The abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medications is widespread,
growing and dangerous -- and it affects people of all ages (see the March
2010 ICOPs Bulletin, pages 4-5). Below are a few good websites where you can
learn more about the problem, the regulations and how to deal with it:
MedlinePlus
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/prescriptiondrugabuse.html
National Institutes of Health
www.health.nih.gov.gov/topic/prescriptiondrugsabuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
www.drugabuse.gov
www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/painmed.html
Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration
www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov
Office of National Drug Control Policy
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/prescr_drug.abuse.html
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
www.drugfree.org
[Below is good news and bad for police officers regarding sleep.]
You can make up for lost sleep
Scientists studying the ramifications of not getting enough sleep have found it can take a week or more for the cognitive and physiological consequences of poor sleep to wear off, even after getting the appropriate amount of rest.
In 2003, scientists at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research examined the cognitive effects of a week of poor sleep followed by three days of sleeping at least eight hours a night. Results showed that the recovery sleep did not fully reverse declines in performance.
In a similar study in 2008, scientists in Stockholm found that when subjects slept four hours a night over five days and then recovered with eight hours a night over the following week, showed slight residual cognitive impairments a week later, even though they did not feel sleepy.
But in another study, also at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, scientists were startled when they found people recovered much more quickly from a week of poor sleep when it was preceded by a week that included nights with ten hours of rest.
In other words, if you know you have a tough week coming up in terms of rest
time, trying loading up on sleep beforehand, not just after the fact.
Source: shortened from an article in American Police Beat,
December 2009
Midnight shift creates health risks
Officers who predominately work midnights are at greater risk of developing severe health problems than civilians and other cops, especially if they average more than about 90 minutes of overtime per week and have trouble sleeping, according to a study by a team of health experts, headed by Dr. John Violanti, a former state trooper, now a professor at the State University of New York-Buffalo.
Violanti and cohorts have previously explored shift work and its relationship to suicidal thoughts and to problems of sleep quality. “The newest findings confirm one more way that policing endangers those who serve,” says Dr. Bill Lewinski of the Force Science Research Center.
The researchers’ test group consisted of 61 male and 37 female volunteers randomly chosen from the Buffalo, NY P.D. with more than 900 sworn officers. Blood samples, blood pressure readings, and other pertinent data were collected, and their shift assignments and overtime hours were confirmed.
To measure health risks, the researchers screened officers for abdominal obesity (more than a 40.2-in. waistline in men, 34.6 inches in women); elevated triglycerides (above 150); reduced HDL (“good”) cholesterol (less than 40 for men, less than 50 for women); glucose intolerance; and hypertension (blood pressure higher than 130/85). A combination of any 3 of these is said to constitute “metabolic syndrome,” which carries increased risks of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes.
In most categories, midnight-shift officers (who tended to be younger than those working days) ranked the worst, and took additional hits when sleep and overtime were factored in.
Officers who worked midnight shifts and [averaged] less than 6 hours sleep had risk factors more than 4 times that of day officers and twice the number of those working afternoons. Among officers averaging more than 1.7 hours of overtime per week, those working midnights had more than 4 times higher number of risk factors than day officers and more than 2 times the number of afternoon shifters.
Researchers did not attempt to document the specific causes of the link between midnights and health dangers, but likely suspects are eating habits and sleep patterns.
“Sleep times for officers on midnights tend to be outside the normal range,” Vila explains, “so they customarily get not only less sleep but sleep of lesser quality. This produces fatigue and sets up a vicious cycle. Insufficient sleep causes hormonal changes that, in effect, make the body crave quick energy bursts. This triggers an appetite for the kind of foods that result in weight gain, bad cholesterol, and strain on the organs that help you metabolize sugars. In turn, being overweight makes you more susceptible to sleep apnea and other problems that interfere with restorative sleep.”
“More than 40% of cops have serious sleep disorders, and these can usually be treated,” Vila says. On the National Sleep Foundation’s website, you can locate a sleep professional near you, as well as helpful tips on better sleeping, books on the subject, and sleep aids.
