The Behavioral Corner 
Hi, and welcome. I'm Steve Martorano. And this is the Behavioral Corner, you're invited to hang with us as we discuss the ways we live today, the choices we make, the things we do, and how they affect our health and well-being. So you're on the Corner, the Behavioral Corner, please hang around a while.

 

Steve Martorano 
Hey, everybody, how are you doing? And welcome to the behavioral corner. Once again, you find me your host and guide, Steve Martorano, on the corners great being a guide to a show that pretends to be on a street corner because there's not much guiding that has to be done. We're here on the Corner. And we talk about everything that affects behavioral health, which is a big, big area to discuss -- behavioral health. Covers areas of choices that we make, the way we live, all of it affects our emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being. So that's what we do. And we hope it's catching on with you guys. Before I get to my guests, I just want to take a moment to remind you, what really works for us, like, really, our lifeblood here is feedback. So I just want to pause for a moment, remind folks, you can find us on the site behavioralcorner.com, you can hear the podcast anywhere. Particularly iTunes, if you write a review, that would be fantastic. And, you know, everyone likes to hear praise, but we're looking for, you know, honest evaluation of what we do okay? Behavioralcorner.com and that's where we are. Alright, let's get to it because it's an important topic want to discuss on the corner today and has to do with policing in this country. I'm a child of the 60s, it's no stranger to me to see clashes or controversies or, you know, actual violence between police and the communities they serve. Going back to the early days of the civil rights movement when I was very young, and certainly, the anti-war, movement and political turmoil back in the 60s brought all these up our cities. In the 60s, as you all know, we're often on battlefields. And recently, of course, George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis has reminded us tragically once again, that the divide that often exists between police and the communities they serve, is almost always been with us. And it seems to be getting wider. I don't know, I hope not. But that's what we're going to talk about policing in this country and the challenges of that very, very difficult, difficult job, we're going to, we're going to do it here on the Corner from the police perspective from that side of it. But I dare say we'll get a perspective on both sides. But we wanted to go to the other side of the divide here and talk to an active police officer, Wil Altera has been a police officer for over a decade now. It's going on 12 years 10 for the Stanford Connecticut police department. And he joins us on the Behavioral Corner. Well, thanks for joining us, we appreciate it.

Wil Altera 
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Steve Martorano 
You're youngin. I'm a little bit older than you. A little bit more than a little bit older than you. But you know, the history of conflict in the cities in this country. And the police are always on the front line. What was it that attracted you to law enforcement?

Wil Altera 
Every time I'm asked this question, it always takes me back to my high school days, my father asked me what I wanted to be what I wanted to do with my life. And I told him, I wanted to be in some form of law enforcement, whether it be on a federal level with the FBI, or an attorney, or a police officer. And he scoffed at the idea of me being a police officer because, in his eyes, he didn't feel like it was a professional enough job or career for somebody to go to college and then come and do. But once I actually decided to do it, and I graduated from the police academy, he came down and saw, you know, they had a video of what we went through, they did a nice ceremony and all that. And he was blown away at how professional it really was. It was the first time that I could see it in his face in his eyes that how proud he was of me. So it was back then I had what if you could call it a calling to law enforcement. It's something that I've always wanted to do. The biggest thing that attracted me to this job, this field is the camaraderie aspect of the job. I'm big into sports. I played football in high school. And I wanted to be a part of something that I could be part of a team

Steve Martorano 
From start to finish, Wil, how long did it take you to become a police officer?

Wil Altera 
It could take a few months to a couple of years just to get hired. Now once you're hired, you're sworn in. You have to go through the initial application process. You have to do a written exam, a physical agility exam, and then a psychological exam. Those are the parameters that you have to go through just to be sworn in. So once you're sworn in, you enter the police academy and the police academy itself is six to nine months of training in police academy. I entered in February and graduated in July. So that was the timeframe for me.

Steve Martorano 
In July, you found yourself on the streets patrolling as an active duty police officer?

Wil Altera 
In July I graduated from that was Academy, then you know, you go to the police department, and there's more training, I believe it's 12 weeks of field training. And you go through phases one through four, it's and you're with a different police officer for each phase. By the time I was done with that whole process, it was over a year of training, I would say no, maybe not a full year of training. But the training is never over. The training is ongoing like I'm training still, you know, you have to do a specific amount of training every year, but the initial process from which you get hired, and then from the time you are done with FTO, and you're fully a police officer on your own on the street is a just under a year.

Steve Martorano 
That training obviously was valuable to you. What has changed over your career, of course of your career, where you thought the training lacked. In other words, you weren't prepared for some of these things. Because the training for it was lacking.

