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| SHERIFF MAGAZINE January-February 2003 Volume 55, Number 1 Sheriffs' Psychologists: The Ultimate Backup for the Progressive Sheriff's Office by Richard B. Weinblatt, M.P.A./C.J., Ed.S. (pp. 20-22) |
A deputy sheriff brought his marriage to the brink when the man thought the solution to his marriage
woes was leaving the house for a 3 a.m. conversation with his partner. “I helped him to see that he
needed to communicate with his wife, not his co-worker,” recalled Dr. Theodore H. Blau, the former
president of the prestigious American Psychological Association (APA) who has a private practice
and works extensively for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in Bradenton, FL. He highlighted that
the lack of communication for the deputy and his spouse was one issue that they worked on
together in a counseling based psychologist-client venue to save the marriage.
Far from the public perception of law enforcement psychologists performing in the confined mold of
behavioral science profilers, there is a growing recognition of the diverse application of the mental
health professional as a multi-faceted backup to the progressive sheriff’s office.
The professionals interviewed for this article particularly cited their low profile counseling work on
relationship and familial issues that often bog the employee down with worry. Counseling services
frees the deputy up from personal problems so full attention may be devoted to a pressure filled job.
The range of other services available includes entry level screening and fitness for duty
evaluations, as well as hostage negotiation, crisis intervention, and threat assessment. However,
counseling services for the deputy, as well as spouse and children, has risen as a little recognized
but vital service for deputy sheriffs and other sheriffs’ employees.
Once derided as “shrinks” within the law enforcement and correctional ranks, psychologists and
similarly focused mental health professionals have become the last refuge for sheriff’s employees
faced with an exponentially uncertain world post-9/11.
“Law enforcement is such a small community. Almost every cop was impacted by 9/11. I used to be
a motor officer and I feel it when I see a picture of a crumpled motorcycle,” said Dr. Gene Sanders
citing an example. The psychologist and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) expert is a former
officer and chief who has worn badges in California and in the state of Washington.
Dr. Sanders said that hundreds of federal agents came back to small towns across the United
States from Ground Zero in New York City and exposed local county deputies and municipal
officers. “Like a classical disease, the agents spread it to others before the symptoms showed up.”
“The use of mental health professionals within our organization has resulted in a great reduction in
disability claims,” said Dr. Audrey L. Honig, the chief psychologist and director of the employee
support services bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. Dr. Honig pointed out that,
generally speaking, sheriff’s employees are an under served population that spend much of their
time helping others but may be reticent to seek assistance for themselves.
Dr. Blau pointed to the combination of enhanced screening of applicants with counseling services as
the answer that dramatically lowered turnover in the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. “We start
early on in the selection process so that we get a better caliber of deputy. We also make sure that
they have access to counseling. Just knowing it is there helps keeps deputies feeling supported,”
said Dr. Blau.
In Florida’s busiest county, Dr. Scott Allen, senior staff psychologist for the Miami-Dade Police
Department, noted that in the early 1980s, the agency had three to four officer suicides per year.
He said that the figure has been lowered to one every two to three years- which he attributes to the
greater availability of psychological services.
"One run-amok deputy can be disastorous," said Dr. Susan Saxe-Clifford, whose practice serves
many agencies including the sheriff’s offices in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties
in California.
The services provided only a few years ago have been ratcheted up in sophistication. For example,
a clear distinction was made between the stereotypical one-dimensional offering of a critical incident
debriefing and a more comprehensive approach. Today’s trained law enforcement psychologist
facilitates a critical incident management program for proper follow-up to avoid deputies walking
around with what Dr. Honig termed “a raw wound.”
As can be seen, the benefits of facilitating sheriff’s employees’ access to mental health
professionals are many. Sheriffs and their top administrators need to be cognizant of the inherent
issues as they set up a program to assist their people.
Internal versus External
Sheriffs' offices choosing to provide psychological services have done so in a variety of ways, but
regardless of the particular structure that is utilized, many of the same issues arise. Two divergent
approaches are in-house employment of psychological professionals versus contracting with an
outside provider. Larger agencies tend to go with an in-house psychologist, while mid-sized and
smaller sheriffs' offices often work with external providers. Both have advantages and
disadvantages.
For example, Dr. Stephen F. Curran said that size is a determining factor in entry-level screening
done in-house or by an outside vendor. “An agency would need to be processing 500 applicants to
warrant an internal program otherwise it is probably cost-efficient to contract this service out to a
qualified vendor,” said Dr. Curran whose Towson, MD-based practices includes the sheriffs' offices
of Anne Arundel and Frederick counties in Maryland.
