My wife and I recently watched a special on the National Geographic Channel titled Christmas in Yellowstone Park. It was spectacular and I found particularly fascinating the segment on Old Faithful and other geysers in this national park that remain active even in bitterly cold weather. I am no geologist but what little I remember about geysers from earth science classes provides a helpful metaphor.
Last year I was given the opportunity to conduct a survey with members of the Dublin, Ohio Division of Police in preparation for a paper I wrote on "Organizational Toxicity." I wrote the paper as a part of the process for receiving Masters Credentials from the International Conference of Police Chaplains. One of the toxicity quotient indicators on the survey asked this question: "Are there members of your administration who suppress their feelings?" While I was not surprised by one of the response, I did find it revealing. Someone wrote, "What do feelings have to do with police work?"
Some time ago the chief of our department gave me the book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement: A Guide for Officers and Their Families by Dr. Kevin M. Gilmartin. Dr. Gilmartin makes the insightful point that because law enforcement officers confront so much of the dark side of human life with all its unsavory side effects, most officers design techniques that blunt, deny or put emotional distance between themselves and the world in which they work. In other words, many officers work hard at avoiding the feelings that arise from the situations that they encounter.
I have come to learn that, whether we acknowledge them or not, every one of us has feelings. We simply process them in different ways. Some of us work quite hard at denying our feelings, or at least denying that they have any emotional impact. Others of us sublimate our feelings, stuffing them somewhere where we convince ourselves that they are out of sight and out of mind. A very small few of us are emotionally healthy to the point that we are aware of our feelings, acknowledge them and process them appropriately.
I've also learned that when feelings are denied, disregarded or stuffed they accumulate. They become like all the subterranean gasses and pressures that we do not see below the geyser. Then, when we least expect it, something triggers a response and suddenly we snap and our emotions erupt - usually in a tsunami of anger. A tidal wave of emotional damage is left in the wake of our anger; damage that is usually inflicted on those who are closest to us or whom we love the most.
Feelings are one of the gifts with which we are endowed by our Creator. As I read the book of my faith tradition, the Bible, I am often impressed at how the great people of faith were very open and honest about their feelings. The Psalms, in particular, run the whole gamut of human emotion. Still, there is an implicit recognition that emotions are an important aspect of being created in God's image and after God's likeness.
At the risk of the pot calling the kettle black, might I suggest that all of us who live and work in the world of law enforcement, whether we are volunteer, part-time or full-time; whether we are chaplain, civilian or sworn personnel, would do well to pay attention to our emotions. Accept them as God’s gift; recognize them for what they are, and process them in healthy and appropriate ways. We and our loved ones and friends will be happier and healthier for it!
