as the community at large. Much study and theorizing has been done regarding the community relations and police use of force. I only here wish to pose the question: Where are the guiding lights on both sides?
Where are the guiding lights in our police command structures who should be teaching and demonstrating not just tactical response to threat but emotional regulation and prudence? Diversity appreciation can be taught, but a frightened and panicked officer is nevertheless apt to use lethal force.
Where are the guiding lights in the community who at their best teach and instill values and respect for others including the law and the officers charged to enforce it? And at the very least teach survival tactics in encounters with police—police who die violently in large numbers each year and whose reactiveness is increased by that reality.
There is the always the issue of our human nature working against us. Sigmund Freud and subsequent generations of Modern Analysts have corroborated the existence of the dark side of the psyche, the violent impulses which ache to be expressed. When the circumstances are right, that happens. Fear, narcissistic injury, the contagion effect of primitive emotion in group response which reduces the capacity for empathy, are but a few of those circumstances. There is much to be done to counter this.
Qualified officers should be recruited who reflect the demographics of the communities they serve and who are given incentives to live in those communities. Psychological screening procedures which are not simply pass/fail determinations, but which provide useful information which can enhance training, supervision and decisions about assignments. Active engagement of police administrators and line officers with all segments of community life is essential, as is an at least equal conscientiousness on the part of the press about the many things officers do well with residents of the neighborhoods they serve.
To this I would urge specific training in the identification and mindful regulation of emotion to be included in use of force protocols. Every officer would be well served by such a skill—as would every young adult, were it taught in the home and the school.
John Madonna, Ed.D. is a licensed psychologist, faculty member, and training analyst at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He is co-author of the book, Treating Police Stress, and is the founder and executive director of Chandler Psychological Services which has provided psychological service to law enforcement agencies throughout Massachusetts for the past 28 years.