This Is Not Normal!

Dispatcher: “911, what’s your emergency?”

Caller: “My husband just ran into the woods with a gun and says he’s going to kill himself!”

Dispatcher: “We have someone en route to you. Please stay on the line with me until someone gets there.”

Caller: “I can hear him yelling and screaming! He’s like crazy!”

A State Trooper close to the call responds ahead of deputies. He arrives on scene and locates the subject in the woods leaning up against a tree. What he sees takes him back. The subject is sitting on his haunches with a handgun pointed at his chest and a second handgun to his right temple. The Trooper tries to talk with the subject by acquiring his name and what is going on. 

After several moments, the trooper was able to calm the suspect and secure him. When the dust settled and the subject was taken away by ambulance, other law enforcement began to talk about where they wanted to eat lunch.

The point of this is that the situation was considered “normal” for law enforcement personnel involved. Everyday they get into vehicles and respond to calls that can escalate to this type of scene at any given moment. That is the real issue. Every call has to be treated “as if.” The next call could be the worst one so the preparation and precaution should be taken “as if” it will be bad.

The training has to be this way to keep a first responder or law enforcement personnel alive. What we need more of is a safe place for our brave men and women to be able to decompress from such scenes. Without the ability and place to do so only causes problems with recidivism and domestic issues.

The men and women who wear the uniform do things everyday that they consider normal. Those of us who are the bystanders or maybe even the persons in need would never consider these instances “normal.” Our training at Crisis Support Solutions encompasses this issue and so much more when dealing with those who serve with great courage.