To prevent or manage metabolic syndrome, the National Institutes of Health
recommends:
• Eating a diet low in fat, with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and
whole-grain products
• Getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise almost every day
• Losing weight so that your body mass index is less than 25
• Controlling blood pressure and blood sugar
• Not smoking
• Including fish, preferably oily fish, in your diet at least twice
a week.
Violanti would like to see law enforcement agencies provide training on diet
and sleep, but “in the end, we are responsible for our own health. We
can’t depend on an organization to take care of us. Taking our own simple
steps to improve lifestyle -- eating better, sleeping better, exercising --
is the best way to deal with this problem.” Source: shorted
from an article by The Force Science Research Center, December 18, 2009
Choosing words carefully
[American Police Beat editorial (in part), Feb. 2010]
Here’s the thing about unions and organized labor in general. Even though less than 20 percent of the American workforce have the advantages of things like collective bargaining and arbitration, people still feel generally like unions are corrupt and somehow “un-American.”
This perception did not emerge out of thin air. In addition to the very real connections between some labor outfits and organized crime, there has also been a well-financed campaign to keep people from joining unions in order to keep wages low.
The fact is that there is “strength in numbers,” as the saying goes.
That brings us to police unions and associations. Public safety employees have taken center stage in the public debate about the role of organized labor in American life.
The problem is the disconnect between police officers, who by and large enjoy the advantages of collective bargaining, and civilians, who largely do not.
With that disconnect in mind, it’s important to be careful about the language used when it comes to the ongoing job losses, givebacks and forced furloughs.
Police work a dangerous job in a dangerous world. This is reflected in the way that cops and union officials use certain phrase and terms to describe things.
For instance, if the association gets a four-percent increase for their members when the members were expecting six percent, it’s not uncommon to hear things like, “The city threw us under the bus.”
But civilians don’t understand police culture. That’s why it’s critical to frame the debate about everything police labor related using carefully chosen language.
People who gripe about “the unions” are far more likely to respond to the concerns of police officers in a positive way if those concerns seem to reflect the interests of all working class Americans.
After all, it’s not just police services that are affected by budget shortfalls. A city or state’s finances impact the schools, public transportation and even things as basic as snow plowing and trash collection. Police and the organizations representing their interests are far more likely to win hearts and minds in the public square if civilians can relate to what they’re saying.
‘Guilty but insane’ is more accurate
In Massachusetts, a state representative drafted a proposed law now in the legislative process that will mean a great deal to those that have lost a loved one to murder.
Backed by a phalanx of police officers, the bill would eliminate “not guilty by reason of insanity” as a verdict option in murder cases and replace it with one of “guilty but insane.”
“Jupin’s Law,” in honor of slain Police Officer Lawrence M. Jupin, would require that murder suspects found guilty but insane spend at least ten years in a secure mental health facility, followed by annual reviews to determine whether they continue to pose a danger to themselves or others. It would not prohibit verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity for crimes other than murder.
The bill would require that anyone released from the hospital after being found guilty but insane on a murder charge be placed on probation for not less than five years with “intensive treatment” as a condition of probation.
Reportedly, several other states have adopted similar laws.
Source: American Police Beat, January 2010
Be careful what you post
[American Police Beat editorial (in part), Oct. 2009]
Many agencies across the country are actually forcing recruits to disclose their social networking content as a condition of employment.
While many people believe that this is a flagrant violation of an officer’s First Amendment rights, it’s important to remember that First Amendment protections do not extend to cyberspace. Saying something and posting a comment or a message on the web are two entirely different things.
Unlike most folks, cops have powers of arrest and are called on to testify in criminal matters where the content of an officer’s Facebook page is fair game for the defense.
The easiest way to think about the dangers the web presents for cops is like a part of the Miranda warning we know so well. “Anything you post, e-mail, or download can be used against you in a court of law.”
[Have a history teacher explain this, if they can.]
History Mystery
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.
Now it gets really weird.
Lincoln’s Secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy’s Secretary was named Lincoln.
Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.
Now hang on to your seat.
Lincoln was shot at the theater named ‘Ford.’
Kennedy was shot in a car called ‘Lincoln’ made by ‘Ford.’
Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
And here’s the kicker...
A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.
Creepy huh?...
