Two alleged assaults recently by V.I. police officers against citizens have spurred calls for more psychological support for the men and women in blue.
On March 18, an officer on St. John reportedly slammed a woman against a car several times after he got involved in a dispute between her and a taxi driver over parking. Ten days later in Charlotte Amalie, another police officer is reported to have physically assaulted a man and verbally abused a woman whose car he was ticketing for a traffic infraction.
Police officials and politicians aren’t saying that the officers involved in the incidents were justified in their actions or even that on-the-job stress played a role. But they are saying that unvented stress in police officers is a time bomb waiting to explode.
The problem, however, is that there is no department-wide psychological support system in place for officers to seek help with the stress of their jobs. And in the Virgin Islands today, the day-to-day job stress is compounded by poor working conditions, a lack of equipment and low pay.
"There are some mechanisms in place, but definitely not sufficient" to deal with stress, said St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis. "Officers can go to their supervisors or peer groups. But the police commissioner has been advocating getting some psychologists on board."
Commissioner Franz Christian didn’t return several calls to his office regarding psychological counseling for police stress.
While on-the-job police fatalities are rare in the territory, officers live with the reality that part of their job entails the possibility of injury and death. That possibility contributes to the stress of police work. And that stress manifests in several ways, according to the Central Florida Police Stress Unit’s website.
Divorce for police officers nationwide is nearly three times that of the general population. Stress can lead to alcohol abuse, disruption of normal sleeping and eating patterns, poor nutrition, paranoia, anger, fear or, as a last resort, suicide.
Francis said he usually works with what he has to battle stress in his officers: his years of experience as a cop. But that doesn’t always work.
"At times I call them in and talk to them," he said. "But we really need professionals. I’m telling you, you can almost sense it at times. Some are walking time bombs."
Sen. Gregory Bennerson, a V.I. police lieutenant before winning a seat in the Legislature, said police officers in the territory face extra stress because of the V.I. government’s budget crunch. The lack of equipment and deteriorating working conditions are taking their toll, he said, and without counseling, the community could witness more incidents like the ones that occurred recently.
"I’m keenly aware of these issues," he said. "However, it doesn’t make an excuse for any type of incident that happens in public. But officers are human too. They have to have the tools during their down-time."
Counseling that would help officers "vent" isn’t available, Francis and Bennerson said. Without such help, the pressure builds and many times officers don’t have the training to let it off other than on the job, perhaps on a hapless civilian who says the wrong thing at the wrong time.
"That’s all we do a lot of the time is let people vent to the officers," Francis said. "But there is nothing in place for the officer to vent."
Meanwhile, Bennerson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, is holding hearings Monday and Tuesday on the status of emergency services in the territory, including the problems facing the police force. He said volunteer counseling hasn’t worked in the past so the department needs something new.
"It’s clear there needs to be a different kind of approach when it comes to police officers," he said.
Francis agreed, saying that in any "police department you go to nationwide, there is a place for officers to go to.
"It needs to happen here."
