Quotes
10:44 "Eventually, I had a little blow up so they sent me to the main office, maybe a big blowup. I'm a vocal person, and ultimately they just kept moving me. Now I was shutting up because my lawyer is like, zip your lip which is not easy for me. And the more I shut up, the more people came up with their own stories"
13:31 "Ultimately, I was diagnosed with histrionics and narcissism. I accepted it for about 5 minutes and then called my lawyer. The fight was on and we went to a specialist. Turns out cops take the psych test differently; once they've been an experienced cop, once they've been in trauma, traumatic situations, so it was just a complete flaw."
16:28 "It was then that I really realized (as I talked about in the podcast) if you take a soda pop can and that's what it is: all your life's traumas, bad relationships, abusive scenarios, problems with supervisors, conflicts with anybody, dead bodies, dead children, I think eats all of us alive."
19:58 "Imagine any relationship we have when somebody dominates you so unreasonably. No matter what, we all break down. Well, the same thing is often happening in some of these police-related scenarios. If something happens that goes against, generally what I see as the political or personal aspirations of either that supervisor or administration, then the thunder comes down and you become the pawn and a lot of cops are lured that way."
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SUMMARY
In this episode of the National Police Association Podcast, Sgt Betsy interviews Dustin Reichert, Retired Deputy, Author & Sharer of the Police Perspective. PTSD in law enforcement officers was stigmatized for a certain period of time, but it has ultimately become the reason for the dwindling number of officers. For Dustin, cumulative stress from police work and office politics flares up PTSD symptoms. After his medical retirement, Dustin told his story in a book which unintentionally inspired police officers fighting with administrative issues.
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HIGHLIGHTS
01:03 Dustin recounts how a simple loud music duty call ended up in a shooting incident
08:59 After his recovery, Dustin had to go through several struggles with legal proceedings and admin-related issues, which eventually led to his medical retirement
14:42 PTSD often results in retirements and suicides for both law enforcement and military. Urgent treatment such as EMDR can be pivotal in one's recovery
17:55 Though writing a book was no easy feat for him, it helped him move through his healing process and his colleagues' administrative stress
21:16 How to find Dustin's work
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RESOURCES