An in-house apparatus, on the other hand, has distinct advantages when it comes to issues of trust
and institutional knowledge, said Miami-Dade's Dr. Allen. “I’ve been here 20 years, so the command
staff and officers trust me. I am the leader of the hostage negotiation team and officers see me at
SRT callouts.”
In-house psychologists can learn the nuances of the organization and therefore are in a better
position to tackle organizational issues from the inside, Dr. Honig pointed out.
Dr. Curran, a psychologist for over 20 years in private practice, favored the use of an external
consultant on confidentiality and ethical grounds. “Internal programs may be perceived as lacking
confidentiality. The employee status raises the dilemma of dual relationship – my paycheck or
professional ethics,” said Dr. Curran.
Dr. Nancy Bohl, the director of San Bernardino, CA-based The Counseling Team, is of the opinion
that any agency with 3,000 or fewer employees should go the external route. The organization
serves a host of southern California agencies including the sheriff’s offices in Riverside, San
Bernardino, and San Diego counties. The Counseling Team’s staffing level of 20 mental health
professionals would be cost prohibitive for most departments on an internal basis.
Psychologist with a Badge
Some debate exists within the police psychologist community as to the extent of criminal justice
experience necessary to provide psychological services. Captain Alan Benner, Ph.D., former
director of the San Francisco Police Department’s Behavioral Science Unit, is one of the most well
known proponents for the use of sworn officers in a psychologist’s role. Retired after 35 years with
the S.F.P.D., Dr. Benner’s pioneering work served over 2,200 San Francisco police officers. He has
dubbed the practice “Cop Docs”- sworn officers that have earned mental health credentials.
Like Dr. Benner, Mariposa, CA-based Dr. Sanders also supports the notion of psychologists with
sworn experience. “Many doctors (who lack that sworn experience) believe the symptoms deputies
have are iatrogenic behavior, that is being of their own making.”
What many jurisdictions do, Dr. Sanders said, is take a psychologist fresh out of the university
setting and send him or her to the law enforcement academy. That practice was actually fine, Dr.
Sanders said, because licensing provides a standard of minimal qualification. He believes that the
academy experience was crucial to get more of an insider viewpoint, and the result is a person
roughly equivalent to a deputy sheriff. Dr. Benner and Dr. Sanders support the notion of sworn
personnel as more effective pyschologists for the target population.
Dr. Bohl, who is married to a law enforcement officer, disagrees with the assertion. “We see 200
cops a month. You do not need to be a cop. You don’t need to have drunk poison to relate to what
that’s like.” Dr. Bohl and Dr. Saxe-Clifford further noted that some sworn officer/mental health
professionals can “over identify.”
Dr. Bohl conceded that for some officers, the sworn status becomes a trust issue. The Counseling
Team has two former law enforcers on staff including one former Los Angeles County sheriff’s
deputy. Dr. Bohl said that is nice to have someone who’s "been there" available for deputies, but
she stressed that some prefer not to deal with another "officer type."
Psychologists who are sworn personnel might also be perceived by some deputies as acting as an
agent of the sheriff. In the wake of 9/11, many New York City Police officers flocked to New Jersey in
search of psychologists that do not have a connection with the New York City Police Department.
Officers are fearful that information exposed in counseling might put their careers in jeopardy.
Some deputy sheriffs further fear gossip can hurt their perceived effectiveness as seen by other
deputies. The presence of potentially embarrassing issues, such as sexual dysfunction, pushes
deputies to desire non-law enforcement affiliated psychological services that they trust will keep
their problems confidential.
The physical location of the psychological services provider can make a difference in this perception.
Dr. Allen pointed out that his staff is located in a business complex some three miles from the
headquarters building that aids in discreetness.
“There is a perception that administrators can be too nosy for their own good and that is exactly the
dynamic that prevents officers from seeking treatment,” lamented Dr. Allen.
But is there pressure to reveal information? In the case of Manatee "Sheriff Charlie Wells
understands the nature and importance of the confidentiality." Dr. Blau said. Dr. Sanders
acknowledged that administrators sometimes want to know how the deputy is doing. But the ethical
psychologist does not disclose the information, he said.
Dr. Blau disagrees with those who view the mixing of confidentiality requirements and sworn status
service providers as problematic. The author of nine books is a sworn sheriff’s deputy as well and
firmly believes that his intimate involvement in the inner workings of the 750-employee agency helps
him to serve the 450 sworn deputies. “The ideal setup is a psychologist with a badge who
understands officer discretion and is open minded.”
