Easy To Snap: Maintaining Your Professional Composure During These Troubling Times

Chief Rich Rosell

A young cop I know recently lost his job last over some unfortunate social media posts. Ten years ago, nobody would have cared, but today, his posts made him look like the devil. Of course, it was self-inflicted, and could have been easily avoided. The problem was not the fact he made social media posts, rather it was his inability to deal with the subject matter which prompted the posts. He took the daily beatings by the enemies of law enforcement to heart and was unable to accept them for what they are; nonsensical grandstanding by people who just hate cops. None of us like being the brunt of constant attacks. While the attacks on our collective character over the past year or so are as bad as I have seen in the 39 years since I took my oath, this certainly is not the first time law enforcement has found themselves being attacked.

In the 1960s, President Johnson created the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, which was meant to bring about sweeping changes in police departments. Police officers nationwide were painted with the same brush, made to look as though we were all actively involved in systemic police brutality. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was open hunting season on cops. Groups such as the Black Liberation Army, the Weather Underground and other radicals attacked law enforcement (and other targets) with impunity. I can remember asking my father what lye was after I heard that someone threw it into the face of a New York City cop. In the 1990s and early 2000s, national drug traffickers found sympathetic shoulders on which to cry, and, by leveling accusations of disparate treatment, shut down many major drug interdiction initiatives throughout the country. In the past, we have weathered these attacks, as we shall now in the future. But unlike my friend, we need to take a step back and decide when and where to pick our battles.

This article is not about posting something stupid on Facebook, rather, it is about how an officer can avoid finding him/herself on the brink of ruining a perfectly good career by simply taking a step back before acting irrationally. Had my friend had the ability to handle his emotions, he still would have a job.

Emotion can be difficult to handle. I would be lying if I said I have never lost my temper. We all have. I can remember some advice from senior troopers on how to deal with stressors. “Don’t sweat the small stuff” was my favorite. Another saying I recall was “It’s nothing but a game, so play the game until it’s done.” The most predominant advice in the State Police was “Shut up, stop whining, and do your job.” But these days, we need more than just a saying to make it through our day. I admit throughout most of my career it has been easy to shrug off the day and not take the job home with me. But now, the attacks on my brothers and sisters are omnipresent. They seem to follow me wherever I go. The multiple times per day people come to me and thank me for my service are nice, but they also serve to remind me of why they are doing it. They feel sorry for me; for all of us. I am not pitiable, and neither are you.

There is a book called Meditations, translated by George Long from the writings of Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius was a Roman emperor who reigned almost 2000 years ago. His writings are philosophical, in the Stoic tradition, and are grounded in morals and ethics. It is basically a 2000-year-old self-help book. Aurelius provides level-headed advice on how to deal with most of life’s problems. I must admit that some of his suggestions are just not actionable to the hectic lives of contemporary police officers. It is arguably clear that Aurelius had neither kids nor a first wife. His mother-in-law never came to visit for a few days and stayed for five years. He never worked rotating shifts. His favorite football team hasn’t missed the playoffs for the last 10 years. But there are several lessons in this book which I think provide valuable guidance, arguably more valuable than “Shut up, stop whining, and do your job”. There are three lessons which I would like to share with you.

Lesson 1:

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it;

and this you have the power to revoke

at any moment.”

What Aurelius is saying is let it go. The state of the world today, whether it is political strife or anti-law enforcement, is not our fault. Do not feel responsible for it. Cops have made errors and we are all taking the blame. There is little you can do about that. Let it go.

Lesson 2:

“You need to avoid certain things

in your train of thought: Everything random, everything irrelevant…”

Bingo! Do you really care if ANTIFA thinks All Cops are Bastards? Does it matter to you that Mayor DeBlasio told his children to be afraid of the cops? It should not, because none of it is part of your mission. It is all irrelevant.

Lesson 3:

“Everything that happens either happens in such away as you are formed by nature to bear it, or as you are not formed by nature to bear it. If, then, it happens to you in such way as you are formed by nature to bear it, do not complain, but bear it accordingly. But if it happens in such way as you are not formed by nature to bear it, do not complain, for it will perish after it has consumed you. Remember, however, that you are formed by nature to bear everything whose tolerability depends on your own opinion to make it so, by thinking that it is in your interest or duty to do so.”

This lesson is a little deeper and a little less obvious than the two previous. Aurelius postulates that nature forms your being to be able to handle or not handle a particular situation. Aurelius lived during a period of polytheism, and in his time, nature was blamed or credited with having effect on mankind. Today, many of those effects are attributed to God, so if you feel more comfortable replacing the term nature with God, by all means, do so. For those of you who might be a slight bit offended by that suggestion, I would refer you to Lesson 1.

So, when something occurs in your life that is troubling or traumatic, and you are of the consistency to live with it, Aurelius recommends that you do not give it a second thought (complain) and drive on accordingly. Accordingly is a key word in this lesson, because it implies that while the event might be traumatic, even life-changing, you can still live with it and accomplish the mission by keeping on task.

Part two of this lesson suggests that should you not be of the consistency deal with a traumatic event, complaining is not an option. He opines that if you cannot handle the issue, your option is to allow it to ruin you, for once you are at your lowest that event will go away.

Let’s apply this rational to my friend who lost his job. Had he been equipped to handle the onslaught of attacks on law enforcement, he would have met them with his head held high and not allowed them to deter his evenhanded application of the law. But he was not equipped. Instead, he allowed these attacks to consume him. He dwelled on them; tried to fight them as if they were an enemy with whom he could stand toe to toe. He allowed himself to be consumed with his angst. And in the end, just like Aurelius says, after losing his job, the mindless attacks by our enemies disappeared for him, as he was no longer a cop and no longer their target.

The final part of this quote is a bit harsh, as it suggests that everyone has the ability to overcome anything if he/she is of the proper mindset to do so. I do not necessarily disagree with this assertion. This third point renders the second point moot, for if he is correct, a proper attitude toward adversity will always enable one to deal with it accordingly.

It would be senseless for me to recommend you stop letting these attacks bother you. I could never allow myself to accept them, therefore how could I expect that of anyone else? But I can tell you that you are stronger than you think, and you can bear these attacks on our character accordingly without succumbing to detrimental responses. You don’t have to be consumed by the words and actions of our enemies. Rise above them for the sake of the communities and people we protect. Always maintain your professionalism. Our enemies can’t take away that which we are unwilling to give them, especially our professionalism. And always remember, you are not alone. We outnumber those who would do us harm.

Chief Rosell is currently the Police Chief and Public Safety Director for the Town of Indian River Shores, Florida, the former Director of Public Safety for the Town of Dover, NJ and Township of Springfield, NJ, and a 27-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police, retiring at the rank of Captain. He has a very diverse skill set with vast operational, training, policymaking, homeland security, leadership, management and administrative experience.