What if police officers need help? Who would they confide in about troubling thoughts or persistent nightmares? Too often, they don't turn to anyone at all.

The law enforcement culture has typically rejected the notion that officers may need help in coping with stress and trauma in order to prevent or treat depression and avert suicide.

"Police officers do not want to be seen as weak. So if they have depression, or any other mental illness, they are extremely unlikely to get help" (Suicide.org). Groups such as Badge of Life (BOL) are trying to change that culture. They have conducted research on police suicides to begin to get a handle on the issue.

GOOD NEWS: The 2012 BOL study found 12% fewer suicides among law enforcement officers than they did in their 2009 study.

BAD NEWS: In 2012, the BOL still found 126 reported suicides among law enforcement officers, and the actual rate may be much higher (Policesuicidestudy.com).

The improved numbers are being attributed to an increase in peer counseling programs and an increase in the willingness of officers, especially younger officers, to seek professional help. "Suicides can happen in any profession, but they occur 1.5 times more frequently in law enforcement compared to the general population" (Officer.com).

"As we learn more through research and study, however, it becomes obvious that suicide is merely the tip of the iceberg in comparison to the more important issue of mental health in law enforcement" (Policesuicidestudy.com). Since depression is the leading cause of suicide, it cannot be ignored.

"Depression is 90% curable and, with the proper treatment interventions, those thoughts can go away. Eating your gun is not an option; treatment is" (LawOfficer.com).

Risk Factors for Depression

• Relationship difficulties
• Shift work
• Alcohol or other substance abuse
• Personal legal troubles
• Facing prosecution
• Negative public image
• Financial problems
• Physical pain/illness
• Inconsistencies in the criminal justice system
• Shame/humiliation
• Unrealistic expectations of self or by others
• Instant access to highly effective means of suicide (96+% use firearms)

Other possible causes of depression: genetics, critical incident trauma, cumulative trauma, and even repeated adrenaline dumps.

During an emergency situation, adrenaline dumps into a person's system and allows him/her to respond with speed, strength, and focus. "However, too much and too often, it's poison to your body that has negative effects on a person's physical and emotional well-being" (LawOfficer.com).

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be caused by a single critical event or cumulative trauma. Officers who suffer from PTSD may become depressed or even suicidal. "There's no excuse for law enforcement administrators not to (be) making sure officers are followed closely for at least two years after an incident" (AAETS.org).

Like depression, PTSD is treatable. Affected officers will need both a knowledgeable physician/psychiatrist, and a therapist who understands how to work with police officers (AAETS.org).

"So why don't officers simply go to their departments for help? Because they not only do not want to be seen as weak, but also do not want to be put on leave, reassigned to desk duty, have their gun taken from them, have other officers talk disparagingly about them, or be passed up for promotions in the future" (Suicide.org).

Officer.com presented a podcast interview of Ron Clark, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Badge of Life. He talked about the 2012 BOL study and how to promote mental wellness and prevent suicides. "The scandal in law enforcement is that not one department has ever said...the job has caused the officer to commit suicide" (Officer.com/podcast).

In the moving video, "Police Suicide, Where is the Piper?" BOL shares the words often spoken at law enforcement memorials: "It is not how they DIED that made them heroes, it is how they LIVED."

Despite these words, there is no big ceremony for a fallen officer who took his own life. No place on the National Law Enforcement Memorial. For an officer who commits suicide, it suddenly becomes a matter of how he/she died that matters. This appears to be another symptom of the unhealthy view many in law enforcement take toward mental illness and mental wellness.

The BOL suggests that police tend to their mental health as they do, hopefully, to their physical health. In a second video, "Police Suicide and HOPE," the BOL recommends annual mental health checks. They want officers to tend to their mental wellness before they have an issue.

These are signs that someone may be suicidal and in need of help:

• Talks about suicide
• Makes statements related to hopelessness or helplessness
• Has a preoccupation with death
• Shows a loss of interest in things he/she once cared about
• Makes detailed arrangements related to insurance and finances
• Gives away valued or prized possessions

Hopefully there are resources within a department that officers feel safe to turn to for help. Otherwise, direct them to local or national help lines.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:  1-800-273-TALK [8255]

Janice McCarthy lost her husband, a Massachusetts State Trooper, to suicide. She now addresses police groups about preventing suicides and the danger of viewing depression as a weakness. "Don't deny the fact that you're human," she said. "Yes, you're cops. But you're human" (APBweb.com).


RESOURCES:

American Police Beat, "Confronting Police Suicides," APBweb.com, (accessed 1-22-2013).

Brown, Hal, "The Effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the Officer and the Family," AAETS.org, (accessed 1-23-2013).

Caruso, Kevin, "Police Suicide Prevention and Awareness," Suicide.org, (accessed 1-22-2013).

Clark, Ron, RN, MS, and Andy O'Hara, "2012 Police Suicides: The NSOPS Study," Policesuicidestudy.com, 1-4-2013.

Kulbarsh, Pamela, "Police Suicides Drop in 2012," Officer.com, 1-9-2013.

Peluso, Paul, "Officer Newscast: 2012 Police Suicides Study," Podcast, Officer.com/podcast, 1-16-2013.