Psychologist or Deputy
The use of currently sworn psychologists brings up a related major point of contention among the
small number of well-known figures in the police psychology field. Patient confidentiality in some
areas may be at odds with the employee’s oath of office.
As Dr. Bohl put it, “If a police chief or sheriff is willing to have a sworn person and mental health
professional under one hat, that is a tremendous amount of liability. I disagree with that. They’re
cops first who are sworn to serve and protect.” She used the example of an officer being counseled
on excessive drinking who then goes on to drink on the job and crashes a patrol car
.
Dr. Saxe-Clifford, whose practice sometimes works with The Counseling Team to provide services,
agreed with Dr. Bohl. “The deputy needs to be able to trust the doctor. Law enforcement
experience is not necessary. More relevant is the ability to understand evaluation and
measurement and being a good clinician,” said Dr. Saxe-Clifford.
Many of those interviewed stressed the need to separate counseling services from both entry level
screening and fitness for duty evaluations because the client is different in each case- for example
the individual deputy is the client for counseling services, but the sheriff's office itself is actually the
client when it comes to employee screening and testing. “This is the single biggest mistake an
agency can make,” said Dr. Sanders.
Dr. Bohl and Dr. Saxe-Clifford agreed and their respective organizations work together to avoid the
overlap for the sheriffs' offices they serve. “It is not possible to have confidential and non-
confidential at the same time. You need to have two providers,” said Dr. Saxe-Clifford who often
provides the screening and fitness for duty evaluations while Dr. Bohl’s staff handle counseling
services.
“An internal program is setup for failure if the same program that presents itself as a confidential
program (for employees) also does potentially job-jeopardizing evaluations,” said Dr. Curran.
Related Services
Some agencies that do not make use of psychological services look to related mental health
services to bridge the gap. The extensive use of sheriff’s chaplains, and peer counselors has met
with a good deal of success. The Counseling Team refers to the elements of mental health
professionals, chaplains, and peer supporters as “the helping triad.”
Peer support, while perhaps more economical for smaller agencies, is not the sole answer. In the
opinion of Los Angeles County’s Dr. Honig, one of the most common mistakes that administrators
make is to believe that a peer support program is sufficient and that trained mental health
professionals are not needed. “They can ID people’s problems, but often don’t know what to do
about them,” said Dr. Honig.
Dr. Bohl’s The Counseling Team has a doctor chaplain amongst its 20 mental health professionals
available for those seeking counseling from a spiritual point of view. She said that she is a fan of
chaplain programs but noted that many chaplains “need to slow it down and learn the mental health
side of it.”
Peer support has gained favor in many agencies and the psychologists view it ideally as a
complimentary component to the mental health services they provide.
Choices
A sheriff looking into implementing a program for employees has much conflicting information to sort
through. Fiscal constraints and geographical remoteness may further limit the options available to a
sheriff. Many psychologists do not want to serve the sheriff’s office population because it is very
demanding in terms of the time committment- and the times of the day that services might be
needed.
“That pager goes off at 2 a.m. For me, it has never been intrusive. I would feel worse if they didn’t
call,” said Dr. Bohl who encouraged sheriffs to find a clinical psychologist in the community who is
willing to learn and understand the law enforcement dynamic. “The sheriff needs to train them.
They can learn via ride-alongs, jail-alongs, and dispatch-alongs.”
Sheriffs need to ask if the proposed supplier of psychological services is aware of law enforcement's
unique stressors, according to Los Angeles County's Dr. Honig. She recommended that sheriffs
utilize a quality control approach and track satisfaction and utilization of services.
Any proposal for an external provider should have all of the cost factors and services broken down
for the sheriff. The local contract on a fee for service basis should also have some pro bono
included. Sheriffs and their senior administrators would be wise to consult with recognized
practitioners in the field of law enforcement psychology before embarking on their own initiative, as
laudable as that may
Deputy sheriffs often perceive themselves to be under fire physically and mentally as they
undertake a complex job everyday. Counseling services, conducted by trained and licensed
psychologists, have become a vital part of the progressive sheriff’s office. Dr. Bohl said that she
considers herself “a public servant serving those who serve.” As one deputy put it as he was
leaving her office: “You guys are the best backup.”
