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The Lurking Threat in Law Enforcement
Introduction and Analysis by Scott Buhrmaster, Contributing Editor
One of the most dangerous threats in police work may be the one you’re least prepared to deal with. Physical threats are inherent to the job and you know that. You train to protect yourself against guns, knives, and fists and you function with the understanding that at any given point on any given day, you may find yourself facing a threat that can jeopardize your physical well-being.
But there’s a lurking threat in police work that--depending upon how it’s handled--can prove to be excruciatingly painful, very difficult to prepare for, and one that can have a life-long, even life-threatening, impact on your life. That threat is emotion.
To the surprise of some in the outside world, even though you wear a badge, you ARE human. You are not impenetrable. You are not without doubt. You are not tirelessly confident. You are not always fearless. And you are NOT without feeling.
Some of the situations you’re forced to deal can take a tremendous emotional toll on you and we know it. In light of that, we want to share the following report with you. As you read it, remember these crucial points:
1. You ARE human. We mentioned that earlier but it’s worth reiterating. If you find that you’re struggling with the emotional aftermath of any incident, don’t try to convince yourself that feelings of guilt, sadness, sorrow or the like are signs of weakness. They aren’t.
2. Silence and emotional suppression are extremely dangerous ... sometimes deadly. If you’re hurting, get your emotions out on the table. Seek opportunities to share your feelings with trusted and trained professionals, friends, fellow officers, clergy, even appropriate family members.
Admitting, confronting and navigating your emotions—with professional assistance—will help you protect and preserve your mental health.
If you’re in need of a professional, to start with, feel free to e-mail Police1 psychologist and wellness columnist Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes at: wellness@policeone.com, or Dr. Dorothy McCoy, clinical counselor and Police1 columnist on stress issues: doc@police-stress.com.
3. You are NOT alone. If you think that other officers aren’t emotionally impacted by the things they see, think again! Refer back to Point #1.
Remember, putting on your badge does NOT turn off your emotions.
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Gruesome Slayings of Woman, Girl Haunting Police Chief; Grieving Over Lost Lives
By Michael S. Rosenwald, The Boston Globe
WOBURN, Mass. -- She startles him awake in the middle of the night. She jolts him again when he’s sitting at his desk, pushing papers, reviewing reports. Alyssa Presti just won’t leave Woburn police chief Philip Mahoney alone. She haunts him.
He’s haunted by how the 12-year-old girl died - her throat slashed in her bedroom shortly after her mother, Joanne, was allegedly raped and killed by a convicted sex offender. But that’s not what triggers the tears. It’s the girl’s diary - “that damn diary,” he says.
When they found it, detectives pored over its every page for clues, anything that might give them a hint about the killer. What they discovered were a little girl’s hopes and dreams and disappointments, details that have proved harder for Mahoney to shake than the memory of the horrific crime itself.
“She writes in there about how she’s the only girl in seventh grade who had never kissed a boy,” Mahoney said. “Now I know that she’ll never kiss a boy, that she’ll never get to kiss anyone, and it’s just not fair. It’s not fair.”
And then the tears come.
“I’m getting mad at myself,” he said, rubbing his face. “I should not be doing this. I’m 57 years old and this still affects me.” He adds: “Both of these deaths are terrible, but it’s the little girl that got to my heart. That damn diary. We’re supposed to be big and tough and not show anything.”
For Mahoney, who is indeed big, with thinning white hair and a bit of a stammer, that has been a difficult chore.
The ripple effects of the slayings have reverberated throughout the city: from Joanne Presti’s neighbors on Totman Drive, who sought counseling through the Police Department, to the school where Alyssa Presti was a popular cheerleader, to the longtime police chief himself.
Those who have worked closely with Mahoney since 1986, when he became Woburn’s chief, say he has frequently displayed an emotional response to cases. While police stress specialists say that nearly all officers - including police chiefs - experience heavy emotional grief following certain crimes, few of them will talk publicly about it for fear of being perceived as weak.
“You don’t want to freak people out and have people lose confidence in your leadership,” said psychologist Gary S. Aumiller, the president of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology in Hauppauge, N.Y., and a frequent counselor to high-level police officials around the country. “Some people will look at what he says and say, ‘What’s this guy doing as chief?’ Other people will say, ‘Thank God our police officers are human.’ ”
Aumiller said police chiefs are particularly predisposed to becoming affected by the emotional aspects of tough cases. People who work their way up the ranks to become chief are generally obsessive. They are big thinkers who have been able to control most aspects of their lives. The stress adds up in a cumulative fashion.
“All of that makes them more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder,” Aumiller said. “The question is whether they do something about it.”
When investigators arrested Michael J. Bizanowicz after linking his DNA to Joanna Presti’s body, Mahoney stood in the lobby of his police station and angrily told reporters, “He took a knife and stabbed us right in the heart of this community.” Shortly thereafter, Mahoney sought counseling.
“I couldn’t sleep at all,” Mahoney said. “I was waking up at 2, 3, 4 in the morning. I kept waking up.”
He set up stress debriefing sessions with mental health professionals for his staff and set up one-on-one counseling for himself. He had to talk. He had to release his emotions.
The obvious question floating around in his head was, “Am I responsible for the deaths?”
Following the arrest, Mahoney told the Globe that his department may have fouled up paperwork that would have listed Bizanowicz, who was registered as a sex offender in Lowell, as having a secondary address in Woburn, where his on-and-off again girlfriend lived not far from the Prestis.
“I don’t know if we were the ones who screwed up,” Mahoney told the Globe then, “but it doesn’t matter, I just feel outraged.” He added, “I feel terrible about this no matter who screwed up.”
In the end, he was wrong about his department’s culpability in the registration process - Woburn authorities said they didn’t know they could update the registry with a secondary address - but his quick instinct to blame himself was a key insight into how emotionally involved he was with the case.
“I was so involved with the death of this little girl and her mother that I would not be able to live with myself if I found out that we contributed to that,” he said in defending his department’s actions to reporters. “But I feel right now, what we know, that was not the case.”
“He was so emotionally impacted that he didn’t want to dodge anything,” said Woburn Mayor John C. Curran. “He was at one of his lowest points and he was just overwhelmed by the horror of the whole event.”
Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, who worked closely with Mahoney on the investigation, said “You always want someone who really cares about getting the right result. You don’t let emotions cause you to make bad decisions. Rather, I think, you let emotions affect your resourcefulness and you put in all you can to get the best results.”
“I’ve known Chief Mahoney a long time,” Coakley continued. “He’s an excellent chief and he’s very committed to his community. He does get emotionally involved in these cases, but in a good way. The chief had a very human response to this very tragic case.”
And the response haunts him.
“I think about it every single day,” Mahoney said. “I think about it at 2 a.m. You wake up and it’s just on your mind. I think about the loss of these lives, the loss to the community.”
He continues: “The counselor, she told me how it would get better in time and she allowed me to accept not just . . .” and then his voice trails off. “She told me you put it in a little cupboard in your heart and at times you’ll be able to take it out when you want to. It will always be in there. I think about it that way now, that it’s there in my heart.”
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