Wil Altera 
There is no training in existence that can prepare you for some of the situations that you're going to run into. The training is kind of a baseline for the minimum amount of professionalism force, what have you, necessary to be certified as a police officer. Now, once you're in there, there's a lot of gray and there's a lot of, you know, finagling you have to do to apply your training to a specific scenario.

Steve Martorano 
We have a mental health crisis in this country. There are lots and lots of people who are not in institutions not getting any treatment, often not taking the medicine, if they've been prescribed medicine for serious psychiatric problems. When there's a problem with that, it almost invariably falls on the police to get there first. And as you just said, you get lots of training for lots of things, but maybe not that. And that's something that you confront an awful lot, right?

Wil Altera 
You're not just a police officer, when you're dealing with someone like that, because some of the roles that you play as a police officer, sometimes you're a teacher, sometimes you're a psychologist, sometimes you're a parent, you know, in certain circumstances, when you're dealing with a child, a teen and adult, an elderly person, depending on what the situation is, sometimes you play a different role.

Steve Martorano 
Wil, Is that too much to ask from a police officer to be all those things?

Wil Altera 
I wouldn't say it's too much to ask, I think when you when you become a police officer, it's something that you should expect, you know. There's gonna be a lot asked of you to deal with the community. As a police officer, it's almost impossible to just play cops and robbers or, you know, doing traffic stops, there's a lot of, you're just playing the middleman to a civil dispute between neighbors, you know what I mean? And it has nothing to do with the actual law enforcement or any criminal activity, you're just trying to come down to an argument between two neighbors over leaves on somebody's property.

Steve Martorano 
It's another irony of criticisms of the police that you can hear. And again, I'm not talking about the hardcore, you know, get rid of the police crowd. I'm talking about your garden variety complaints. And that is, as you say, in a domestic dispute breaks out. Maybe there hasn't been any violence yet. But the neighbors are complaining about the noise. And so they call the police. And then the police get there, maybe sometimes you're not prepared to handle that. And then the police get criticized for letting it get out of hand. Maybe somebody gets hurt. So do you agree or don't agree that the community as well the, as the media certainly has to get a better handle on what they expect the police to do? You know, you see on the side of every police car, to what "serve and protect." Okay, and now you're talking about being a mother, you know, being a counselor being a psychiatrist, being a referee, do we expect too much for the police? Do you think communities expect too much for the police?

Wil Altera 
I think in some aspects, yes. And in some aspects, no.

Steve Martorano 
Yeah. And so that confusion, that tension has led in many communities, to a lack of trust. There's just a sense that beliefs are almost a necessary evil. I think in some of our, you know, poor neighborhoods. You know this better than anybody where crime is very high, the people who live in their communities surely don't want the police to go away. But that doesn't mean they trust them a whole lot. How can police and communities come together and build that trust?

Wil Altera 
I think the only way things will get better is for dialogue. And that means equal parts speaking, and equal parts listening, you know, because if you have a lot to say, and you're not listening, you're just venting, and you're not really gaining anything from the interaction.

Steve Martorano 
Yeah, the only interaction people have with police is during a crisis. And it's, you know, it's never about communication. So that's something bad's going on.

Wil Altera 
And that's very true. Like, when the police are finally, involved in whatever situation it is, you're typically dealing with a person who's probably having a rough time, or the worst day of their life, you know what I mean? So you're there. For a negative situation, you know, with Fire and EMS, they're there to rescue, you're kind of feeling relieved, when they're there on the scene like, hurry up, they're waving you to please come to help my mother, she's having a heart attack, or whatever the case may be. But for us, we're not always welcomed in the situation.

Steve Martorano 
And what's going on very often, in very many communities in this country, is that the police are no longer viewed by a large number of people, particularly communities, of people of color, as a public servant, are to serve and protect. But as an occupying army. These are sorted people, they've got a lot of equipment, they got a lot of weapons, our neighborhoods are sometimes scary. But when you show up, it's not reassuring. It's sort of it almost adds to the threat of the lives they live. It's a tension-filled thing. Our police departments across the country facing a challenge here, how do they shift that sort of militaristic attitude, and get people to recognize you guys as servants?

Wil Altera 
Well, the thing I say about that is, when you talk about the military, I don't think of them as something negative to compare us to the military shouldn't be seen as something negative. I understand what you mean towards like, you know, seeing them as a little aggressive or intimidating. But, you know, with a lot of the things that we deal with, we could use that sense of force -- our presence -- of being intimidating to our advantage, because I'll use myself as an example if I'm up to no good. And I have the intention of committing a crime. And I see what is described to be as a militaristic presence in front of me, I'm less likely to go through with that. In a sense, that's why we train hard, you're supposed to keep your physique up and do all those things. I think, in many senses, just because you look a certain way doesn't mean that you can't be also a calming figure.