Richard B. Weinblatt, M.P.A./C.J., Ed.S. is the chairman of the Public Services Department at South
Piedmont Community College in Monroe and Polkton, NC and a former patrol division deputy sheriff
in Santa Fe County, NM. He is a regular writer for national criminal justice magazines and is
currently working on his doctoral dissertation on higher education and law enforcement.
woes was leaving the house for a 3 a.m. conversation with his partner. “I helped him to see that he
needed to communicate with his wife, not his co-worker,” recalled Dr. Theodore H. Blau, the former
president of the prestigious American Psychological Association (APA) who has a private practice
and works extensively for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in Bradenton, FL. He highlighted that
the lack of communication for the deputy and his spouse was one issue that they worked on
together in a counseling based psychologist-client venue to save the marriage.
Far from the public perception of law enforcement psychologists performing in the confined mold of
behavioral science profilers, there is a growing recognition of the diverse application of the mental
health professional as a multi-faceted backup to the progressive sheriff’s office.
The professionals interviewed for this article particularly cited their low profile counseling work on
relationship and familial issues that often bog the employee down with worry. Counseling services
frees the deputy up from personal problems so full attention may be devoted to a pressure filled job.
The range of other services available includes entry level screening and fitness for duty
evaluations, as well as hostage negotiation, crisis intervention, and threat assessment. However,
counseling services for the deputy, as well as spouse and children, has risen as a little recognized
but vital service for deputy sheriffs and other sheriffs’ employees.
Once derided as “shrinks” within the law enforcement and correctional ranks, psychologists and
similarly focused mental health professionals have become the last refuge for sheriff’s employees
faced with an exponentially uncertain world post-9/11.
“Law enforcement is such a small community. Almost every cop was impacted by 9/11. I used to be
a motor officer and I feel it when I see a picture of a crumpled motorcycle,” said Dr. Gene Sanders
citing an example. The psychologist and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) expert is a former
officer and chief who has worn badges in California and in the state of Washington.
Dr. Sanders said that hundreds of federal agents came back to small towns across the United
States from Ground Zero in New York City and exposed local county deputies and municipal
officers. “Like a classical disease, the agents spread it to others before the symptoms showed up.”
“The use of mental health professionals within our organization has resulted in a great reduction in
disability claims,” said Dr. Audrey L. Honig, the chief psychologist and director of the employee
support services bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. Dr. Honig pointed out that,
generally speaking, sheriff’s employees are an under served population that spend much of their
time helping others but may be reticent to seek assistance for themselves.
Dr. Blau pointed to the combination of enhanced screening of applicants with counseling services as
the answer that dramatically lowered turnover in the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. “We start
early on in the selection process so that we get a better caliber of deputy. We also make sure that
they have access to counseling. Just knowing it is there helps keeps deputies feeling supported,”
said Dr. Blau.
In Florida’s busiest county, Dr. Scott Allen, senior staff psychologist for the Miami-Dade Police
Department, noted that in the early 1980s, the agency had three to four officer suicides per year.
He said that the figure has been lowered to one every two to three years- which he attributes to the
greater availability of psychological services.
"One run-amok deputy can be disastorous," said Dr. Susan Saxe-Clifford, whose practice serves
many agencies including the sheriff’s offices in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties
in California.
The services provided only a few years ago have been ratcheted up in sophistication. For example,
a clear distinction was made between the stereotypical one-dimensional offering of a critical incident
debriefing and a more comprehensive approach. Today’s trained law enforcement psychologist
facilitates a critical incident management program for proper follow-up to avoid deputies walking
around with what Dr. Honig termed “a raw wound.”
As can be seen, the benefits of facilitating sheriff’s employees’ access to mental health
professionals are many. Sheriffs and their top administrators need to be cognizant of the inherent
issues as they set up a program to assist their people.
Internal versus External
Sheriffs' offices choosing to provide psychological services have done so in a variety of ways, but
regardless of the particular structure that is utilized, many of the same issues arise. Two divergent
approaches are in-house employment of psychological professionals versus contracting with an
outside provider. Larger agencies tend to go with an in-house psychologist, while mid-sized and
smaller sheriffs' offices often work with external providers. Both have advantages and
disadvantages.
For example, Dr. Stephen F. Curran said that size is a determining factor in entry-level screening
done in-house or by an outside vendor. “An agency would need to be processing 500 applicants to
warrant an internal program otherwise it is probably cost-efficient to contract this service out to a
qualified vendor,” said Dr. Curran whose Towson, MD-based practices includes the sheriffs' offices
of Anne Arundel and Frederick counties in Maryland.
