The unique and increased
value of this book . . . is that it can easily be revisited
periodically. There are many occasions where reading (and
rereading) this book can be immensely beneficial—these include
when an officer is hired, reassigned, and/or promoted. From a
command perspective, this book provides insights which can
directly influence how certain management decisions are made and,
sometimes more importantly, delivered. Finally, this book provides
guidance to agency heads and senior management as to the tone that
must be set in order to increase survivors and decrease victims
within their organizations." Ann Marie Doherty
Superintendent
Boston Police Dept.
"For years I thought my number one job was to live
through 25 years of street encounters. After 13 years of
experience I realize my goal is not just to survive the street but
is to live a life filled with relationships that bring me
happiness and
fulfillment. Police work is a great profession but it is the kind
of work that without intervention destroys people and families.
Dr. Gilmartin’s book Emotional Survival breaks us out of our
denial about the effects of the work and gives us helpful,
practical concepts we can use to make our work and home life
better. Dr. Gilmartin’s book Emotional Survival is good for cops,
families, police departments and communities.
Robert J. King, Sergeant
President, Portland Police Association
"As a twenty-six-year veteran of law enforcement, I
have had the opportunity to read many books and observe many
trainers. Emotional Survival is a work of art! This book is
perhaps the best law enforcement–related reading I have ever
experienced. Whether you have twenty minutes on the job or twenty
years, this book will make you a better officer and a better
person, and just might save your life. Any person who wears a
badge must read this book to better understand the climate of the
profession. Dr. Kevin Gilmartin’s experience and background in
this field make him a definite asset to the law enforcement
community and their families. Kevin has hit a home run with
Emotional Survival, and will ultimately impact thousands of
lives."
Sergeant Alan Green
Los Angeles Police Department
“Emotional Survival is a must read for the men, women and families
of those who enter the field of law enforcement. Kevin Gilmartin
shares his tremendous insight into the real “roller coaster
journey” that police officers will take during their careers.
Reading this book could save your life, your marriage and the
lives of your children. Thank you Kevin for sharing with all of us
your insight and strategies for survival.”
Ronald J. Guilmette, Director, Massachusetts Police Leadership
Institute
Lt. Colonel, Massachusetts State Police (Retired)
"I have been through Dr. Gilmartin's Emotional
Survival training at least twice in my career and I found his
lessons on surviving a law enforcement career the most valuable
tool to my success and emotional survival both professionally and
personally. . . . This book should be required reading for all new
police officers and their loved ones."
Douglas L. Bartosh
Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety
Scottsdale, Arizona
Dr. Gilmartin’s book, Emotional Survival for Law
Enforcement, is the tool we need to keep focused on the emotional
well-being of our personnel. In addition, it provides those
uninitiated to Gilmartin’s concepts the opportunity to experience
his dynamic class as he guides us step-by-step through the
personal challenges faced by every cop.
Armed with Gilmartin’s book, officers can learn to successfully
cope with one of the toughest jobs in a free society. Law
enforcement can be a rewarding career that leaves one fulfilled,
not bitter, caring, not isolated, and most important, a survivor,
not a victim. Gilmartin’s work is a significant tool to help us
achieve this goal.
Paul N. Conner, Chief of Police
Round Rock Police Department, Texas
Retired Deputy Chief, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
"Emotional Survival is an incredible book about the
journey through the maze of police work. If you’re a front line
officer, supervisor, or command officer, you will see yourself in
this book. It is the first book I have read that describes what
really happens to police officers in their careers, with
incredible insight into the stress and difficulties of being a
police officer. Dr. Kevin Gilmartin sets out proactive strategies
for police officers and their families to survive the most
dangerous profession."
Brian Adkin
President, Ontario Provincial Police Association
Ontario, Canada
The lessons learned and taught about Emotional
Survival need to be taught in every class of new recruits and to
every officer working. The need to do so is great. We as a
profession need to consider emotional survival as a part of
officer survival."
Gary Schofield
Captain, Training Bureau
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Emotional Survival For Law
Enforcement
A Foreword of the new book by Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D.
