The Echoes of Violence in the Police Family
Page 3

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ALARM REACTION STAGE

A small portion of the brain called the hypothalamus, a control center of the brain, has triggered the pituitary gland, located near the base of the brain, and the hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropin) is released into the bloodstream. ACTH goes directly to the adrenal glands, intimately involved in the body's response to emotions, which then steps up secretion of three hormones that travel to different organs and control blood flow. They are adrenaline, epinephrine and corticoids. These hormones bring the body up to its arousal state. Within the first eight seconds, the bloodstream has carried these stress organizers into every cell of the body. At the same time, commands are traveling through the nerve communication system to alert heart, lungs, and muscles for action. The muscles are now more richly supplied with blood, as the thin vessels constrict and blood pressure increases. However, blood has been diverted away from Officer Thomas' extremities (if he sustains a wound, he would be less likely to bleed to death). His liver is working harder than ever to convert its stored glycogen into glucose which his brain and muscles will need in greater supply. Meanwhile, his breathing is more rapid and shallow, increasing the amount of oxygen in his blood thus enabling his muscles and brain to burn that glucose more efficiently.

His heart is pumping, sending an abundant supply of blood to the priority portions of the body. Epinephrine is released, causing his heart to speed up and increasing formation of platelets that induce clotting. His kidneys have increased their production of renin, an enzyme that restricts blood flow and plays a role in hypertension. His skeletal muscles brace, and, with the blood he needs in his stomach reduced in favor of these high priority areas elsewhere, he's going to have indigestion-payment for the chilidogs and Pepsi. Over long periods of time, Officer Thomas stands a greater chance of developing stomach ulcers and chronic digestive problems.

Officer Thomas' brain is busy with preparations for violent physical action - one reason why he is unable to think very effectively on an abstract level during this alarm stage. He is joined in the high-speed chase by several other police cruisers. They stop the vehicle and apprehend the suspect. Based on our knowledge of the "fight or flight" response, Officer Thomas' natural response would be to "fight." However, because he is a law enforcement officer, he must exert considerable energy to restrain himself from using excessive force.

Following the "Alarm Stage" comes the critical stage called the "Resistance Stage." It is during this time that the body attempts to adapt to the situation. If the stressor has disappeared or been overcome, the body tries to reverse the alarm reaction. If the exposure to the stressor or similar stressors continue, the body attempts to replace emergency bodily changes with adaptive changes. In other words, certain bodily reactions become fixed. Chronic muscle tension is a good example of this kind of adaptation. The problem is that it requires a great deal of energy for this kind of resistance. Hence, the final stage, exhaustion, results if the stressor continues or if other stressors follow at close intervals.

Even before this extreme stage has been reached, excessive hormonal secretions may result in severe physiological damage that Hans Selye termed "diseases of adaptation," in the form of, ulcers, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease.

Officer Thomas no sooner leaves the scene after the suspect is arrested than yet another call comes in, activating the alarm stage cycles all over again. How will Officer Thomas cope? Will he adapt?

Another difference among police officers is that they remain in a state of a constant readiness for whatever may happen. They become so accustomed to this low-level alarm reaction, that it becomes a part of their personalities, causing them to remain jittery, irritable, impatient and incapable of relaxing. However, the hypervigilance becomes an important defense because people are able to influence the nature of stress through their ability to control and anticipate events in the environment. Hence, to always be ready, decreases the chance of "shock." The unanticipated event often has the greatest deleterious impact on an officer and leaves the most persistent aftereffects. This was especially true in the case of the Air Florida Tragedy.

Wednesday January 13, 1982 was a bleak, snowy day, in Washington, DC. An Air Florida jet crashed after take-off into the Fourteenth Street Bridge with 79 passengers on board. Within minutes it sunk into the icy waters of the Potomac River taking all but 5 passengers. Four people on the bridge were also killed as the jumbo jet careened over cars, crushing them on its tragic descent. Traffic had been at a standstill in the snowstorm and officers who were ordered to the scene were completely unprepared for the carnage. Many officers have relived in nightmares the scenes of mangled bodies and crushed vehicles with blood dripping from the wreckage. The scene has remained an undigested image impossible for the officers to weave into the fabric of their lives. So many learned the danger of being emotionally unprepared for that experience.

Even now, twenty years later, talk of "Air Florida" triggers strong emotional reactions for the officers who were on the scene. The following is one officer's account of the Air Florida disaster:

Wednesday, January 13, 1982

I was assigned to the Third District's Drug Enforcement Unit and was gathering intelligence for a narcotic search warrant on Sixth Street, N.W. It was late afternoon by the time I had worked my way into the vacant rowhouse that had served as my observation post for the past several days. I usually had my partner as company on these forays, but he was in court on this frigid winters day. Instead, I carried an extra revolver as my companion. Over the years I had learned that there is no such thing as backup when you venture into abandoned buildings in inhospitable territory.

After about an hour of observing and note-taking of tag numbers and various people's descriptions, my police radio came to life. The dispatcher was calling for all detective and vice units to respond to the 14th Street Bridge to assist with a plane crash. I was a bit taken aback, thinking there must be some mistake but she kept repeating her request. Figuring, what the hell, (I could do this observation anytime since these drug boys weren't going to close shop and I had never seen a plane crash), I packed my gear and worked my way out a rear first floor window into the snow - covered trash strewn backyard.

I walked over to Seventh Street and flagged down a cab. The cabbie was an elderly black preacher who said he was glad to give a policeman a lift. He dropped me off on the north side of the Bridge. It was dusk. The streetlights were on and a light snow was falling. It was quiet. The bridge and river were white, the Virginia horizon a dark foreboding grey. There were cars parked on the far end of the northbound span. Disdainfully musing to myself that this must be a typical MPD clusterf**k, I set off on that long fateful walk to advise these drivers to move on and clear the Bridge of traffic.

As the cars drew nearer I sensed something not normal. There was no movement whatsoever and no plane or person was in sight. The cars and trucks were in disarray, turned and twisted. Everything was distorted. Something was terribly amiss, it was as if I was engulfed in a surreal twilight zone. As I walked up to what resembled a car, my eyes focused on a purple red stream which had poured from beneath the door onto the snow in a frozen waterfall of blood. The car's roof was missing and so were the heads of the people inside.

Reeling and staggering my mind went blank. I tried to regroup. Looking over the railing there was a huge black hole in the ice. Jagged shards of ice floated on top. There was bright colored clothing and debris in the water and hanging in the trees on the Virginia shoreline. Countless police and firemen lined the shore and southbound span staring at the void waters. No one was on the Bridge. I was alone with the dead. My mind screamed, "Where are the people to be saved? Let me see them, I can jump in the river and at least save one. I've done it before, I've never let them drown." I looked for someone in charge, looking for direction, for something to do to occupy my mind. There was no one who was not as dazed as I.

I don't remember leaving the Bridge or how long I was there. I don't know how I got back to 3D. The next memory I have of the day was sitting at my friend's bar in Georgetown. Normally a beer drinker, I had the bartender pour me a water glass full of bourbon. I knew this was my worst day on the police force but I couldn't explain why. I stayed until closing and since I had court the next day ad the roads were treacherous I decided to stay in D.C. that night. With a case of beer I sat in my truck on the vacant lot at 13th & W Street, N.W. and bullshitted with the midnight crew until dawn. Court was canceled due to the weather and I staggered home. Phoning the two women in my life, I tried to tell them what had happened. I must have then gone to sleep.

~Officer T.J.M.
MPD, Washington, DC

 

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