Wasilewski, Mike and Althea Olson, "Depression in Law Enforcement," Lawofficer.com, 8-10-2010.

Victims of rape should not have to battle the rest of society in order to seek justice. Recent horrific gang-rape cases in India have highlighted that country's barriers to justice for those who have endured rape. Unfortunately those same types of cases and issues appear around the world as we see protesters in New Delhi and in Ohio.

Barriers to Justice (IN.Reuters.com)

• Hostile police
• Unsympathetic forensic examinations
• Lack of counseling
• Shoddy police investigations
  
• Inadequate courts

Multiple sources accuse the law enforcement in India of being insensitive to women. Some community leaders join police in blaming victims for encouraging sexual attacks.

Outside of New Delhi, India does not have places that offer medical or psychological support for victims. Abhorrent physical exams further violate women.

"The collection, transport and storage of forensic evidence by police - a key component in rape cases - is also often poorly conducted, resulting in weak prosecutions, few convictions and lenient jail terms for convicted offenders" (IN.Reuters.com). A study in August 2012, indicated that over half of all acquittals were caused by inadequate police work (IN.Reuters.com). It is no wonder that many sexual assaults go unreported to police.

There are simply too few courts in India, leading to huge backlogs. Cases frequently take 5 to 10 years to be adjudicated. Victims and witnesses may be intimidated during that period. In some cases, families are persuaded to make their daughter marry the accused to avoid the "shame" associated with being a rape victim.

Indian society is not alone in these offenses and attitudes against women.

A parliamentary commission asked Daming Sanusi, a candidate for the Indonesian Supreme Court, what he thought about applying the death penalty in cases of rape. His inflammatory response: "Consideration needs to be taken thoroughly for the imposition of death penalty for a rapist because in a rape case both the rapist and the victim enjoy it" (CNN.com).

After being confronted with outrage over his statement, Sanusi apologized by saying that he had been nervous and had made a joke. "The controversy that sprung up around Daming mirrors outrage in the United States over remarks about rape made by Republicans Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin" (CNN.com).

Recently, social media has focused on videos, photos, and tweets about a 16-year-old female being sexually assaulted by football players from Steubenville High School in Ohio. Beyond the terrible attack is the apparent inhumane responses of nearly 50 witnesses to the event who recorded, discussed, and joked about the barbaric incident as if it were a sporting event (Toldedoblade.com).

A petition initiated by the women's rights group Ultraviolet is asking Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and special prosecutors "to prosecute anyone on the scene who took pictures, destroyed evidence, or otherwise failed to help the victim as well as the alleged rapists" (Socialtimes.com).

Those of us in the U.S. must not look down at our world neighbors in India when we read about a woman gang-raped on a bus, leaving her with brain and intestinal injuries that would take her life. We must reach out to them to help remove barriers to justice for rape victims everywhere.

RESOURCES:

• Bhalla, Nita, "Analysis: How India's Police and Judiciary Fail Rape Victims," IN.Reuters.com, 1-16-2013.
• Glenn, Devon, "Activists Demand Justice for Rape Victim Whose Ordeal was Posted to Social Media," Socialtimes.com, 1-4-2013.
• Mandhana, Niharika and Anjani Trivedi, "Indians Outraged Over Rape on Moving Bus in New Delhi," NYTimes.com, 12-18-2012.
• Mullen, Jethro, "Indonesian Judge in Hot Water for Suggesting Rape Victims Enjoy It," CNN.com, 1-16-2013.
• Pitz, Marylynne, "Crowd Demands Justice for Steubenville Rape Victim," Toledoblade.com, Block News Alliance, 1-7-2013.
• Timmons, Heather and Sruthi Gottipati, "Woman Dies After a Gang Rape That Galvanized India," NYTimes.com, 12-28-2012.

We have heard stories in which police use deadly force against what appeared to be a gun-wielding attacker. Later, it may have been determined that the offender held a toy gun or even a cell phone. How is the use of force to be judged in such a situation? By the "objectively reasonable" standard.

In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court made this statement when ruling in Graham v. Connor (490 U.S. 386):

"The reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments - in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving - about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation. The test of reasonableness is not capable of precise definition or mechanical application" (McBride).

This is the current legal standard by which police use of force is evaluated in federal courts. It suggests that one must assess the case based upon what was known/believed by a  reasonable police officer at the time. Whatever may be determined later does not change the perceived danger at the moment. According to Howard Rantz, author of Understanding Police Use of Force (Criminal Justice Press, 2003), court rulings have "affirmed the principle that deadly-force incidents must be judged from the precise moment the 'seizure,' i.e. deadly force, occurs" (Davis).

The must ask if a reasonable officer with similar training and experience would have acted the same in similar circumstances (Roufa).

In Graham v. Connor, the Supreme Court gave us three factors to consider when evaluating use of force:

1. The severity of the crime at issue,
2. The threat of the suspect, and
3. The level of resistance offered by the suspect (Flosi).

The objectively reasonable standard has begun to replace use-of-force continuum in departmental policies. This includes influential agencies like the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and the Los Angeles Police Department.

This is the general use of force policy of the LAPD:

"Use of Force - General. It is the policy of this Department that personnel may use only that force which is 'objectively reasonable' to : Defend themselves; defend others; effect an arrest or detention; prevent escape; or overcome resistance" (McBride).

