By: Frank Borelli

When I was in the police academy I received about four hours of training on "Stress Management". At the time I was a grand twenty-two years old and thought the idea was laughable. My thought was: What can be so stressful about police work? It was all fun and games to me back then. It was what I'd wanted to do all my life and even the ugly side(s) of the job didn't look stressful to me.

It would be three years before I'd realize that the job could indeed impact your health through stress overload. Further, it took me about five years before I realized that the stress wasn't just affecting me - but also my family. And finally, it was about ten years before I realized that stress id definitely not obvious and can build up without us being aware of its existence - much less accumulation. Let me explain what I mean. I'll use myself as an example and hope no one laughs at me too hard.

By Greg Ferency

When I transferred to a countywide Drug Task Force in January 1996 I thought I had considered everything that would be relevant to my new assignment. I was wrong. I went from wearing a full police uniform and gun belt to jeans and T-shirts – in other words plain clothes. I quickly was presented the issue of how was I going to carry my gun. This was a much bigger issue than I ever thought to realize. I made the decision right off the bat that I wanted to participate in undercover (UC) operations. I grew out my hair sported a beard and got a few appropriately placed tats to top off my new if not less improved appearance. It became very apparent that if I carried my weapon carelessly and civilians noticed it I was going to be getting the police called on me quite often. Most moms pushing their kids in carts at the local mall tend to get a little spooked when the saw someone like me sporting a pistol on their side. Obviously there would not be a badge on my side to accommodate it.