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Refinement and Preliminary Testing of an Imagery-Based Program to Improve Coping and Performance and Prevent Trauma among Urban Police Officers

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Abstract

Police officers are regularly exposed to traumatic critical incidents. The substantial mental, behavioral, and social costs of police trauma indicate a substantial need for prevention. We have refined and enhanced a previously tested Swedish program to the harsh conditions of U.S. inner cities. The program was designed to strengthen resilience during stressful encounters and teach methods of coping after exposure, thereby preventing the emergence of maladaptive symptoms and behaviors with adverse effects on professionalism. In an uncontrolled demonstration project, junior officers were trained by senior officers to engage in imaginal rehearsal of specific dangerous situations while incorporating optimal police tactics and healthy emotional reactions. A class of 32 officers in the police academy engaged in the program, and they and the trainers reported high satisfaction with it. After their first year of field work, 22 officers were reassessed. Compared to pre-training, these officers showed significant increases in the use of positive reframing and humor and significant reductions in anxiety and alcohol use over the year. Trauma symptoms did not increase. These results offer preliminary evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of this trauma prevention program for new police officers.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participating police cadets and officers, the management of the Detroit Police Academy, and the Detroit Police Department as a whole.

This research was funded by National Institute of Mental Health grant R34 MH086943. Drs. Bengt B. Arnetz, James Blessman and Mark Lumley are members of the NIEHS/NIH-funded Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES) – P30ES020957

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Eamonn Arble & Mark A. Lumley

  2. Department of Psychology, Smith College, Northhampton, MA, USA

    Nnamdi Pole

  3. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, and Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 3939 Woodward Ave, Room 333, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    James Blessman & Bengt B. Arnetz

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  1. Eamonn Arble
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  2. Mark A. Lumley
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Correspondence to Bengt B. Arnetz.

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Arble, E., Lumley, M.A., Pole, N. et al. Refinement and Preliminary Testing of an Imagery-Based Program to Improve Coping and Performance and Prevent Trauma among Urban Police Officers. J Police Crim Psych 32, 1–10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9191-z

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