We cannot fairly evaluate police actions based on what we learn about an incident after the fact. So it is not pivotal if we later find out that an offender's gun was unloaded. It only matters that the officer involved can articulate the perceived threat to her life or the lives of others at the moment and that her actions be deemed "objectively reasonable." It would be truly unreasonable of us to judge police based on facts they could not have known at the time.


Resources:

• Davis, Kevin, "Officer Survival in 20/20 Hindsight," Officer.com, 1-3-2013.
• Flosi, Ed, "Use of Force: Defining 'Objectively-Reasonable' Force," Policeone.com, 2-8-2012.
• McBride, Kevin, "Objectively Reasonable Standard for Training Officers in Use-of-Force,"  Lawfuluse.com, 10-31, 2012.
• Roufa, Timothy, "Uses of Force in Law Enforcement and Corrections," About.com, (accessed 1-8-2013).

Anyone can suffer from fatigue, but those working shifts may be plagued by its effects. However, some who work shifts, including police officers, have learned to adjust their routines to their work schedules.

"When all goes well the outcome is 3 shifts of equally alert and physically prepared officers ready to provide for the health and safety of the community. When all is not well, alertness decreases, vehicle and other equipment accidents are more likely and the potential for serious injury, disability or death looms larger" (drjohnconlin.blogspot.com).

Fatigue can catch up to all of us, but don't let it become a dangerous pattern for you. (Policeassn.org.nz).

Signs of Fatigue

• Daydreaming
• Slow reaction times
• Increased risk-taking
• Poor communication
• Poor judgment of distance and time
• Sore or tired eyes; blurred vision
• Nodding off for a fraction of a second
• Impatience, restlessness, irritability; and taking safety shortcuts

Before my husband started working night shifts, we prepared a small bedroom in the basement by putting aluminum foil over the windows. No...nothing stylish about it, but it did help block out sunlight that would keep him awake during the day. I suppose he could've worn a sleep mask, but he wasn't enthusiastic about that idea. We also placed a fan in the room to function as white noise that helped block out the sounds of traffic and dogs.

Dr. John Conlin, police psychologist, offers these additional suggestions for being sleep healthy during shift work.

1. Aim for one, uninterrupted 8-hour sleep period daily.
2. Keep sleeping environment dark and noise free.
3. Maintain same sleep-wake schedule on off days. (If you are rotating shifts, pick a schedule that gets you up two hours before your shift.)
4. Take melatonin supplement 2 to 3 hours before desired sleep onset. (A hormone that induces sleep)
   
5. A 20 to 60 minute nap prior to the start of night shifts for those who wake up 8 or more hours before their shift.
6. Replace a meal break with a 20 minute nap during a night shift.
7. Increase the available light inside the station or work area during night shifts. (Available light should exceed a minimum of 1000 Lux. Additional lighting is recommended during night shifts).
   
8. Balance your use of caffeine. Save it for the difficult 0300 hour time period. Eliminate caffeine several hours before desired sleep onset. "If you drink it only when you need it to stay awake you'll require less than the officer who drinks it all the time" (PoliceOne.com).
   
9. Avoid sedative hypnotic sleep agents/sleeping pills.
10. Only use your bed for sleep and physical intimacy. Avoid watching TV, surfing the Internet, or eating food.

"If you do not fall asleep within 20 minutes or so; get up and do something until you feel you can fall back to sleep" (Drjohnconlin.blogspot.com). The other big factor in adjusting to shift work is diet.

If you work shifts, you really need to plan your meals so you don't end up eating junk on the job. "Working shifts means that the body requires energy at times that it expects to be resting, which makes it more difficult for us to be able to digest food at night and to produce energy at the right time for night work" Policeassn.org.nz.

If you sleep in the morning/daytime, the meal before bed should be rich in carbohydrates (cereal, toast, fruit, rice). After you sleep, you should eat your main meal with a combination of protein and carbohydrates. Examples include lean meats like chicken and fish, pasta, vegetables, dairy products, eggs, yogurt, breakfast drinks or fruit smoothies, and fresh fruit.

During a night shift, avoid high-fat foods, but don't skip meals. Instead, eat frequent, small snacks with protein or fruit to stay alert. Try these healthy choices: nuts, dried fruit, lean meat, wholegrain bread sandwiches, breakfast drinks or fruit smoothies, lowfat yogurt, beans, wholegrain toast, eggs, fresh fruit, and plenty of water.

Adapting to shift work requires healthy sleep patterns and eating habits. "If you're tired your brain starts telling your body to eat--especially foods that are starchy, sweet and high in carbohydrates" (Policeassn.org.nz). These are the wrong foods to eat if you want to avoid feeling fatigue. Coffee and donuts will never replace a good eight hours of sleep.

Resources:

Conlin, John, "10 Steps to Staying Sleep Healthy During Rotating Shift Work," Blogspot.com, 4-14,2012.
New Zealand Police Association, "What You Can Do to Stop the Shiftwork 'Blues'," Policeassn.org.nz, March 2010.
Wolfe, Duane, "5 Practical Sleep Tips for Shift Workers," PoliceOne.com, 4-29, 2011.