If you’re a cop, you’re
going to love this book. It could change your life. It
might even save your life, your career, your home life.
If you’re not a cop, you’ll still love it because the ideas in
this book could certainly apply to you too. Maybe you’re in a
relationship with a cop or have a highly demanding career that
puts you on the “biological rollercoaster” ride, a concept that
stems from Dr. Gilmartin’s brilliant insight into the cost of
public safety work and other high stress occupations.
Author Kevin Gilmartin, Ph.D., is eminently qualified to write
about emotional survival for law enforcement because he has lived
it, studied it, researched it, and taught it. He is one of
America’s very few “cop docs.” After earning his Ph.D. in
psychology, he was a career deputy sheriff with the Pima County
Sheriff’s Office (PeSO), in Arizona. He started with the PCSO in
1974 on a Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) grant, then
became a sworn deputy in 1977 until his retirement in 1995.
In 1982 he was nationally recognized for his work in hostage
negotiations when he was selected as one of America’s ten best
“Police Officers of the Year” by Parade Magazine. Other
operational activities during his deputy she rrif career included
assisting investigators, criminal profiling, crisis interventions
with emotionally disturbed persons, and dealing with extremist
groups. The article he wrote on religious extremist groups, “The
Lethal Triad,” is still used in counter-terrorism training.
A true police psychologist is a rare breed in itself, and Dr.
Gilmartin was one of the early pioneers in this highly specialized
area. He was invited to write articles for leading publications
and developed one of the nation’s earliest police behavioral
sciences units in the Tucson metro area. Although his initial
interest was in operational work, his work in counseling police
officers and their families soon led him to the realization that
one of the most critical and ignored areas in law enforcement is
the emotional toll this stressful occupation takes on its own
people, and his focus turned increasingly to this area.
As deputy sheriff and doctor, living, working, and studying the
unique world of cops and their families, he developed a
penetrating insight into the daily work life of cops. He came to
see how it insidiously dismantled the personal lives, health,
happiness, and careers of officers who weren’t prepared to cope
with the unique demands of the law enforcement lifestyle. These
officers and their family members became emotional casualties. Dr.
Gilmartin was determined to do something that could help them
become emotional survivors instead.
Fortunately for law enforcement at large, Dr. Gilmartin is a
gifted trainer who started training early in his career and soon
became inundated with requests for training from all across North
America. After retiring from the PCSO, he was able to devote all
his efforts to taking his message on the road internationally and
is teaching as many officers as he can about the hazards of the
wild biological rollercoaster ride, a ride that can end in
disaster if officers don’t learn to manage it.
I first heard Dr. Gilmartin speak at the International Association
of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference in 1993. I was instantly
impressed by two things: This guy really knows what he’s talking
about, and he is fun to listen to. Not only is he highly
entertaining, his message is clear, straightforward, and easy to
understand. His life-changing advice is practical and simple to
apply once you understand the concept of the Hypervigilance
Biological Rollercoaster®.
When he isn’t helping cops, Dr. Gilmartin chases steers as he
enjoys the cowboy lifestyle on his horse ranch in Arizona. He and
his wife, Anne, are avid team ropers and compete in the rodeos of
the Law Enforcement Rodeo Association.
As a law enforcement trainer myself, I, like Dr. Gilmartin, travel
all over North America training cops. Because I admire his work, I
usually mention Dr. Gilmartin’s name and encourage officers to
attend his training if they get the chance. Time after time
officers have come up to me during the breaks to tell me they had
been fortunate enough to listen to Dr. Gilmartin speak in person
or on his videotape. They rave about how entertaining and
informative the class was, but, more important, they tell me that
hearing him speak changed their lives. Many of the older veterans
wistfully tell me, “Better late than never, but I wish I had heard
his talk at the beginning of my career.”
Now Dr. Gilmartin has put his message in print in this book, which
is not only profound but almost as entertaining as he is in
person. So enjoy, and go become an emotional survivor.
—Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D.
Co-author of Deadly Force Encounters
