#1 Importance of Fitness for Duty Evaluations Part 1 of 3: The Missing Data

When I first saw the image above, my immediate thought was, “This picture will be in history books.” Precinct 3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota was engulfed in flames. Former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Perry Floyd Jr.’s neck for about 9 minutes and 30 seconds (over a minute longer than reported when body camera footage was finally reviewed). At some point during this action, George Floyd died. People watched, some in real time, and others later, as George Floyd lie motionless during the final two minutes. It takes the average person 7 minutes to die from a lack of oxygen, and George Floyd died while the world watched.

However, this post is not about George Floyd or police brutality or the morality of riots or even political debates. On paper, Derek Chauvin appeared to be an exceptional police officer. He had almost 20 years of experience wearing the badge in the same police department, and had garnered two medals of valor and two commendation medals. The details of these honors read like a police superhero storyline of firing on suspects, breaking down a door, tackling a fleeing suspect who held a pistol, and even single-handedly apprehending a group of gang members. This is the guy young children think about when they tell their parents all wide eyed, “I want to be a police officer!”

This blog is about fitness for duty. While best estimates indicate over 90% of law enforcement agencies use pre-employment psychological testing to screen out new hires, I could not find any consensus on percentages of fitness for duty evaluations to ensure that current officers remain psychologically healthy. Chauvin, in his 19-year career, had been in three shootings, and already killed one person by the time he killed George Floyd. Moreover, he had 18 complaints on his official employment record, including letters of reprimand. He had been disciplined by his department twice. He also reportedly had reached a point of spraying mace into a crowd rather than de-escalating the persons causing a nightclub fight.

The truth is that stressful experiences take their toll on everyone. Law enforcement officers are not an exception. They are an example of people often in highly stressful situations who are expected still to fully function in that capacity, as well as in their outside-the-department roles as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, friends, church members, kids’ coaches, and neighbors. It is no secret that officers suffer from emotional concerns. In fact, every top fitness for duty evaluation psychologist will tell you that this is the most common referral to their office. The “close seconds” are substance abuse and domestic violence issues – quite common responses to internal distress.

Think about your own work and the many social roles you have outside of that setting. What if one night you catch a burglar in your home, and you shoot him? You don’t even have to shoot him dead. Would you be shaken up by it? Of course, you would. You may even become extra cautious about safety situations. Mental health professionals refer to this as “hypervigilance.” How would this increased awareness impact how you interact with other people at your job, church, library, movie concert, or wherever you go? How does repeated hypervigilant situations impact law enforcement officers – on their jobs, and in their personal lives?

My question is exactly how many times had Chauvin been referred for a fitness for duty evaluation? After the fatal shooting? After all three shootings? What about after tackling a gun wielding fleeing suspect or apprehending several members of a gang? Not at all? I did some research, including a rabbit hole of Minneapolis’ pre-employment police officer screening problems. I learned that in a sample of 34 officers hired in Minneapolis who received “marginal” ratings from their psychological screenings, almost 25% had been disciplined in the years following their hire date. By comparison, less than 8% of those with positive psychological screenings had been disciplined. Were any of these officers ever evaluated again?

Next Blog: Importance of Fitness for Duty Evaluations Part 2 of 3: Race Sensitivity

Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder June 25, 2021.

Next Blog Delayed While Site Undergoes Changes.