Most municipalities demand police protection around the clock; therefore, shift work is an integral part of law enforcement. Agencies differ in the length, times, and rotation of shifts required of their officers. Some shift work leaves police in a state of fatigue that ultimately endangers them and the public they protect.

Beyond their scheduled shifts, officers may work overtime on cases, court appearances, or special assignments. "Roughly 40 percent of the nation's 861,000 police officers work more than 12 hours a day -- and a similar proportion suffer from a sleep disorder such as insomnia or excessive sleepiness" (APA.org). Sleep disorders and fatigue affect moods, cognitive abilities, physical reflexes, social interactions, and immune systems. That is bad for performing routine functions like driving and high-level decision making, "especially when officers must make decisions about whether to use deadly force -- often in ambiguous, fast-paced, high-risk situations" (APA.org).

Length of Shift

Traditionally, police were scheduled to work five 8-hour shifts per week. Many departments have experimented with four 10-hour shifts or even three 12-hour shifts.

Karen Amendola and her colleagues at the Police Foundation conducted a study of 275 officers working various lengths of shifts over six months. The officers were randomly assigned to work 8-, 10-, or 12-hour shifts.  It turned out that officers working 10-hour shifts tended to get more sleep than those working 8-hour shifts--an average of 30 minutes more per night (NIJ.gov). Those working 10-hour shifts worked the least amount of overtime and also reported having a "higher quality of work life than those on 8-hour shifts" (NIJ.gov).

In contrast, "officers working the 12-hour shifts reported greater levels of sleepiness and lower levels of alertness at work" (NIJ.gov). They worked 3 times as much overtime as those on 10-hour shifts, but less than those working 8-hour shifts.

From limited data, the 12-hour shift seems to be the least conducive to optimum police effectiveness on the job while 10-hour shifts hold possible benefits over the traditional 8-hour system. More research is needed.

Time of Day

Let's compare working a night shift to a more traditional day/evening shift. We may all have 24 hours in a day, but people who work a night shift tend to get less sleep than those who work other schedules. They get stuck between living a nocturnal existence in which they sleep during the day and participating in social circles that gather during the day. Many function on less than four hours of sleep daily. "This could lead to individual health problems, as well as poor work performance" (Jimston Journal).

Even if they get ample sleep, they still face a difficult battle. "People who work the night shift must combat their bodies' natural rest period while trying to remain alert and high functioning" (APA.org). Your body is designed to slow down and cool off at night--not what you want when responding to an emergency call.

Officers may adopt bad eating and drinking habits in an effort to boost their energy levels, but this leads to other health problems.

Alternative Work Patterns

There are three ways that shift work tends to be assigned: dedicated (permanent) shifts; slow rotation; and rapid rotation (Jimston Journal).

Dedicated Shifts: Set work hours make it easier for departments to schedule officers and for officers to adjust their habits to their work hours. Individuals at least have the opportunity to physically adjust to their schedules. However, night shift workers are still less likely to get a full seven to eight hours of sleep. Problems of sleep loss and fatigue are exacerbated when the assigned shift is a 12 hour, overnight shift.

Slow Rotation: Some departments choose to share the burdens and opportunities of working various shifts across the workforce. They may switch shifts slowly over time. It is best for the health of workers that they not have to "change shifts for at least 4-5 weeks at a time. This allows for minimal disruption of the circadian cycle" (Jimston Journal).

Rapid Rotation: Within as little as one week, police may be required to change from afternoon to day to night shift. This is the most disruptive of all patterns, giving individuals no chance to adjust their biological clocks to a set of wake/sleep hours. Animal experiments have shown that rapid rotation left circadian rhythms undetectable. "Body temperature and blood chemistry of these animals were in a constant state of flux" (Jimston Journal). 

It is imperative that departments use either dedicated shifts or a slow rotation. "Research has found that people deprived of normal sleeping patterns can actually fall into microsleep for a few seconds and be unaware that they aren't performing the task before them" (Jimston Journal).

Even if we go with dedicated, 10-hour shifts, some officers must be assigned to the night shift. Next week, I will look into ways to adjust your biological clock and avoid the sleep and health issues often associated with working the night shift.

Resources:

• Pearsall, Beth, "Sleep Disorders, Work Shifts and Officer Wellness," National Institute of Justice, NIJ.gov, 06/2012.
• Price, Michael, "The Risks of Night Work," American Psychological Association, APA.org, 01/2011.
• Violanti, John M., "Shift Work may be Hazardous to Your Health," Jimston Journal, (accessed 12-26-2012)

Whether it is a multiple-casualty accident, a deadly fire, or a tragic school shooting as occurred last week in Newtown, Connecticut, law enforcement, fire fighters, and EMS personnel rush to the scenes. They must do their jobs regardless of what they confront.

Father William Hamilton, ATF chaplain, shared concerns about the first responders to the Newtown school shooting. "This is something human nature just should never have to see...Some of these individuals were there for 12 hours and more in the scene with these...poor victims." Small towns do not allow for much anonymity. "They know these kids. They know these teachers" (LATimes.com).

