Traumatized Cape police officers turn to peers

Jan. 30--SANDWICH -- A baby takes her last gasp of breath in the arms of a police officer.

A man aims a loaded gun at a responding officer, threatening to blow him away.

An officer arrives at the scene of a car crash and mistakenly steps on brain matter of a victim as he rushes to see if someone can be saved from the wreckage.

The scenarios are real and they are horrifying.

"It affects you," Sandwich Police Chief Peter Wack said. "It really does affect you."

His department is using a $5,000 grant from the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association to establish a peer support team to help officers through traumatic events. The department is working with Dr. Kathy Davis, a psychotherapist and trauma consultant who first worked with the Yarmouth Police Department and has since worked with several other Cape departments on training programs dealing with the emotional well-being of police officers.

Davis will work with the Sandwich police to create a policy for the peer support team and to train officers to spot the warning signs and help their colleagues.

Barnstable has a similar peer support group that was created by officers about eight years ago. Yarmouth is also talking about creating one, Davis said.

The idea for peer support was brought to Wack by Sgt. Josh Bound.

"A couple of years ago, I was involved in a call that was particularly stressful. As days and weeks went by -- it was the death of an infant -- I realized that I wasn't handling it very well. My behavior changed. I found myself getting aggravated and irritated easily," said Bound, the father of two children of his own. "It wasn't just at work. It was at home with my family."

Bound sought help through an Employee Assistance Program, but found it lacked experience with police officers. Ultimately, he became a patient of Davis, who helped him work through his emotions from that traumatic event.

"I felt that we needed to institute something at Sandwich PD to help our officers," he said. "Police officers are good at helping other people. We're not always good about helping ourselves."

Bound, who will lead the program for the department, is hoping to strike a balance between being helpful without being overbearing.

"Josh's idea is it would be a two-way street," Wack said. "An officer who was involved in a traumatic situation could go to a peer or a team member who sees or hears something could approach that person as well."

Davis will help the department develop a policy to keep the information confidential so officers feel safe in talking to members of the peer group, Wack said.

Wack acknowledged that recent off-duty incidents involving officers were part of the impetus, although there wasn't one in particular that triggered seeking the grant.

Traumatic events can result in an officer having an affair or turning to alcohol, Davis said. "They turn to behaviors that aren't good for them, their families or anybody," she said.

Peer team members will be trained to get their colleagues the help they need, Wack said.

"A lot of law enforcement officers don't want to be perceived as needing help," he said.

"In fact they do need help in the most discreet way possible."

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