Author: info

Fatigue and Injury Risk Reduction

With so many police departments struggling to maintain minimum staffing requirements and others working to avoid shortages due to massive numbers of retirements in the near future, administrators have resulted to increasing shift lengths. In some cases, shifts have been increased by 50% per day! The dreaded forced overtime! What happens when someone books off… Continue reading Fatigue and Injury Risk Reduction

Pain Behind the Badge

We want you to be aware of some life-saving training sponsored by Dirigo Safety! PAIN BEHIND THE BADGEStoic, bulletproof, and invincible, police officers hide their own personal suffering for a number of reasons. This training, Pain Behind the Badge is designed to promote officer safety, resilience, and wellness. The Pain Behind the Badge training is… Continue reading Pain Behind the Badge

WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION?

A cursory search of the web and a two-minute consultation with “Doctor Google” will produce lots of answers to the question, “What causes depression?” Before that question can be answered it would seem reasonable to try to define the main topic. That is, what is depression? Unfortunately, the answer will depend on who you ask.… Continue reading WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION?

STAFFING SHORTAGES vs. STAFFING BURNOUT

Are longer shifts the solution? With nearly every large department in Maine suffering from staffing shortages and poor recruitment numbers, many administrators have either lengthened shifts from 8 to 10 or 12-hours or they are contemplating the increase. While forcing police officers to work a longer shift may resolve minimum staffing requirements in the short-term,… Continue reading STAFFING SHORTAGES vs. STAFFING BURNOUT

Shrinking hiring standards – Expanding liability?

The following is a brief summary of an article detailing some alarming trends in pre-employment psychological evaluations. In Maine, we bestow the privilege of wearing a gun and a badge along with all the power that goes along with those tools to a select few of exceptionally qualified men and women. Once hired, the extensive… Continue reading Shrinking hiring standards – Expanding liability?

Tips for Handling Practical and Emotional Matters After Your Loved One Passes Away

author – Lucille Rosetti Lucille Rosetti created TheBereaved.org as a means of sharing tools to help people through the grief process. Having lost some of the people closest to her, she understands what it’s like, and how it can be an emotional roller coaster that doesn’t always seem to make sense. The death of a loved one… Continue reading Tips for Handling Practical and Emotional Matters After Your Loved One Passes Away

Keeping the Peace at Home

author – Colby Mills, Ph.D. Dr. Mills is a clinical and public safety psychologist specializing in treatment of first responders and military veterans.  Dr. Mills spent a decade as a police psychologist with the Fairfax County Police Department.  Prior to that, he spent six years assessing and managing crisis situations as part of a mobile… Continue reading Keeping the Peace at Home

Have you seen GINA?

With all the difficulty departments are having trying to hire new police officers, some have embraced declining standards to answer the workforce shortages. Some departments have devolved from being very selective just 10 years ago to “can the candidate fog a mirror” and now, GINA. GINA has been with us for 13 years but it… Continue reading Have you seen GINA?