This tragedy will leave a permanent imprint. Chaplain Terry Morgan urges police officers he works with to give themselves permission to react.  "It is ok at times like this to have [an] emotional side. Understand you may have to step away for a moment to shed a tear, and take a few deep breaths" (Officer.com).

When a state police officer witnessed a man shoot and kill a 3-month-old in Blossvale, NY, a team of peer counselors were brought together to help that officer and his department to cope with the tragedy. Utica Deputy Fire Chief Brendan Dunn is part of that area's Critical Incident Stress Management Team. The team helps responders to discuss what happened, the feelings it caused, and post traumatic stress reactions (WKTV.com).

Hopefully most individuals do not face traumatic incidents more than once in their lifetimes. According to Dunn, "For an emergency responder or the military, it may be a way of life." Training will help responders carry out their job functions, but it cannot make it easy to deal with trauma.

So what will help first responders confront their emotions and regain a sense of control? "Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) can be a valuable tool following a traumatic event" (AAETS.org).

A critical incident is described on the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress website as one that changes a person's normal physical and/or psychological functioning. Some of the first cases of traumatic stress identified were caused by military combat. Short- or long-term crisis reactions can also be experienced by emergency responders and victims of traumatic crimes. Many agencies use CISD to manage grief and distress.

"Debriefing is a specific technique designed to assist others in dealing with the physical or psychological symptoms that are generally associated with trauma exposure. Debriefing allows those involved with the incident to process the event and reflect on its impact" (AAETS.org). "Defusing, another component of CISD, allows for the ventilation of emotions and thoughts associated with the crisis event" (AAETS.org).

The CISD Process

1. Assess the impact of the incident on individuals.
2. Identify issues of safety and security.
3. Vent emotions and validate reactions.
4. Predict, prepare, and plan for potential psychological and physical reactions.
5. Review the critical incident and its impact. Watch for maladaptive behaviors.
6. As closure, identify ongoing support services and build action plans.
7. Assist with re-entry into the community or workplace.

This is a process that should be started within 24-72 hours of a critical event. According the the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, the Connecticut Critical Incident Stress Management Team responded to Newtown on the day of the school shootings. "On Friday, December 14th, 2012, the CT CISM Team received a call shortly before noon, requesting assistance in dealing with what was a developing large scale event. A gunman had shot numerous adults and children inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School, directly adjacent to a fire house" (ICISF.org).

"Experts say first responders are surprisingly resilient, with the vast majority recovering from the stress of a horrific scene within days or weeks. But some will continue to have symptoms, and those people will probably benefit from some form of counseling" (ABCNews.com).

Gary Franz, Deputy Chief of Graham Fire and Rescue, talked about the grief, anger, and frustration his personnel felt after responding to an arson scene in which Charlie Powell, 7, and Braden Powell, 5, had been murdered by their father in Puyallup, Washington.  "Our men and women are men and women," Franz said. "We don't have any super-human power against what everybody in this nation -- and particularly in this community -- are experiencing" (KOMONews.com).

"The department held what's called a critical incident stress debrief," Franz said. The people and first responders of Puyallup will never forget the Powell tragedy, but they have moved forward. Now Newtown has begun the long process of grieving and then moving beyond this crisis.


RESOURCES:

• Bailey, Pat, "After Witnessing Blossvale Tragedy, First Responders Deal with Grief," WKTV.com, 06-24-2010.
• Cohen, Lindsay, "1st Responders to Powell Explosion Struggling with Grief, Anger," KOMONews.com, 02-10-2012.
• Davis, Joseph A, Ph.D., "Providing Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) to Individuals and Communities in Situational Crisis," AAETS.org, 1998.
• Hamilton, Fr. William, "Chaplain Describes First Responders' Grief," LATimes.com, 12-17-2012.
• International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, "Updates - CT CISM Team Response to Newtown, CT School Shooting," ICISF.org, 12-14-2012.
• Moisse, Katie, "Connecticut School Shooting: First on Scene Face Haunting Memories," ABCNews.go.com, 12-15-2012.
• Morgan, Terry, "Coping with Tragedy: The Newtown School Massacre," Officer.com, 12-17-2012.

Tons of online shopping orders and presents will be arriving on doorsteps across the country this month. Letting those items sit unattended provides opportunity for would-be thieves.

You may have seen in the news that people across the country have stolen packages from homes. More deliveries this time of year means more potential thefts.

Three women in Stoneham, Massachusetts, were caught following a delivery truck and then swiping package after package from people's homes (see video at Boston.cbslocal.com). In Connecticut this month, police arrested three people for stealing an entire FedEx truck (see video at Courant.com). One Tennessee woman even had a gift she intended to send stolen from her hands outside of a post office.

Here are a few tips to prevent your deliveries from being stolen.

Since there is always a chance that you won't be home when a package arrives, take extra precautions with big ticket/irreplaceable items. Request that the sender/shipper require a signature upon delivery. While you could ask a neighbor to watch your home, it may be better to provide the delivery company with specific instructions on what to do with the package if you are not home to receive it. "UPS told WAVY.com its drivers are trained to leave packages out of site, but without special instructions drivers drop them off and move on to the next stop" (WAVY.com).

You should track your deliveries. Both UPS and FedEx have free programs that allow you to reroute a delivery, after shipping, to their nearest shipping facility.

