Maybe we need to re-think how we treat cops.

[hedgehog]

We still expect cops to put in an 8 hour shift and then go home as if they've been doing nothing but putting widgets together all day. It sounds like New Age nonsense, but maybe cops need to be brought back to the station house for a controlled decompression at the end of the shift daily. Sitting them down in a controlled situation to go over their day and counsel each other would be an improvement over the current alternative of heading out to a bar. As it is, we save the counseling for crisis situations such as when someone is shot or a cop breaks down under pressure.

[Retired AF Dem]

1. We do that now it is called

Choir Practice. :)

[Ian David]

2. Don't soldiers have to de-brief at the end of every mission?

I'd suggest that perhaps the cops should do that as well.

It would be an extremely expensive, though. But it might be worth it.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. That would receive huge resistance.

Face it: a large component of the world of the police is a macho one, about always being in control. Even the women. This flies in the face of that and you can be sure that it would not be popular.

Police work for us. We have to remind them of that sometimes. It would seem that we might need to do it more often.

Caveat: not all police, certainly the vast majority, deserve to be tarred with this brush. But the fruits of rethinking police and their role to society can bring benefits. Here in NJ, the NJ State Police were objectively out of control. The federal government stepped in, along with public sentiment, and vast and far-reaching reforms were instituted. Because these reforms buched in ingrained and long-lived culture in the NJSP, they resisted mightily. But the reforms were instituted and enforced. The NJSP is now a far better agency for these reforms. Even the troopers, in moments of honesty, will admit it.