Journal Archive
"The real stresses of policing are what happens between the two people sitting in the patrol car ..."
The high number of police suffering stress and trauma could be reduced substantially by teaching simple conflict-resolution skills, according to Senior Sergeant Trevor HaskelL
"The big problem is that, right through our (police) management structure, we don't give enough training in human resources," he says.
"We don't teach conflict management, grievance management (or) personality types."
Trained in social work and attached to the police department's Welfare branch, Haskell says that SAPOL (South Australia Police) bears the responsibility for teaching such skills. And, as the employer of 4,000 people, its training budget, he says, should be "fairly significant".
"When budgets are stripped, the training gets cut first," he says. "That, to me, is one of the great tragedies of SAPOL at the moment: the budget is just not adequate."
One group of sergeants with whom Haskell had recently been working hadn't undergone human resource training for 10 years. "That's just an absolute sham," he exclaims.
Haskell and his two full-time colleagues counsel up to 300 police officers per year. Problems for which their clients seek assistance relate to:
- Work issues.
- Relationships.
- Family.
- Physical health.
- Deaths.
- Emotional health.
- Alcohol.
Police officers who consult the Welfare branch span all levels, but the majority are those of constable and senior constable ranks from operational areas. Commissioned officers and members of the CIB (Criminal Investigation Branch) are the least frequent users of Welfare's services.
Welfare branch statistics indicate that 28 per cent of its clients are female. The branch considers that figure significant as females constitute only 14 per cent of SAPOL's employees.
"We get a number of people who may have just moved out of the operational area because of health reasons," Haskell says. "They're usually competent operators who are just going through some life-crisis and seek us out to assist them to deal with it."
Haskell says that media reports which show police to be stressed by street conflict such as high-speed pursuits are generally misrepresentative. "The real stresses of policing are what happens between the two people sifting in the patrol car or, between the people back at the patrol base," he explains.
"It's these interpersonal actions and reactions that cause the greatest problem. So, the greatest stresses of policing are: 'How I feel I've been treated by my peers and by my managers.' "
But by the time some police officers seek Welfare's assistance, they have reached what Haskell describes as "a very dangerous level". Their confidence and capacity to respond are often so depleted as to render them unpredictable.
When police are found to be that "close to the edge", welfare officers' priority becomes one of co-ordinating medical assistance. But Haskell says that, despite the services his branch offers, police generally remain reluctant to "put their hands up" in times of personal crisis.
"The notion that it is weak people who come here (to Welfare) is quite wrong," he insists. "The people who suffer greatest are those who deny what's going on or actually lose touch with what's going on.
"If they don't (resolve it), they get to crisis point - that's when the unpredictability comes in and the capacity to suddenly snap."
Haskell says that SAPOL has "some excellent managers" who recognize stress in their subordinates and alert Welfare accordingly. Those managers with more autocratic styles, however, are less likely to be approached for help by the rank and file. "They're the ones we usually have to deal with through the medical system," Haskell laments.
He concedes that divisional management is difficult, but says that managers who recognize rank-and-file needs and provide leadership "without bullshitting" create less stressful workplaces.
"When a problem surfaces in a particular area, we look at the manager and say: 'Well, this is a long haul one.' With others we say: 'This is so and-so leave it with us, we can sort it out.' "
Haskell is anxious to see how SAPOL's new director of human resources, Joan Russell, responds to welfare issues. He says her views seem different from previous directors and remains cautiously optimistic about forging quality relations with her office.
"We would like a better budget so that we can be more pro-active," he says. "We have always operated on the notion that, if somebody rings, we respond. That's the way management all around the State has always seen us, so, when they ring, they don't expect us to say: 'We don't have the budget to come out today.' "[End]