It might be good to avoid home delivery, especially if you are rarely home during the day. Besides a shipping center, consider the possibility of sending items to your workplace or a local store from which you ordered. If none of these alternates is suitable, it may be time to consider a security camera with remote storage.

Here are a few other precautions you may want to adopt.

Tips for preventing mail theft:
Johnson, Nikie, "Mail Theft: Tips for not Becoming a Victim," Blog.pe.com, 12-4-2012.

Tips for preventing charity fraud:
Federal Trade Commission, "Avoid Charity Fraud," FTC.com, 2-2-2012.

Safety tips for home and around town:
Crepeau, Jr., Normand, "Chief's Column: Crime Prevention During the Holidays," Grafton.dailyvoice.com, 12-6-2012.
Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, "Crime Prevention Tips for the Holidays," TTPS.gov.tt, accessed 12-12-2012.
Lincoln Police Department, "Holiday Crime Prevention Tips," lincoln,ne.gov, accessed 12-12-2012.

Once you have your deliveries safely inside your home, don't leave them in front of your picture window, and don't set the box for the new, big screen TV next to the trash can. Break it down and dispose of it or recycle it. Play it safe. Don't provide anyone with the opportunity to redeliver your gifts to another home. Make things a little difficult and possible thieves will generally go on down the road.

Resources:

• Leamanczyk, Lauren, "Thieves Caught Stealing Christmas Gifts from Stoneham Home," Boston.cbslocal.com, 12-4-2012.
• Newell, Dave, "How to Ensure Cyber-Monday Buys Don't Get Stolen," Cerritos.patch.com, 11-27-2012.
• WAVY.com, "Tips for Safe Cyber Shopping Delivery," Wavy.com, 11-27-2012.

UPDATE:  Caught on video...A UPS employee had to trade his brown uniform for an orange jumpsuit when caught stealing a package that had been delivered by FedEx.

In 1984, Jennifer Thompson was raped at knife point. Her description of the attacker was used to develop a composite. Police received a tip that Ronald Cotton, Jr. was the man in the drawing. Two days after the attack, Thompson viewed a photo lineup of six men.

She wanted to be positive. Although she quickly eliminated four of the men, she took 4 to 5 minutes trying to decide between two others. Then she picked up Cotton's photo.

THOMPSON: This is the man who did this.
POLICE: Are you sure?
THOMPSON: I'm positive.
POLICE: We thought that was the guy.

Later, after a live lineup in which Thompson chose Cotton again, she asked if she did okay. An officer said, "You did great, that was the guy you picked out in the photo lineup."

With this positive feedback, Thompson felt 100% positive of her identification by the time the case went to trial. Her strong, believable ID is what sent Cotton to prison for rape. It took 11 years before DNA exonerated him and led law enforcement to Bobby Poole, the actual rapist.

Since then, Thompson and Cotton have co-authored a book, PICKING COTTON. You can view the video Getting it Right: Eyewitness ID with both of them and the police chief who worked the case at the Innocence Project website.

Although Thompson had been told that her attacker might not be among the photographs, she felt compelled to do her part to take a rapist off the streets. She couldn't do it quickly despite research findings that the strongest memories are the easiest/quickest to retrieve (Economist.com). Thompson, a Caucasian, struggled to identify her Black attacker. Studies have shown that people have more difficulty distinguishing faces of people of other races (Salon.com). She studied two of the photos until she chose one as her attacker.

No one asked Thompson how certain she was of that first ID before proceeding. Instead, she was relieved to be told that she'd picked the "right" man. Police officers, family members, and even other witnesses can unconsciously shape a witness's memory and influence his/her level of certainty (Salon.com).

Research suggests that lineups should be double-blind and administered sequentially (See blog: Your Lying Eyes: How to Improve Police Lineups), neither of which were done in this case. Let's look into the roll that positive affirmations play on eyewitness testimony.

A study reported in Psychological Science, found that confirming feedback led witnesses to not only feel better about their identification/misidentification (the murderer's photo was not in the lineup), but it also distorted their memory of how confident they had been initially and how good of a look at the perpetrator they believed they'd gotten.

Of "the eyewitnesses given positive feedback - 50% rated their confidence at either a 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale." In addition 47% of those getting positive feedback thought the grainy security camera footage was clear (6 or 7 on the 7-point scale). In contrast, of those who got negative feedback, only 15% rated their confidence high, and none of them thought the poor footage was clear (PSYBLOG).

Witnesses should make a statement about their level of confidence in their own words. "The legal system should...collect the primary dependent measures (confidence information and other statements) from the eyewitnesses prior to debriefing them regarding the status of the identified person" (Psychology.iastate.edu).

Itiel Dror, cognitive neuroscientist with the University College of London, stated that psychological research has shown "time and time again no correlation between confidence and accuracy" (Salon.com) Yet, confidence sells an identification to juries.

Changes to police procedures have been slow in the US and in the UK (PSYBLOG). Law enforcement agencies are getting more pressure to adopt policies on eyewitness identifications which are supported by research (Officer.com). The following procedures, excerpted from Wisconsin's Model Policy and Procedure for Eyewitness Identification, were developed in an attempt to minimize eyewitness errors and secure court-admissible identifications.