Steve Martorano 
Calming is one thing, I would appreciate that. But intimidating is another. It certainly would intimidate me if police responded to something in my neighborhood. With some of the stuff I've seen, you know, half-tracks and SWAT teams with armor and helmets. And that, you know, I understand that there are situations that call for that kind of response. But in general, I think it is driven by a wedge, it's some of the communities who view you guys not as the Calvary coming to rescue. But this invading force was clearly it is not the entire truth, but certainly has contributed to the sense of dread of police in the amount of force...

Wil Altera 
And I think that there's just a lack of understanding when it comes to that because when I'm wearing my uniform it's necessary for my safety, if a vest, an outer carrier vest, and my gun belt, and you know, these are the things necessary for me to execute my job and at the same time for me to stay as safe as possible. Yes, there are situations where for crowd control, I may have to wear the heavy-duty stuff with the helmet and the shield and things like that. But the situation dictates that level of force necessary.

Steve Martorano 
I can certainly appreciate that Wil, as a police officer, and obviously as a man of color. You saw George Floyd killed.

Wil Altera 
Yes.

Steve Martorano 
As you watch that, what did you think?

Wil Altera 
It was shocking in nature. And the first thing I thought was, it's very difficult for someone to look at a police officer and differentiate between the good police officer and the bad police officer because we're all wearing the same uniform. So when you see a man, kill someone like that, you can't blame society for feeling that way. Even though the statistics and the numbers prove the opposite of what society is saying about us right now. Do you know what I mean?

Steve Martorano 
I don't. What do you mean?

Wil Altera 
Well, statistics show that more often than not, we're doing the job correctly the way we're supposed to do it. There are very few bad apples within us within the ranks of the police that actually act out and do things like that.

Steve Martorano 
Yeah, I agree with that completely.

Wil Altera 
But when you see something like that, you know, in these times with body cameras, and cell phone cameras and things like that, it's hard for someone, just the average citizen to see a police officer and not know, well, is he the good guy or the bad guy because they all wear the same uniform. It's gonna be harder for people to trust us because we have a certain level of, you know, license to use the force necessary for the specific situation. But are you going to be the police officer that uses excessive force? There's no way for an average person to differentiate that they just have to be able to trust and it's hard for them to trust after seeing something like that.

Steve Martorano 
Well, absolutely. And the question is, can professional police forces afford even one bad apple? Well, this bad apple thing is not going down with a lot of people anymore. How can there be an apple that bad in a police department, and not have people go what's going on?

Wil Altera 
Unfortunately, you're right about that. But it's the reality of what we live in this system isn't perfect the hiring system, it's very rigid. In order for me to be in the position that I'm in, I've had to go through countless examinations, aptitude tests, with the written test, several verbal interviews with different members of the board and also the administration, psychological exam, psychiatric exam, a lie detector test, you know All these officers have to go through that. It's not a fail-proof system. Unfortunately, there are people that start off normal and competent people who, after a couple of years of being exposed to different things, they deal with certain traumas differently than other people. It's not, it's not always that the person that you hired is a bad person, you just become it. You do hire a bad person, they just slip through the cracks.

Steve Martorano 
Sometimes the wrong person is hired. But I don't think that's the problem. The problem is, the job is stressful. It's one of the most difficult jobs we ask anybody to do. It's inconceivable to me that someone would...well, it's very difficult for me to understand the motivation of somebody like yourself, who's willing to get up every day and go into the worst situations because I don't want to have to deal with them. But you do you pay a price for that. Police pay a price for that. I wonder if you think after 12 years as a professional law enforcement officer that you -- I don't mean "you" but as a group. Are getting the kind of support you need psychological support? We know about suicide rates and drinking problems and divorce among police. The numbers are terrible. Do you think you guys are getting the kind of support you need for a very stressful job?

Wil Altera 
In the past? No. I think now with more research, and I think people who have the power to implement these things, I think they're starting to see that it is very necessary to cater to some of the psychological mental health needs that we all need. With my town, my city, we have the peer group, which is a group of officers who are, you know, within the ranks, whether they are patrolman, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, they are part of the peer group who you can turn to, you can call them and let them know that you're having an issue. And you know, they can do their best to help you out. You can lean on them for emotional support, mental support. And also with that, you have the EAP, which is a service that's outside of the department where you can get on the phone and call a psychologist and schedule someone and you can set up to meet with a therapist on a routine basis or just to go through what you're going through and help guide you with that.