An in-house apparatus, on the other hand, has distinct advantages when it comes to issues of trust
and institutional knowledge, said Miami-Dade's Dr. Allen. “I’ve been here 20 years, so the command
staff and officers trust me. I am the leader of the hostage negotiation team and officers see me at
SRT callouts.”
In-house psychologists can learn the nuances of the organization and therefore are in a better
position to tackle organizational issues from the inside, Dr. Honig pointed out.
Dr. Curran, a psychologist for over 20 years in private practice, favored the use of an external
consultant on confidentiality and ethical grounds. “Internal programs may be perceived as lacking
confidentiality. The employee status raises the dilemma of dual relationship – my paycheck or
professional ethics,” said Dr. Curran.
Dr. Nancy Bohl, the director of San Bernardino, CA-based The Counseling Team, is of the opinion
that any agency with 3,000 or fewer employees should go the external route. The organization
serves a host of southern California agencies including the sheriff’s offices in Riverside, San
Bernardino, and San Diego counties. The Counseling Team’s staffing level of 20 mental health
professionals would be cost prohibitive for most departments on an internal basis.
Psychologist with a Badge
Some debate exists within the police psychologist community as to the extent of criminal justice
experience necessary to provide psychological services. Captain Alan Benner, Ph.D., former
director of the San Francisco Police Department’s Behavioral Science Unit, is one of the most well
known proponents for the use of sworn officers in a psychologist’s role. Retired after 35 years with
the S.F.P.D., Dr. Benner’s pioneering work served over 2,200 San Francisco police officers. He has
dubbed the practice “Cop Docs”- sworn officers that have earned mental health credentials.
Like Dr. Benner, Mariposa, CA-based Dr. Sanders also supports the notion of psychologists with
sworn experience. “Many doctors (who lack that sworn experience) believe the symptoms deputies
have are iatrogenic behavior, that is being of their own making.”
What many jurisdictions do, Dr. Sanders said, is take a psychologist fresh out of the university
setting and send him or her to the law enforcement academy. That practice was actually fine, Dr.
Sanders said, because licensing provides a standard of minimal qualification. He believes that the
academy experience was crucial to get more of an insider viewpoint, and the result is a person
roughly equivalent to a deputy sheriff. Dr. Benner and Dr. Sanders support the notion of sworn
personnel as more effective pyschologists for the target population.
Dr. Bohl, who is married to a law enforcement officer, disagrees with the assertion. “We see 200
cops a month. You do not need to be a cop. You don’t need to have drunk poison to relate to what
that’s like.” Dr. Bohl and Dr. Saxe-Clifford further noted that some sworn officer/mental health
professionals can “over identify.”
Dr. Bohl conceded that for some officers, the sworn status becomes a trust issue. The Counseling
Team has two former law enforcers on staff including one former Los Angeles County sheriff’s
deputy. Dr. Bohl said that is nice to have someone who’s "been there" available for deputies, but
she stressed that some prefer not to deal with another "officer type."
Psychologists who are sworn personnel might also be perceived by some deputies as acting as an
agent of the sheriff. In the wake of 9/11, many New York City Police officers flocked to New Jersey in
search of psychologists that do not have a connection with the New York City Police Department.
Officers are fearful that information exposed in counseling might put their careers in jeopardy.
Some deputy sheriffs further fear gossip can hurt their perceived effectiveness as seen by other
deputies. The presence of potentially embarrassing issues, such as sexual dysfunction, pushes
deputies to desire non-law enforcement affiliated psychological services that they trust will keep
their problems confidential.
The physical location of the psychological services provider can make a difference in this perception.
Dr. Allen pointed out that his staff is located in a business complex some three miles from the
headquarters building that aids in discreetness.
“There is a perception that administrators can be too nosy for their own good and that is exactly the
dynamic that prevents officers from seeking treatment,” lamented Dr. Allen.
But is there pressure to reveal information? In the case of Manatee "Sheriff Charlie Wells
understands the nature and importance of the confidentiality." Dr. Blau said. Dr. Sanders
acknowledged that administrators sometimes want to know how the deputy is doing. But the ethical
psychologist does not disclose the information, he said.
Dr. Blau disagrees with those who view the mixing of confidentiality requirements and sworn status
service providers as problematic. The author of nine books is a sworn sheriff’s deputy as well and
firmly believes that his intimate involvement in the inner workings of the 750-employee agency helps
him to serve the 450 sworn deputies. “The ideal setup is a psychologist with a badge who
understands officer discretion and is open minded.”