1. Utilize non-suspect fillers chosen to minimize any suggestiveness that might point toward the suspect;
2. Utilize a 'double blind' procedure, in which the administrator is not in a position to unintentionally influence the witness's selection;
3. Give eyewitnesses an instruction that the real perpetrator may or may not be present and that the administrator does not know which person is the suspect;
4. Present the suspect and the fillers sequentially (one at a time) rather than simultaneioulsy (all at once). This discourages relative judgment and encourages absolute judgments of each person presented, because eyewitnesses are unable to see the subjects all at once and are unable to know when they have seen the last subject;
5. Assess eyewitness confidence immediately after identification;
6. Avoid multiple identification procedures in which the same witness views the same suspect more than once.

In addition to those practices, the Innocence Project also recommends that lineup procedures be videotaped. This protects innocent suspects and also documents legitimate police procedures. "Officers should also be prepared to articulate in court how the procedures they used ensure the greatest reliability of the eyewitness evidence gathered" (Officer.com).In the future, most lineups may be conducted on computers to further remove human influence.

Our judicial system may place too much weight on eyewitness testimony...especially when it runs counter to more tangible evidence. Even an honest eyewitness ID, like that of Jennifer Thompson, can be completely wrong. We must eliminate practices that we know can lead to miscarriages of justice.

Other Links:

• Dean, Jeremy, "Wrongful Conviction: 50% of Mistaken Eyewitnesses Certain after Positive Feedback," PSYBLOG, February 6, 2008.
• Economist, "Unusual Suspects: How to Make Witnesses More Reliable," The Economist, March 3, 2012.
• Russell, Sue, "Why Police Lineups Can't be Trusted," Salon.com, September 29, 2012.
• Van Brocklin, Val, "Defending Your Lineup in Court," Officer.com, July 18, 2011.
• Wells, Gary L, and Amy L. Bradfield, "Distortions in Eyewitnesses' Recollections: Can the Post-identification Feedback Effect be Moderated?" Psychological Science, 1999.

"He did it," the witness proclaims from the stand. Eyewitness testimony sways juries...but what if there is no other evidence against the accused? Should it hold enough weight to convict?

You have seen countless police lineups on TV shows and movies. The practice of bringing in one suspect along with four or five "fillers" and lining them up along a wall marked with heights is being questioned by research findings and defence lawyers. Everything about which persons/images are chosen for a lineup and how they are presented affects the likelihood of witnesses selecting the real culprit rather than identifying an innocent person.

In practice, police rarely bring in live people for a lineup. It is much more common for a photo lineup to be used. I remember pulling together 6-packs for some of my cases years ago. This was a term used to describe a single page showing the photos of six possible suspects at one time. Research now suggests that there are two big problems with the procedure I used: the method and the administrator.

Whether using live people or photographic images, there are two primary methods of presenting a group of possible suspects to a witness. They are simultaneous and sequential. The simultaneous method, as pictured in the silly photo above, shows all of the five or six possible suspects to the witness at one time. The problem: people tend to compare the faces to each other. Even if the perpetrator is not in the lineup, the witness is inclined to choose the closest match.

"While we like to think that our eyes won't mislead us, mistaken eyewitness identification accounts for more than 70% of wrongful convictions that are ultimately overturned by...more objective DNA evidence" (Time.com). 

The sequential lineup method, shows each suspect individually. The witness is forced to compare the person  to his/her memory, rather than to people next to them. According to David Harris of the University of Pittsburgh Law School, "Agencies should bring in suspects one at a time" (Minnesota.publicradio.org). However, he is not suggesting that the suspect should be the only person presented to the witness.

Maurice Caldwell spent 20 years in prison for murder based on eyewitness testimony. Of four witnesses, only one identified him, but that one identification persuaded the jury despite a lack of physical or forensic evidence. Caldwell was seen in the area after the crime was reported. Police brought him to the witness and they asked her if he was the man she had seen. The process confirmed in her mind that he was involved in the crime (CBSlocal.com).

According to a CBS affiliate in San Francisco, "Even without realizing it, an investigator can send nonverbal cues to the eyewitness." It may be a deep breath, the way they lean, or a facial expression. The one way to completely guard against this influence is to have an uninvolved officer administer a sequential lineup.

A police officer who does not know which image is the actual suspect cannot manipulate the witness's response. This is called a double-blind lineup. Dallas police have taken this to the extreme. They have a special unit that does only lineups. They are not involved in investigations and therefore will not influence the witnesses. They have specialized training and follow written procedures for each lineup that include showing photos sequentially (NYTimes.com).

It is imperative that a move toward double-blind, sequential lineups be made standard practice. For more details, you can watch a segment of Rock Center called "Photo ID: Are Police Lineups Reliable?" at this link.

When Caldwell's case was reopened, another man came forward and confessed to the murder. Caldwell is now arguing that his civil rights were violated in a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco. It is unconscionable that a murder case had even gone to trial with so little evidence.

Next week: More of the latest research findings on eyewitness identifications.


