CTE and Law Enforcement

Growing up in high school, one of my favorite movies was Concussion, which covers the issues of concussions, CTE and their effects on players in the NFL. When we started talking about the brain functions and how they correlate to traumatic events, I found some research that discussed how law enforcement can suffer from CTE as well. Understanding the long term effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in law enforcement can help with strategies of improving officer mental health in the long run. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that is usually found in people who have suffered from concussions or other hits to the head which trigger a protein, Tau, to form in the brain. The protein, Tau, can deteriorate brain tissue which usually results in the individual suffering from side effects such as memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse problems, aggression, suicidal tendencies, dementia, etc. When we talk about CTE its usually regarding professional athletes and military personnel, there is not much of a discussion regarding law enforcement personnel.

Technically, the only way to see if someone has suffered from CTE, is performing an exam on that person’s brain after they have died to see if the protein, Tau is present. When we think of people constantly hitting their heads or being a part of blasts, we think of athletes and military personnel. However, SWAT members experience exposure to low-level blasts, as well as law enforcement personnel can experience different exposure to gunshots from training and in the field. Subsequently, law enforcement personnel could be suffering from CTE, however it is going by undedicated and instead thought as PTSD.

CTE does need to be studied more inside the law enforcement community to see how the rates of it are impacting law enforcement. We are aware that law enforcement personnel suffer from mental health issues and that they struggle with reaching out for help. There are different interventions that can be made if CTE is more established as an issue. This includes medical interventions, critical incident management teams, and training/education to law enforcement. Medical interventions could include assessing who in law enforcement is more at risk of developing CTE. For example, in Florida a bill was passed in 2018 that basically established that for under certain circumstances, a first responder can medically retire under workers compensation for a PTSD diagnosis. Implementing a critical incident management team would be highly impactful to assist officers when they suffer from a traumatic event. It can remove the stigma surrounding asking for mental health therapy while also serving as a look at who could be showing early signs of PTSD and CTE. Lastly, educating officers on signs of PTSD and CTE could be greatly impactful on their awareness for themselves and their fellow officers. There are plenty of situations in this field where you could be exposed to PTSD or CTE and raising awareness of that could save officers lives. Overall, acknowledging the risk of CTE in law enforcement could reduce the number of officer suicides, not to mention self-destructive behavior that officers can develop and ruin not just their life but their families lives as well.

Reference:

Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 6: Trauma and the Criminal Justice System

Walsh, M. (202, August 4). What is the prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in law enforcement? Police1. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from http://www.police1.com/treatment/articles/what-is-the-prevalence-of-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-cte-in-law-enforcement-xdFEAJObPoByLM9y/

View all posts