Psychologist or Deputy
The use of currently sworn psychologists brings up a related major point of contention among the
small number of well-known figures in the police psychology field. Patient confidentiality in some
areas may be at odds with the employee’s oath of office.
As Dr. Bohl put it, “If a police chief or sheriff is willing to have a sworn person and mental health
professional under one hat, that is a tremendous amount of liability. I disagree with that. They’re
cops first who are sworn to serve and protect.” She used the example of an officer being counseled
on excessive drinking who then goes on to drink on the job and crashes a patrol car
.
Dr. Saxe-Clifford, whose practice sometimes works with The Counseling Team to provide services,
agreed with Dr. Bohl. “The deputy needs to be able to trust the doctor. Law enforcement
experience is not necessary. More relevant is the ability to understand evaluation and
measurement and being a good clinician,” said Dr. Saxe-Clifford.
Many of those interviewed stressed the need to separate counseling services from both entry level
screening and fitness for duty evaluations because the client is different in each case- for example
the individual deputy is the client for counseling services, but the sheriff's office itself is actually the
client when it comes to employee screening and testing. “This is the single biggest mistake an
agency can make,” said Dr. Sanders.
Dr. Bohl and Dr. Saxe-Clifford agreed and their respective organizations work together to avoid the
overlap for the sheriffs' offices they serve. “It is not possible to have confidential and non-
confidential at the same time. You need to have two providers,” said Dr. Saxe-Clifford who often
provides the screening and fitness for duty evaluations while Dr. Bohl’s staff handle counseling
services.
“An internal program is setup for failure if the same program that presents itself as a confidential
program (for employees) also does potentially job-jeopardizing evaluations,” said Dr. Curran.
Related Services
Some agencies that do not make use of psychological services look to related mental health
services to bridge the gap. The extensive use of sheriff’s chaplains, and peer counselors has met
with a good deal of success. The Counseling Team refers to the elements of mental health
professionals, chaplains, and peer supporters as “the helping triad.”
Peer support, while perhaps more economical for smaller agencies, is not the sole answer. In the
opinion of Los Angeles County’s Dr. Honig, one of the most common mistakes that administrators
make is to believe that a peer support program is sufficient and that trained mental health
professionals are not needed. “They can ID people’s problems, but often don’t know what to do
about them,” said Dr. Honig.
Dr. Bohl’s The Counseling Team has a doctor chaplain amongst its 20 mental health professionals
available for those seeking counseling from a spiritual point of view. She said that she is a fan of
chaplain programs but noted that many chaplains “need to slow it down and learn the mental health
side of it.”
Peer support has gained favor in many agencies and the psychologists view it ideally as a
complimentary component to the mental health services they provide.
Choices
A sheriff looking into implementing a program for employees has much conflicting information to sort
through. Fiscal constraints and geographical remoteness may further limit the options available to a
sheriff. Many psychologists do not want to serve the sheriff’s office population because it is very
demanding in terms of the time committment- and the times of the day that services might be
needed.
“That pager goes off at 2 a.m. For me, it has never been intrusive. I would feel worse if they didn’t
call,” said Dr. Bohl who encouraged sheriffs to find a clinical psychologist in the community who is
willing to learn and understand the law enforcement dynamic. “The sheriff needs to train them.
They can learn via ride-alongs, jail-alongs, and dispatch-alongs.”
Sheriffs need to ask if the proposed supplier of psychological services is aware of law enforcement's
unique stressors, according to Los Angeles County's Dr. Honig. She recommended that sheriffs
utilize a quality control approach and track satisfaction and utilization of services.
Any proposal for an external provider should have all of the cost factors and services broken down
for the sheriff. The local contract on a fee for service basis should also have some pro bono
included. Sheriffs and their senior administrators would be wise to consult with recognized
practitioners in the field of law enforcement psychology before embarking on their own initiative, as
laudable as that may
Deputy sheriffs often perceive themselves to be under fire physically and mentally as they
undertake a complex job everyday. Counseling services, conducted by trained and licensed
psychologists, have become a vital part of the progressive sheriff’s office. Dr. Bohl said that she
considers herself “a public servant serving those who serve.” As one deputy put it as he was
leaving her office: “You guys are the best backup.”
Richard B. Weinblatt, M.P.A./C.J., Ed.S. is the chairman of the Public Services Department at South
Piedmont Community College in Monroe and Polkton, NC and a former patrol division deputy sheriff
in Santa Fe County, NM. He is a regular writer for national criminal justice magazines and is
currently working on his doctoral dissertation on higher education and law enforcement.
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