Sources:

• CBS 5, "Man Wrongly Convicted In SF Murder Questions Police Lineups," Sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com, 5-7-2012.
• Goode, Erica and John Schwartz, "Police Lineups Start to Face Fact: Eyes Can Lie," NYTimes.com, 8-28-2011.
• Guy, Shoshana, "Police Photo Lineups Challenged after Series of Wrongful Convictions," Rock Center, 4-4-2012.
• Szalavitz, Maria, "How to Improve Police Lineups and ID the Right Culprit," Time.com, 9-4-2012.
• Weber, Tom, "Do We Do Police Lineups Correctly?" Minnesota.publicradio.org, 11-8-2012.

President Barack Obama pardoned the national Thanksgiving turkey(s) today. This ceremonial pardoning is a lighthearted event. The more serious constitutional role of granting clemency to people gives presidents a role in the judicial system. Presidents have varied in their application of the power to pardon. Some of their choices have run afoul of public opinion.

A full pardon officially removes all records of punishment and guilt, thereby restoring constitutional rights to formerly convicted felons. Presidents can act on any federal crimes, while lower-level offenses may be granted clemency at the state level, usually by governors. (USBlawg.com) The power has been used to help heal the nation. Other times it has been used for purely personal or political reasons.

According to Northern Public Radio, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich stated, "President Obama takes his constitutional power to grant clemency very seriously, and each recommendation received from the Department of Justice is carefully reviewed and evaluated on the merits." (Northernpublicradio.org)

Apparently most recommendations haven't measured up to Obama's standards. P.S. Ruckman Jr., a political scientist at Rock Valley College, reports the rate of pardons granted by the past five presidents (Northernpublicradio.org):

• Ronald Reagan: 1 in 8
• George H.W. Bush 1 in 19
• Bill Clinton: 1 in 16
• George W. Bush: 1 in 55
• Barack Obama: 1 in 290

Why do our two most recent presidents appear so stingy? In part, the number of recommendations continues to grow. Also, many pardons are made at the end of a presidency, so we'll have to recheck Obama's rate at the end of his term in office. If you'd like to request clemency from the president, follow this link to the Department of Justice.

The king of last minute pardons was Bill Clinton. On his last day in office, he served up 140 pardons (USBlawg.com), some of which were highly controversial.

Of the presidential pardons, here are a few of the biggest turkeys, based on the level of public acceptance:

Like Andrew Johnson's pardon of all who had served on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War, President Jimmy Carter wanted to help the nation mend. However, his pardon of those who had evaded the military draft during the Vietnam War was not as well received (About.com).

In another bid in the name of healing the nation, a highly controversial pardon was granted to former president Richard Nixon for anything he might have done or might be accused of having done during the years of the Watergate scandal (About.com).

Nixon issued questionable pardons of his own. He pardoned Jimmy Hoffa who had been convicted of jury tampering and fraud. Hoffa supported Nixon's re-election bid in 1972 and then disappeared in 1975 (Time.com).

Ronald Reagan also had a couple doozies. One went to George Steinbrenner, former Yankees owner who had plead guilty to obstructing justice and making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon. Another went to Junior Johnson, an early NASCAR superstar, who had served a federal sentence for running moonshine (CNN.com).

President George H.W. Bush received criticism by some in 1992 when he pardoned former Secretary of State Caspar Weinberger and five other Reagan administration officials for their roles in the Iran-Contra Affair (About.com).

Bill Clinton's last-day pardons included one for his half-brother, Roger Clinton, who had been found guilty of cocaine distribution. Another was given to financier and tax-evader Marc Rich. This was noteworthy since Rich's ex-wife had donated to Clinton's presidential campaign and library (Discovery.com).

No wonder many pardons aren't made until the president is heading out of public office. Yet, no matter how much criticism a pardon receives, it will stand. A president's power to pardon goes unchecked by any other branch of government.

"It's conceivable that the Founding Fathers were not worried about giving one individual such absolute authority, as the U.S. Constitution as originally written specified only treason, piracy and counterfeiting as federal crimes. After more than 200 years of growth in the government, approximately 4,500 criminal offenses are under the jurisdiction of the federal government" (Investopdedia.com).

There have been many thousands of presidential pardons handed down, some for the good of the country and a sense of justice, some, it would appear, for the good of the pardoner and his partners. Since it is a U.S. holiday, maybe we should just grin at Obama's pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey.

Resources:

Clark, Josh, "How Presidential Pardons Work," Howstuffworks.com, (accessed 11-20-2012).
Discovery Channel, "Which Presidential Pardons have been Controversial?" Discovery.com, (accessed 11-21-2012).
Fox, Eric, "Notorious Presidential Pardons," Investopedia.com, 9-24-2012.
Gill, Kathy, "Controversial Presidential Pardons," About.com, 1-3-2009.
Institute of Government Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, "Presidential Pardons," NYTimes.com, (accessed 11-21-2012).
JRO, "Controversies in Pardons and Commutations of Sentences," USBlawg.com, 8-6-2012.
Shapiro, Ari, "Tough Turkey: People Have a Harder Time Getting Pardons Under Obama," Northernpublicradio.org, 11-20-2012.
Time Magazine, "Notorious Presidential Pardons," Time.com, (accessed 11-21-2012).
Trex, Thand, "11 Notable Presidential Pardons," CNN.com, 1-5-2009.