Critical incidents’ impact on front-line South African police personnel in light of the current briefing and debriefing strategies

Abstract

Long-term exposure to critical incidents can have a negative impact on officers' well-being while affecting their capacity to maintain public safety. Operational flaws can, similarly, lead to hasty and incorrect decision-making; therefore, adequate briefing and debriefing systems are needed to facilitate the management of critical incidents. This study aimed to investigate the types of critical incidents and their impact on front-line officers' well-being in light of the existing briefing and debriefing systems in Metro South African Police. A qualitative exploratory method was used to understand the impact of critical incidents and the Police officers' perceptions of briefing and debriefing structures in the South African Metro Policing context. A total of 25 Metro Police officers were invited to share their experiences regarding their handling of critical incidents. The findings indicated that incidents involving mutilated victims or the death of a fellow police officer induced strong feelings of guilt and anger. Incidents with faceless crowds involving poor operational planning and execution strategies induced confusion, helplessness, frustration, and often humiliation. Participants were clearly fearful of appearing soft or inadequate in asking for help from their supervisors. Consequently, they remained reluctant to disclose their fears and concerns so as to avoid subsequent stigmatization in the absence of a systematic debriefing procedure. The current system of briefing and debriefing procedures cannot address the psychological and operational needs of the members of the police force. Internationally recognized briefing and debriefing systems must be urgently adjusted to and implemented within the South African policing landscape.

Perfil epidemiológico de agravos à saúde em policiais e bombeiros

“…Esta diferença pode estar relacionadaàs características da ocupação entre os militares. Policiais militares lidam constantemente com a violência, a brutalidade e agressões, e intervêm em situações de problemas humanos de muito conflito e tensão, aumentando o risco para doenças mentais e comportamentais (Minayo et al, 2011;Silva, Matos, Valdivia, Cascaes,& Barbosa, 2013;Elntib& Armstrong, 2014),enquanto bombeiros atuam em situações trágicas, como incêndios, colisões e salvamentos com Programa de Mestrado e Doutorado em Psicologia, UCDB -Campo Grande, MS ISSN: 2177-093X…”

“…Contudo, os policiais militares apresentam 40% mais chances de se afastar por transtornos mentais e comportamentais (Tabela 5), comparados aos bombeiros militares. Policiais militares lidam constantemente com a violência, a brutalidade e agressões, e intervêm em situações de problemas humanos de muito conflito e tensão (Minayoet al, 2011;Silvaet al, 2013;Elntib& Armstrong, 2014), enquanto bombeiros atuam em situações trágicas, como incêndios, colisões e salvamentos ( Lima, Assunção & Barreto, 2015;Pireset al, 2017), com frequente exigência física.…”

A qualitative study to investigate the psychosocial effects of operational deployments on Medical Emergency Response Team personnel

“…These facilitated an opportunity for shared learning, peer support and professional development without fear of punitive measures (Allen, Reiter-Palmon, Crowe, & Scott, 2018;Tannenbaum & Cerasoli, 2013). The utility of debriefs is acknowledged across a spectrum of emergency disciplines including: firefighters (Sattler et al, 2014), ambulance crews (Barbee et al, 2016), Emergency Department personnel (Nocera & Merritt, 2017) and police (Elntib & Armstrong, 2014). This experience addresses a second phase of stress inoculation whereby personnel apply cognitive skills to improve their self-awareness with the aim of enhancing the team's performance during future missions (Meichenbaum & Deffenbacher, 1988).…”

Medo De Errar E Estresse Ocupacional Do Policial Militar

“…Bozogáňová & Bruncková, 2016) e sobre o medo de ser interpretado como fraco ou de ser estigmatizado pelos colegas por compartilhar suas emoções ou problemas de saúde mental (e.g. Elntib & Armstrong, 2014). É importante gerenciar o medo, pois essa emoção é capaz de paralisar ou diminuir a capacidade de reação do policial diante de uma situação arriscada, o que pode custar a vida do próprio policial e de terceiros.…”

“…Também por conta da resistência em falar sobre emoções por temerem parecer 'fracos' (Elntib & Armstrong, 2014), os policiais têm dificuldade de obter apoio social. Dessa maneira, o terreno torna-se fértil para o desenvolvimento do medo e do estresse.…”