Steve Martorano 
Yeah, those EPAs are very, very important. Hopefully, we have a generation of police officers who avail themselves out because as you know, sometimes it's a question of though, you know, man up.

Wil Altera 
I was gonna say that too. And it's not also that there's a lack of support from our administrations or are the cities in the states that we work for, but it's also there's a sense from ourselves, like, you should be able to handle this stuff. Yeah, sign up. Do this stuff. And you know, there's a little bit of, well, if I go and call a therapist, and that means something is wrong with me. At the end of the day, you are a human being, and constantly being exposed to those traumas will have an impact on you, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sometime down the line, it will.

Steve Martorano 
Wil, we talked a little bit about the bad apple, getting cops who wind up doing the wrong thing, sometimes with deadly consequences. Sometimes they're just bad cops, and they don't hurt anybody, but they don't help anybody. Whenever a situation like that arises almost more than any group in society that I can think of there is a knee-jerk reaction to proceed with the attack on the police, which results in what we refer to as the "blue wall" - circling the wagons and protecting bad cops. Is that a problem?

Wil Altera 
Yes, it is. But I don't think that's the goal. The goal is when you put up the quote-unquote, the blue wall is to protect what you have, which is the law enforcement workforce. Because as a whole, we are a collective group of men and women who chose to do a job for many different reasons for whether it be for the benefits, or because you want to help people or like me, you want to be a part of a team atmosphere. You know, there are so many great men and women who do this job. And it goes without notice. But as soon as something bad happens, that's what's illuminated. And the spotlight is on that more so than the day-to-day because from let's say from the George Floyd situation till now, there are 1000s and 1000s of police interactions every day that you never hear about because they go right.

Steve Martorano 
Yes, you're right. There are 1000s and 1000s of police interactions that we never hear out because nothing dramatic happens. But when someone dies, we do. Thousands of airplanes take off and land. We don't hear about those but the one that crashes we do. So the margin of error is narrow. I get that. Let me just ask a few more questions about this idea of this would not unwillingness but hesitancy to weed out the bad cops in a public way. I understand that camaraderie, the unit matters, I get all that, but not at the expense of people potentially getting hurt. So you think police unions are part of the solution to the problem of policing, and not part of the problem? Is that right?

Wil Altera 
What do you mean by that?

Steve Martorano 
Are unions protecting bad cops, do you think?

Wil Altera 
No, I don't think so. Because the way it's set up now is if you do something that violates somebody's constitutional rights, and it's, you know, clear as day, you're not going to have the backing of a police department or a city, you're going to be on your own to defend yourself legally. If you violate the policies and procedures of your police department, and also the state, what they legislate for us to do you they're not going to fight...

Steve Martorano 
...then you're on your own, then you're on your own.

Wil Altera 
And it's always been that way, it's not something new.

Steve Martorano 
What are you hopeful about going forward?

Wil Altera 
It's difficult, because it is a difficult time to be a police officer and I see the new recruits that come in, and I'm happy to see that, you know, somebody is willing to come into this career field during these times. But at the same time, I also think, "Man, you're gonna have a tough kid." But what I hope for is that things just get better, you know, that there's more of an understanding more of healing between the community and police, because obviously, there's a disconnect there. So I hope that and I honestly believe that, with time, you will start to see more and more what we really are about and what it is that we do, and hopefully, you know, members of the community, as you see crime is rising right now, will, you know, I understand that you see us as a necessary evil. But I hope that you know, with the time that you could see that it's we're not evil, we're just an unnecessary part of society.

Steve Martorano 
Yeah. Well, the police have to be part of the solution.

Wil Altera 
Yes, absolutely.

Steve Martorano 
They have to be part of the solution. They cannot be part of the problem. And you're right, that community and the police have a responsibility to make sure that happens that police solve our problems.

Wil Altera 
And to further that, the police and the community aren't two separate things. We are members of the community as well. We want to see, you know, good cops doing the right things every day because we're also husbands, wives, daughters, sons, cousins. You know, grandparents. We're in the schools, our kids go into the same schools as other people. And we're in churches, and we're part of the community. So of course we want to be part of the solution.

Steve Martorano 
It's great to remind people of that because they think of you guys and your women as those people in the uniforms with the guns and the buttons. And you're way more than that. Wil Altera, we want to talk more about this going forward. We hope to have you and maybe some of your fellow officers join us from time to time because as I said, there are problems for sure. But it's not an easy job, and anybody who thinks it is kidding themselves, you know, you're to be congratulated for your service, obviously. And thanks for joining us on the Corner we appreciate it.

Wil Altera 
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Steve Martorano 
Take care.

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